Cliveden House afternoon tea over the Parterre: prices, times and the National Trust fee

Cliveden afternoon tea is called Cliveden and the Crown and is served Monday to Saturday, from noon to 2.30pm, in the Dining Room overlooking the Parterre and the Thames. It costs £68 a head, £88 with a glass of Laurent-Perrier, and non-members of the National Trust pay the estate’s entry on top.

Updated 13 October 202610 min readHow we write the guide

A round table laid for tea: silver stands of cakes and sandwiches, Champagne flutes and an embroidered red velvet cushion, yellow chairs and a balustrade behind

Who Cliveden afternoon tea is for

Why book it

You want tea with a view of the Parterre, a walk through the estate and an hour’s drive from London, for less than The Ritz.

The tea and its prices

When to look elsewhere

You need a late-afternoon tea, or Sunday in the Dining Room: here it ends at 2.30pm and on Sundays moves to other rooms; in London, The Langham’s Palm Court runs to 5pm at weekends.

Other teas

Cliveden, the Crown and tea

Cliveden’s tea tells the house through the monarchs who came through it: the thread that ties the menu to the room.

By the hotel’s account the house has welcomed every reigning monarch since George I, and the menu turns that into a tea: a dish for Queen Elizabeth, one for Prince Philip, a cake for Camilla and a tart for King Charles.

Tea here has real roots: Spring Cottage, built in 1813 as a tea room for the Countess of Orkney, is where Queen Victoria and the Duchess of Sutherland took tea, and today it is let with 3 bedrooms on the Thames.

Tea costs less than a night and less than London’s grand hotels: £68 against the £337 to £598 of the nights read on Google Hotels and the £85 to £95 of the West End teas, with the National Trust fee on top for non-members.

We studied Cliveden’s tea on 4 October 2026: the page, the menu and the Dining Room; Google’s results in Britain, where the official tea page is not in the first 10 and the first result is the SevenRooms booking; and the 2,000 most recent Google reviews. Of those, 121 mention afternoon tea, and 84 of them give 5 stars.

Tea at Cliveden, from the booking to the King’s tart

The Cliveden and the Crown menu pays tribute to the monarchs who passed through the house, from George I to Charles III: each course has its story.

The booking and the fee
Book online from the official site; dairy-free, gluten-free or vegan diets must be stated when booking. Non-members of the National Trust will find the fee on the bill: £13.50 by the tea page.
The first tables
The Dining Room serves tea from noon to 2.30pm, Monday to Saturday; it was the house’s drawing room and faces south over the Parterre and the Thames. On Sundays tea moves to the French Dining Room or the Great Hall.
The Balmoral pie
Savouries first: Queen Elizabeth’s Balmoral game pie and Prince Philip’s beef Yorkshire pudding; then sandwiches of Scottish smoked salmon, Coronation chicken, created for the 1953 coronation, and egg mayonnaise (menu).
Plain and fruit scones
With clotted cream and jam, and a choice of 9 teas: from the King’s Darjeeling to the Rwandan Virunga named for Queen Victoria (menu).
The King’s tart
Queen Camilla’s chocolate biscuit cake, a Battenberg and King Charles’s garden berry tart, inspired by the kitchen garden at Highgrove (menu).
After tea
Tea ends at 2.30pm and the gardens stay open: the Parterre is below the terrace, and on the river stands Spring Cottage, where Queen Victoria took tea with the Duchess of Sutherland.

Tea at Cliveden and the estate around it

The Parterre lies below the dining room, Spring Cottage and the boathouse are on the Thames; London is about 50 minutes by car.

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Cliveden HouseThe Dining Room: noon to 2.30pm, Monday to Saturday
The ParterreThe 1855 garden, below the tea-room windows
Spring CottageWhere Queen Victoria took tea, on the river

The tea, its prices and what arrives, from the June 2026 menu

What the tea page, the June 2026 menu and the Dining Room page said on 4 October 2026.

On the menu and the tea page

Cliveden and the Crown Afternoon Tea, £68 a head, with a hot drink
With a glass of Laurent-Perrier Héritage, £88
2 savouries, 3 sandwiches, plain and fruit scones, 3 cakes
9 teas and infusions, from Darjeeling to rooibos
A separate vegan menu; other diets with notice
A discretionary 12.5% service charge, VAT included
From 18 November 2026 the Festive Afternoon Tea, at £85

The Dining Room’s rules at teatime

From the official tea, Dining Room and FAQ pages, read on 4 October 2026.

Hours	Monday to Saturday, noon to 2.30pm; on Sundays in other rooms
Dress code	Smart: jacket and tie not essential, but no ripped denim, trainers, caps, T-shirts or shorts
National Trust	A fee on the bill for non-members: £13.50 (£10 by the festive-tea page)
Service	12.5% discretionary
Diets	Dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan and more, with notice
Children	Welcome in the house; no children’s tea is published
Dogs	Not in the Dining Room; yes at the Astor Grill

Staying the night after tea

Residents have the pools included and breakfast in the same room as tea.

