Halloween in London for Two: Our Spooky, Romantic Wishlist

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If any city was made for Halloween, it's London. Think fog on the Thames, gaslit alleys, Victorian catacombs and pubs that have been pouring pints since before the Great Fire. We haven't spent Halloween there together yet, but we know exactly how we'd do it: a little spooky, very romantic, and finished by candlelight.

Here's the plan: eerie sights by daylight, the Tower at dusk, a ghost walk after dark, then a crawl through haunted taverns and candlelit bars before a late dinner. Jump to the sights, after dark, haunted pubs or drinks and dinner. For the rest of our London wishlist (Georgian townhouses and champagne buttons), see Paris & London for two.

Catacombs, ruins and a castle full of ghosts

Highgate Cemetery · Highgate, North London
Ivy-wrapped angels, a sunken avenue of Egyptian-style tombs and the catacombs of the Circle of Lebanon. The West Cemetery can only be seen on a guided tour, so we'd book the Highlights tour, about 75 minutes, and wander the East Cemetery afterwards. Tour dates are released about four weeks ahead, so this is the first thing we'd book.
Official website

St Dunstan in the East · St Dunstan's Hill, City of London
A medieval church damaged in the Great Fire and gutted in the Blitz, now a secret garden growing through gothic window frames. It's the prettiest ruin in London. The garden closes at dusk, so we'd come in the late afternoon, when the light goes soft and the City empties out.
Official website

The Tower of London · Tower Hill
Nine centuries of prisoners, executions and ravens, and the ghost of Anne Boleyn said to walk near the chapel where she's buried. We'd go in the afternoon for the Crown Jewels, then come back at night for the Ceremony of the Keys, the 700-year-old ritual of locking the Tower, held every night by lantern light. Tickets are released a month or two ahead on the official site and go fast.
Official website · Ceremony of the Keys

A ghost walk through Ripper country

Halloween in London calls for at least one walk through Whitechapel and Spitalfields, where the gaslit lanes of 1888 still feel close. We'd skip the huge groups and book a small one, so we can actually hear the guide and hold hands at the creepy bits.

Jack the Ripper Small Group Walking Tour · Whitechapel and Spitalfields, about 2 hours
Rated 5.0 by travelers, with groups of up to 15. The route covers Brick Lane, Christ Church Spitalfields, Mitre Square and The Ten Bells. There's even a late-night Halloween option that finishes right at midnight, and that's the one we'd book.
See the tour on Viator

Pints with the ghosts

The Ten Bells · 84 Commercial Street, Spitalfields
The Victorian tiled pub at the heart of the Ripper story, where two of his victims are said to have drunk. It's where the ghost walk ends, so it's where we'd warm up with a nightcap.
Official website

The Viaduct Tavern · 126 Newgate Street, opposite the Old Bailey
A gilded Victorian gin palace often called London's most haunted pub, built near the site of Newgate Prison. Ask about the cellar and its old "cells", and the stories of barrels moving on their own. It holds a Halloween night with cellar tours, and it closes early on Saturdays and all day Sunday, so check before you go.
Official website

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese · Wine Office Court, off Fleet Street
Rebuilt right after the Great Fire, with a warren of dark wood-panelled rooms, sawdust on the floor, a coal fire and vaulted cellars below. It has no music and asks for no phones, which makes it the perfect place to sit close and talk.
Official website

If we wanted the history in the afternoon too, we'd book the London Small Group Tour of Historical Pubs: about 3.5 hours through Fleet Street's oldest taverns and gin palaces, groups of up to 14, rated 5.0 by thousands of travelers. Drinks aren't included.
See the pub tour on Viator

Absinthe, candlelit cellars and dinner since 1798

The Absinthe Parlour at The Last Tuesday Society · 11 Mare Street, Hackney
An award-winning cocktail bar full of oddities, with the Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities downstairs: shrunken heads, skeleton fairies and two-headed lambs. We'd order something with the green fairy, then go down to the museum together. Reservations are strongly encouraged, and it's adults only after 5pm.
Official website

Gordon's Wine Bar · 47 Villiers Street, Embankment
London's oldest wine bar, open since 1890. Tables are tucked into candlelit vaults with dripping candles and old barrels of sherry and port. It's walk-in only, so we'd arrive early, share a cheese board and stay for one more glass.
Official website

Rules · 34–35 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden
London's oldest restaurant, open since 1798. Red velvet banquettes, walls of old paintings and cartoons, and a menu of game, oysters, pies and puddings. It's dark, cosy and wonderfully old-fashioned, which is exactly the dinner we'd want after an evening of ghost stories. Book online ahead.
Official website

Where we'd stay

Hazlitt's · Frith Street, Soho
Thirty rooms across four Georgian townhouses, with creaking floorboards, antiques, carved beds and breakfast in bed. After a night of ghosts and candlelight, a 1700s townhouse is the only place that makes sense. It's still top of our London wishlist.
Official website

Our dream Halloween in London, at a glance

• Afternoon: a Highgate Cemetery tour, then St Dunstan in the East before the garden closes at dusk.
• Dusk: the Tower of London and a walk along the river as the lights come on.
• After dark: a small-group Jack the Ripper walk, ending with a nightcap at The Ten Bells.
• Another night: the Viaduct Tavern and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, then candlelit vaults at Gordon's and a late dinner at Rules.
• Somewhere in between: absinthe and curiosities in Hackney.

What we'd pack: a carry-on each, a warm coat, shoes that can handle cobbles and cemetery paths, and one dark, dressed-up outfit for dinner. Our carry-on-only packing guide covers the rest.

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