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Kate Spade during Chelsea in Bloom

Chelsea area guide

Fine dining, fashion boutiques and galleries galore make London’s Chelsea a great place to explore

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Things To Do Editors
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The playground for London’s wealthier residents, Chelsea was the home of the Sloane Ranger and is now, thanks to ‘Made in Chelsea’, known for a whole host of reality TV stars. High-end fashion boutiques are scattered all down the King’s Road, which is unrecognisable from its 1960s swinging London roots and punk heyday, and there are numerous top-class eateries to try. Tucked down the immaculately kept residential streets are a number of gastropubs, the Chelsea equivalent of the local boozer, while those searching for cocktails and nightlife will be pleased by the swanky bars on offer. There’s much to please those with an artistic streak, too. The Saatchi Gallery and the Royal Court Theatre have both made this fancy area their home.

RECOMMENDED: London by area

Things to do in Chelsea

Saatchi Gallery

Saatchi Gallery

Opened in October 2008, this gallery has three floors providing more than 70,000sq ft of space for temporary exhibitions. 

Restaurants in Chelsea

Medlar

Medlar

  • 5 out of 5 stars

Even if you don’t live near Chelsea, you should try to visit this exceptional restaurant at least once. The decor is understated: soothing grey-green colour...

Tom’s Kitchen

Tom’s Kitchen

  • 5 out of 5 stars

Although Tom Aikens first made his mark in haute cuisine, this brasserie is his stab at a more egalitarian style of cooking and service. It offers ‘food...

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay

  • 5 out of 5 stars

Clare Smyth MBE has now been appointed chef-patron of Gordon Ramsay’s flagship Chelsea restaurant. Her name features on the intelligently inventive menu, and...

Dinings SW3

Dinings SW3

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • price 3 of 4

Let’s get the awkward stuff out of the way. This long-awaited sequel to Dinings W1 is not cheap. But if sushi is your desert island dinner, it’s worth it. It’s...

Pubs in Chelsea

The Cross Keys

The Cross Keys

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • price 2 of 4

A 300-year-old pub in Chelsea’s heartland now a full gastropub that is still just as dedicated to its beer-drinking crowd. 

Botanist

Botanist

  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • price 4 of 4

This upmarket gastropub eschews any pubbiness in favour of a cocktail-bar-cum-restaurant feel. 

Tommy Tucker

Tommy Tucker

  • 3 out of 5 stars

A food-focused pub that puts more focus on cocktails and wine than craft beers. 

Chelsea Ram

Chelsea Ram

  • 3 out of 5 stars

A cosy and likeable boozer with an agreeable balance between drinkers and diners.

Bars in Chelsea

Tonteria

Tonteria

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • price 3 of 4

‘Tonteria’ means ‘nonsense’ in Spanish, and this Mexican-themed Sloaney hangout has silliness in spades: think fire-eating women in latex, live lucha libre...

Ritorno

Ritorno

  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • price 2 of 4

If you like polish, Ritorno is the place for you. This cocktail bar on the King’s Road must go through buckets of the stuff. It’s got the kind of swish glossy...

Barts

Barts

A speakeasy themed cocktail bar in Sloane Avenue that's hidden behind an inconspicuous black door. Inside the venue is decorated like a quirky living room cum...

Bluebird

Bluebird

  • price 3 of 4

Once a magnificent art deco garage complex with links to speed racer Sir Malcolm Campbell (hence the name), this is now a multipurpose eating and drinking...

Hotels in Chelsea

Blakes

Blakes

  • price 4 of 4

Complete with dramatic, orientalist decor, this boutique hotel is a living casebook for interior design students.

Cafés in Chelsea

Tangerine Dream Café

Tangerine Dream Café

Yes, you'll have to pay entrance to the Chelsea Physic Garden to enjoy this café, but then a wander within the garden's walls is a delight in itself – and the...

The Chelsea Quarter Cafe

The Chelsea Quarter Cafe

King’s Road café serving all-day breakfasts, afternoon tea and, come the evening, by-the-glass wines

Bumpkin Chelsea

Bumpkin Chelsea

This Sydney Street spot is the fourth branch from Bumpkin - a chain that kicked things off with a venue in Notting Hill. It's all about classic British cooking...

April's Café

April's Café

  • 3 out of 5 stars

Selling the kind of clothes that cost a month’s rent (but that you’d consider going temporarily homeless for), Boutique 1 is Sloane Street’s latest swish...

The perfect weekend in Chelsea

Eat: Dinings SW3

Eat: Dinings SW3

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • price 3 of 4

Splash out on some of the capital's most inventive, tasty and jaw-droppingly presented Japanese food. 

Listen: 606 Club

Listen: 606 Club

Tucked away at the wrong end of Chelsea, this jazz club is almost exclusively limited to British jazz musicians.