Is there a gluten-free or vegan menu?

Yes, Palm Court has vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free menus built like the classic tea; the kitchen warns it cannot rule out traces of other ingredients (FAQ). State any dietary requirement when you book.

The Langham afternoon tea in Palm Court: prices, times and how to book

Langham afternoon tea is served in Palm Court, the room where the Regent Street hotel says it first offered afternoon tea, in 1865. It costs £85 a head, £100 with a glass of Champagne, and runs from 12.30pm to 4pm on weekdays and to 5pm at weekends, with a pianist from 1pm.

Updated 13 October 202610 min readHow we write the guide

A round table laid for tea in Palm Court: a silver stand of pastries, Champagne flutes, sage-green armchairs and a tall arrangement of roses and hydrangeas

Who Langham afternoon tea is for

Why book it

You want tea where it began, with children at the table, a pianist and a service that starts as early as 12.30pm.

The tea and its prices

When to look elsewhere

You need a table in the evening, or a formal dress code: The Ritz serves tea until 7.30pm with jacket and tie, The Savoy until 9.30pm with its Twilight Tea.

Other teas

Palm Court, and tea since 1865

The room matters as much as the menu: it is here that the hotel places the birth of afternoon tea as we know it.

When The Langham opened on 10 June 1865, the hotel says, it was Europe’s first grand hotel; and by Palm Court’s own page it was the first hotel in the world to serve afternoon tea, moving a habit of aristocratic Victorian drawing rooms into a room open to anyone.

Today’s menu, by Andrew Gravett and Michel Roux, takes its cue from classic British biscuits and remakes them as pastries; the teas are JING’s. After the war the BBC bought the building and broadcast “Grand Hotel” from Palm Court, with the room’s orchestra (the story).

Tea costs a fraction of a night: £85 a head against the £367 to £729 of the nights read on Google Hotels between December and January. It is the cheapest way into a 160-year-old hotel.

We studied The Langham’s tea on 4 October 2026 from 3 sides: the official page and the 2 menus; Google’s results for the search in Britain and America, where the top American places go to the Langhams of Chicago, Pasadena and Melbourne; and the hotel’s 2,000 most recent Google reviews. Of those, 140 mention afternoon tea, averaging 4.56 stars with 109 fives.

An afternoon in Palm Court, from the booking to the last cake

The Langham’s tea follows the menu of 3 August 2026, by pastry chef Andrew Gravett with Michel Roux: 3 courses and a cake to share.

The booking
Book on the official site, on +44 20 7636 1000 or at tllon.palmcourt@langhamhotels.com; booking is recommended, staying or not. Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free diets have menus of their own.
The first tables
Service opens at 12.30pm (1pm on weekdays, by the same page’s FAQ), with teas from JING; the piano plays from 1pm to 7pm. Oxford Circus is 5 minutes’ walk away.
5 savouries
Champagne-pickled cucumber with stracciatella, aged sirloin with black truffle, Devon chicken, Scottish smoked salmon and a devilled quail-egg tartlet with Oscietra caviar (August menu).
Scones and clotted cream
Plain and raisin, with Cornish clotted cream and house-made seasonal preserves (menu).
4 sweets and a cake
A jasmine and raspberry roll, the Nyangbo in 68% chocolate, a praline and blackcurrant choux, a matcha and apricot slice; then the cake to share, lemon meringue (menu).
After tea
At 4pm Artesian opens: under-18s staying at the hotel may come in with an adult until 6pm, non-residents from 15, also until 6pm; after that, adults only.

Afternoon teas within a walk of The Langham

Claridge’s is 13 minutes away on foot, The Ritz 19, The Dorchester 25; Oxford Circus 5.

Loading map…

The LanghamPalm Court: from 12.30pm, to 4pm or 5pm
Claridge’sThe Foyer, 2.45 to 5.30pm; 13 minutes on foot
The Ritz LondonSittings from 11.30am to 7.30pm; 19 minutes on foot

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

What Palm Court’s page, the menu of 3 August and the children’s menu of 2 September said on 4 October 2026.

On the menu and the tea page

The Langham Afternoon Tea, £85 a head
With a glass of Champagne, £100; with rosé Champagne, £105
5 savouries, plain and raisin scones, 4 pastries and a cake to share
Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free menus
The children’s tea for 12s and under, £50: finger sandwiches, scones, the Langham teddy bear and a blackcurrant and hibiscus infusion
A discretionary 12.5% service charge on every price, VAT included

Palm Court’s rules at teatime

From Palm Court’s official page and its FAQ, read on 4 October 2026.

Hours	12.30pm to 4pm on weekdays and to 5pm at weekends; the same page’s FAQ says from 1pm on weekdays
Dress code	Smart casual: no sportswear or flip-flops, formal wear not required
Seats	65, indoors, on the ground floor
Music	A live pianist daily from 1pm to 7pm
Children	Welcome; the children’s tea is for 12s and under, at £50
Diets	Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free menus; the kitchens cannot rule out traces of other ingredients
Service	A discretionary 12.5% added to the bill
Dogs	Not in Palm Court: in the hotel dogs are allowed only in The Wigmore and Sale e Pepe Mare

Staying the night after tea

Next morning Palm Court serves breakfast, 7am to 11am.

