Greek restaurants in Bloomsbury are about to have their busiest month of the year. From 1 to 31 October 2026 the Bloomsbury Festival celebrates its 20th edition with more than 150 music, theatre, science, art and family events in over 40 venues, and as Londonist points out, much of it is free. For Greeks and Cypriots in London the neighbourhood has a special pull: the Parthenon Marbles sit in the British Museum, a Greek vase tour is on the calendar, and three Greek List members serve meze, souvlaki and freddo within a ten minute walk of each other. Here is our Greek guide to a month in Bloomsbury.
Bloomsbury sits between Euston Road and Holborn, built around leafy Georgian squares, the British Museum and UCL. The festival theme this year is “Create and Celebrate”, and the programme spreads across churches, libraries, museums and university buildings, so you can string together two or three events and still have time for lunch. That is where the Greek restaurants in Bloomsbury come in. Below you will find the festival highlights we would pick, with practical details, and at each stop the Greek table to book afterwards.
The British Museum is the anchor of Bloomsbury and it is free every day. For Greeks the visit always starts in Room 18, where the Parthenon Marbles are displayed, and continues through one of the largest collections of Greek antiquities outside Greece. On Friday 9 October at 18:00 there is a guided visit called Myth in Greek Art, focused on 6th and 5th century vase painting and the stories behind the objects. Meet in Gallery 12 at 17:45. For families, the festival adds ticketed Treasure Hunts at the British Museum on Saturday 3 October at 14:00. The new Korea exhibition also opens on 1 October, that one is ticketed.
Getting there: Tottenham Court Road, Holborn or Russell Square. Open daily 10:00 to 17:00, Fridays until 20:30. Free entry, booking recommended at weekends.
Greek stop nearby: The Life Goddess at 29 Store Street, two minutes from the museum, for meze, Greek coffee and a deli counter, open Monday to Saturday 9:30 to 22:30. On Sunday 11 October it turns into a party venue for the Greek List Brunch Party with unlimited Greek buffet and DJ from 18:00, guestlist only. Five minutes further west, Elysée at 13 Percy Street is the historic Greek restaurant of Fitzrovia, open from noon until 3:00 in the morning with live music in the evenings.
The concrete terraces of the Brunswick Centre are one of the most photographed buildings in Bloomsbury, and behind them sits Brunswick Square, the garden that inspired Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf. The festival marks 200 years of garden history in Brunswick Square with a free walk on Saturday 24 October. Coram’s Fields, the children’s park where adults may only enter with a child, and the Foundling Museum are on the same square. The Curzon cinema inside the centre is a good rainy day plan.
Getting there: Russell Square station is directly opposite the Brunswick Centre. King’s Cross St Pancras is a ten minute walk.
Greek stop nearby: Nostimo at 9 Brunswick Centre, WC1N 1LX, right on the piazza. Greek food and coffee from 11:30 to 23:30 every day of the week, so it works for a freddo after the square walk or a late dinner after a festival show. One of the few Greek restaurants in Bloomsbury that opens seven days.
Many Greeks in London know UCL from their student years, and during the festival the campus opens up to everyone. Two Centuries Here is a free exhibition running from 1 to 31 October across the Wilkins Building, the cloisters, the Octagon Gallery, the Japanese Garden and the Student Centre. A free UCL walking tour leaves on Wednesday 14 October at 13:00 (booking required), and the digital exhibition 26 UCL Firsts runs from 6 to 30 October.
Getting there: Euston Square, Warren Street or Goodge Street. The main entrance is on Gower Street, three minutes from Store Street.
This is where the festival feels most local. Holborn Library hosts two free exhibitions all month, Monday to Saturday: Home Truths, on housing, home and health, and the Portrait(s) of Camden Community Quilt. Holy Cross Church in Cromer Street stages Stories of Joy on Saturday 3 October at 14:00, free with booking. At City Lit on Sunday 25 October, historian Alec Forshaw gives a free talk on The Architecture of Bloomsbury at 14:30, followed at 15:00 by the free New Wave Music concert. The month ends at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church on Friday 30 October at 21:00 with the 1922 silent film Nosferatu accompanied by live organ improvisation, tickets £15. The perfect Halloween warm up before a late souvlaki.
Getting there: Holborn Library is on Theobalds Road (Holborn or Chancery Lane). City Lit is on Keeley Street (Holborn). Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church is at 235 Shaftesbury Avenue (Tottenham Court Road).
The Ballad Walk of St Giles (3, 4, 17 and 18 October at 11:00, £10) starts from Central St Giles Piazza and brings historic London ballads back to the streets where they were sung. The free exhibition 20 Years of Bloomsbury Festival Photography runs from 3 to 31 October. Check the full programme on the festival website before you go, as many free events need booking. And if you want more ideas for the rest of the city, read our guide to free things to do in London, with Greek stops at every point.
The three Greek restaurants in Bloomsbury above are a good start, but October is packed with Greek culture across the city. The Greek List events calendar is the most complete list of Greek events in the UK, and listing an event is free. Coming up in the next ten days:
Wed 1 Oct: Sofia Mitsola in Conversation, Hellenic Centre, Marylebone
Wed 1 Oct: Premium Greek Wine Tasting: An Autumn Taste of Greece, Maya’s Stores, Watling Street
Sat 3 Oct: Angelo Tsarouchas, The Diaspora Tour, Leicester Square Theatre
Mon 5 Oct: Yanni Kotsonis, The Greek Revolution, book discussion at Queen Mary University
Thu 8 Oct: Fernweh, or Nostalgia for Unknown Lands and A Different Kind of Pop: Giorgos Ioannou, exhibitions at the Hellenic Centre
Fri 9 Oct: Myth in Greek Art, guided visit at the British Museum, 18:00
Fri 9 Oct: The Hellenic Initiative London Gala, The Chancery Rosewood, Mayfair
Sun 11 Oct: Greek List Brunch Party at The Life Goddess, Store Street, 18:00
The Greek restaurants in Bloomsbury featured in this guide are Greek List members. More than 100,000 Greeks and Cypriots in the UK read Greek List every month, on the site, in the newsletter and in the Ellines sto Londino Facebook group, and Greek List listings rank first on Google for Greek businesses in the UK. If your business serves the Greek community, this is where your customers are looking.
Have you been to the Bloomsbury Festival, or do you have a favourite Greek table near the British Museum we missed? Share it with the community in the Facebook group Ellines sto Londino.