A Club Room: a bed with an upholstered headboard, a carved stone fireplace and floral curtains

The Lady Astor Suite: a carved fireplace, yellow curtains and a row of windows onto the garden

The Club Rooms, 24 m², are enough for a night; the Lady Astor Suite, 75 m², was Nancy Astor’s room and looks over the Parterre. On Google Hotels, on 4 October 2026, a night for 2 cost from £369 on 18 November, £358 on 14 December and £337 on 4 February, without saying for which room.

The 15 rooms, suites and the cottage

Cliveden or London: tea in the country and in the grand hotels

Hours, prices and rules from each hotel’s own page, read on 4 October 2026, and the minutes by car from Cliveden.

Cliveden starts lower: £68 against the £85 of The Langham and the £95 of Claridge’s, The Ritz and The Dorchester. But at Cliveden tea ends at 2.30pm and the National Trust fee comes on top; in town you can take it into the evening.

From London, allow about 50 minutes by car, which becomes a whole day with the garden; if you are already in town, The Ritz has sittings until 7.30pm, with jacket and tie.

One mistake to avoid: the tea page gives the National Trust fee as £13.50 and the festive-tea page as £10. Both figures are the hotel’s; when you book, read the one printed on your confirmation.

Afternoon tea	Where	From its page	From Cliveden
Cliveden House	Taplow, Berkshire	Monday to Saturday, noon to 2.30pm; £68 and £88, plus the National Trust fee; smart dress.	You are here
The Langham, Palm Court	Regent Street, London	From 12.30pm, to 4pm or 5pm; £85, children £50; smart casual.	49 minutes by car
Claridge’s, the Foyer	Mayfair, London	Daily 2.45 to 5.30pm; £95, £110 and £125; online only.	50 minutes by car
The Ritz London	Piccadilly, London	Sittings 11.30am to 7.30pm; from £95, children from £73; jacket and tie.	53 minutes by car
The Dorchester, The Promenade	Park Lane, London	Daily noon to 5.30pm; £95, £115 with Champagne; 15% service.	49 minutes by car

Minutes by car computed on OpenStreetMap’s roads, without traffic, from Cliveden House to each hotel on 4 October 2026, the day we read their tea pages.

What guests say about the tea
Of Cliveden’s 2,000 most recent Google reviews, read on 4 October 2026, 121 mention afternoon tea, and 84 of them give 5 stars. Guests thank the waiters by name and remember the walk afterwards. On busy days the table is yours for 2 hours.

Questions about tea at Cliveden

The price, the National Trust fee, the dress code, Sundays and Christmas: what people ask before a Cliveden afternoon tea.

How much is afternoon tea at Cliveden House?

£68 a head, £88 with a glass of Laurent-Perrier Héritage (tea page), with a discretionary 12.5% service charge. Non-members of the National Trust pay the estate fee on top: £13.50 by the tea page.

What is the dress code for Cliveden afternoon tea?

Smart: jacket and tie are not essential, but ripped denim, trainers, caps, T-shirts and shorts are considered inappropriate (FAQ).

What time is tea served, and on Sundays?

Monday to Saturday noon to 2.30pm in the Dining Room. On Sundays tea moves to the French Dining Room or the Great Hall, with lounge seating (tea page); Sunday times are not published.

Do you pay the National Trust for tea at Cliveden?

Yes, unless you are a member: the tea page adds £13.50 a head, the festive-tea page £10; with a National Trust card there is no fee. The estate’s adult ticket is £23 in 2026 (National Trust).

Is Cliveden afternoon tea worth it?

For the room and the gardens, nearly always: of the 121 recent Google reviews that mention it, 84 give 5 stars (reviews). It suits those who pair it with a walk round the estate; the National Trust fee comes on top of the £68, and anyone wanting a late-afternoon tea will be happier in London, since here it ends at 2.30pm.

Is there a Christmas tea at Cliveden?

Yes: the Festive Afternoon Tea is served from 18 November 2026, at £85, in the Dining Room over the Parterre, with mulled wine and mince pies.

Can you have tea on a boat on the Thames?

Yes, on the vintage launches from the Cliveden boathouse, from £300, adding a picnic; but from November to April the boats are out of the water (boat trips).

Cliveden or a tea in London?

Cliveden costs less, £68, but ends at 2.30pm, adds the National Trust fee and is about 50 minutes’ drive from Mayfair. In London The Langham starts at £85 and runs to 5pm at weekends, The Ritz at £95 with sittings until 7.30pm.

Book the noon table on a weekday and keep the afternoon for the gardens: tea ends at 2.30pm

Book tea on Cliveden’s website

Written and checked by Lumina, independently of Cliveden House. Lumina sells no rooms or tickets: every link leads to its source.

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