A Deluxe Room: a king bed with an upholstered headboard, a dark-wood chest, a desk and windows over the rooftops

A Family Room: 2 queen beds side by side and a children’s tepee by the window

The Deluxe Room, 33 m², is the largest standard room, on the courtyard or the street; the Family Room, 39 m², sleeps 2 adults and 3 children, the size for after the children’s tea. On Google Hotels, on 4 October 2026, a night for 2 cost from £451 on 22 November, £478 on 16 December and £367 on 31 January, without saying for which room. Breakfast in Palm Court is £32 continental and £42 for The Langham Breakfast (menu).

The 14 rooms and suites, with photos

The Langham or Claridge’s, and the other West End afternoon teas

Hours, prices and rules from each hotel’s own page, read on 4 October 2026, and the minutes on foot from The Langham.

The Langham is the cheapest tea among the West End grand hotels: £85 against the £95 of Claridge’s, The Ritz and The Dorchester. It is also the earliest: from 12.30pm, where Claridge’s opens at 2.45pm.

The Ritz asks men for a jacket and tie and serves in sittings until 7.30pm; The Savoy has no formal dress code and runs into the evening with its Twilight Tea until 9.30pm; The Dorchester adds 15% service, The Langham 12.5%.

One mistake to avoid: searching “Langham afternoon tea” from America, the first results are the Langhams of Chicago, Pasadena and Melbourne, with prices and hours of their own. This page is about London’s only.

Afternoon tea	Where	From its page	From The Langham
The Langham, London	Portland Place, Regent Street	From 12.30pm, to 4pm or 5pm; £85, £100 and £105, children £50; smart casual.	You are here
Claridge’s, the Foyer	Brook Street, Mayfair	Daily 2.45 to 5.30pm; £95, £110 and £125; online only.	13 minutes on foot
The Ritz London	Piccadilly	Sittings at 11.30am, 1.30, 3.30, 5.30 and 7.30pm; from £95, children from £73; jacket and tie for men.	19 minutes on foot
The Dorchester, The Promenade	Park Lane	Daily noon to 5.30pm; £95, £115 with Champagne; 15% service; no shorts.	25 minutes on foot
The Savoy, The Gallery	Strand	Noon to 6.45pm, then the Twilight Tea from 6pm to 9.30pm; no formal dress code.	30 minutes on foot

Minutes on foot computed on OpenStreetMap’s streets from The Langham to each hotel on 4 October 2026, the day we read their tea pages.

What guests say about the tea
Of The Langham’s 2,000 most recent Google reviews, read on 4 October 2026, 140 mention afternoon tea and average 4.56 stars; in the last year the 19 that name the tea or Palm Court reach 4.84. Guests write about the service, the pianist and the sandwiches, scones and pastries, and several book the tea for a birthday. The bill is worth knowing in advance: £85 a head, plus a discretionary 12.5% service charge.

Questions about tea at The Langham

The price, the dress code, the children, the hours and the bill: what people ask before a Langham afternoon tea.

How much is afternoon tea at The Langham per person?

£85 for the traditional tea, £100 with a glass of Champagne and £105 with rosé Champagne (menu of 3 August 2026); the children’s tea is £50. A discretionary 12.5% service charge is added to everything, VAT included.

Is there a dress code for afternoon tea at The Langham?

Smart casual: formal wear is not required, but sportswear and flip-flops are not allowed (Palm Court FAQ). At The Ritz, 19 minutes away on foot, men must wear a jacket and tie (The Ritz).

What time is afternoon tea served at Palm Court?

From 12.30pm to 4pm on weekdays and 12.30pm to 5pm at weekends, by the hours on the official page; the same page’s FAQ says from 1pm on weekdays. The pianist plays from 1pm to 7pm.

Is the Langham afternoon tea good?

For the room and the service, nearly always yes: of the 140 recent Google reviews that mention it, 109 give 5 stars (reviews). The price is £85 a head, plus a discretionary 12.5% service charge.

Do you need to stay at The Langham for tea?

No: Palm Court is open to all and booking is recommended for everyone (official page).

Can you bring children, and how much is their tea?

Yes, children are welcome. The children’s tea, for 12s and under, is £50: strawberry jam, cucumber, chicken and Gouda sandwiches, scones, a teddy-bear chocolate tart, a lemon marshmallow, the “Langham ’99” and a blackcurrant and hibiscus infusion.

The Langham or Claridge’s for afternoon tea?

It depends on what you want. The Langham costs £85, opens at 12.30pm and has a live pianist; Claridge’s, 13 minutes away on foot, costs £95, runs 2.45 to 5.30pm and is booked online only. Neither asks for a jacket.

Take the first table, at 12.30pm on a weekday: the pianist arrives at 1pm and the room is still quiet

Book tea on The Langham’s website

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

Sources