Five coffee places in and around Bloomsbury for when you’re sick of studying on campus

Calling all insufferable coffee hipsters!

9 months ago

No seats, noisy students, and a lack of functional plug sockets – not exactly a recipe for a successful study session.

While they do offer a pretty decent place to buckle down and make some painful progress on your essays, campus study spaces can be both a blessing and a curse. Usually, some kind of issue arises, and there’s no shortage of things to hinder your productivity. And, sometimes, a change of scene just makes everything a little bit easier.

We’ve compiled a list of five study spaces for those of you sick and tired of sitting in library after library, or continually roaming the halls of Senate House searching for just one available seat.

The Penny Drop, Fitzrovia

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Though a little on the small side, The Penny Drop is a great independent café with fantastic coffee – a must for sleep-deprived students trying to write a 2,500 word essay on only four hours of sleep.

Tranquil, atmospheric and with lovely staff, The Penny Drop is perfect for your study session and, as a bonus, is ridiculously close to campus. You might just want to try elsewhere if you’re in a large group or a classic oat-chai-latte-with-two-pumps-of-caramel-and-whipped-cream drinker – true to most specialty coffee shops, they offer a more limited menu in comparison to your average Pret or Starbucks.

Store Street Espresso, Bloomsbury

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Another specialty coffee shop, Store Street Espresso has two locations even closer to campus than our previous suggestion, and their flagship Store Street location has infinitely more room.

Store Street Espresso has been a staple of the central London coffee scene for years, and is well-liked and well-visited by students from UCL, SOAS, University of Law and others for good reason. Offering a rotating guest coffee every month, you can be sure to try a variety of beans here.

Like The Penny Drop, Store Street Espresso offers quite a limited drinks menu, but more than makes up for it with their array of cakes and pastries – perfect fuel for a long day working off-campus.

Dillons, Gower Street

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A tried-and-true staple of every Bloomsbury student, Dillons is popular for a reason.

Though you might find it difficult to get a seat (unless you come before 10 in the morning), Dillons is great for several reasons: it’s within a five minute radius of most of the Bloomsbury universities, it’s better value than other Bloomsbury coffee shops, and it actually offers a student discount.

Well, only five per cent, but considering basically no coffee shops in London offer a discount of any kind, it’s much better than nothing.

Because you’ll be surrounded by students, the study vibes are immaculate, and it’s also a perfect place if you fancy working with a few friends. Be wary though – in the winter, its temperatures are basically sub-zero, so bring a scarf.

Redemption Roasters, Bloomsbury

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If you’re looking for somewhere more out of the way than some of our other suggestions, look no further than this branch of Redemption Roasters, tucked away near Holborn on Lamb’s Conduit Street.

Redemption Roasters is more off the student radar compared to places like Dillons, but is equally great, offering a quiet place for those really wanting to get their heads down. Although the food and cake there would probably cost you an arm and a leg, as a company with a roastery attached, you’re pretty much guaranteed an excellent coffee – something that can only help you in times of serious study.

Kiss The Hippo, Fitzrovia

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The furthest away from campus out of all of our locations, this place is perfect for students looking to get some real distance. Like Redemption, this company is a roastery with several branches situated across London, but our favourite is the one sitting just behind Oxford Street.

With ambient lighting and fresh decor, it doesn’t feel only seconds away from London’s most hectic (and horrible) shopping experience, and it’s easy to get to through Fitzrovia, avoiding the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street itself.

Like our other suggestions, the coffee is fantastic, but offers a more chilled-out atmosphere for students looking for more of a casual study location.