National Kissing Day: the best places for a smooch in London

In case you weren’t aware, today is National Kissing Day.

It falls on June 23 each year, and encourages everyone - men, women, single or coupled - to appreciate the importance of a good snog.

If you’re going to kiss then you might as well do it somewhere special. So to celebrate the day we have compiled a list of London’s best lip locking spots, and mapped them for your kissing convenience.

Some are romantic settings, others iconic film locations. Happy many can you kiss off the list?

Buckingham Palace

The most famous kiss of recent times has to be the one between Kate and William at the Royal Wedding, on the palace of Buckingham Palace in front of thousands of onlookers. You won’t easily find a way to get up to the balcony, but you could stand in front of the palace gates for yours.

St Pancras International

The domed glass ceiling of St Pancras International sets a pleasant scene for a snog anyway, but the station has a particularly prime location under its famous statue The Meeting Place, which shows two lovers in an embrace and aims to reflect the romantic nature of train travel. It cost about £1 million, meaning it might be the capital’s most expensive kiss.

Hammersmith Bridge

Enjoy your own “ideal kissing moment” on this rather lovely fairy-lit part of the Thames, a la Helen and James in Sliding Doors.

Clos Maggiore

This French restaurant in Covent Garden, which has open fires, blossom-filled branches and a star-dotted ceiling, is known as London’s most romantic place to eat. So, it would be rude not to kiss, wouldn’t it?

Heathrow

Recreate the opening scenes of Love Actually at the arrival gates in Heathrow. You can choose which terminal, but for best effect you should actually have been somewhere more exotic than the Piccadilly Line.

The Sky Garden

Parks are romantic, and so are views. Combine the two at this sky-high space in the City. For best effect, find a secluded spot near the foliage and look down on St Paul’s.

The John Snow

This Soho pub quite rightly landed itself in hot water back in 2011 after reports that a gay couple were asked to leave for kissing. Protests that followed saw same sex couples from London and beyond flock there to lock lips in defiance. The pub has changed its stance since but the sentiment remains - grab someone of any gender and go in for a kiss, just because you can.

London Planetarium

Let’s face it, London’s air is far too polluted to allow for romantic smooches under the stars. If you’re really set on a kiss under the sky’s twinkling lights then you’d best had to the London Planetarium in Greenwich.

Royal Exchange

Channel your inner Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy and go in for a kiss at the Royal Exchange, which the film makes seem is just around the corner from Bridget’s Borough Market flat rather than on the other side of the river. Extra points for anyone who utters the words “nice boys don't kiss like that” or if you manage a smooch when it’s snowing, but top scores are only for those who, like Bridget, are wearing just their pants.

Shakespeare’s Globe

One of the most famous kisses of all time has to be between Romeo and Juliet, a couple who have come to symbolise romance itself - in spite of the less than ideal ending. Channel the Shakespearean young lovers with your own smooch outside The Globe.

St Luke's Mews

If there’s a special someone that you’d like to let know “to me you are perfect”, then what better place to do it than on charming St Luke's Mews in Notting Hill, where Love Actually saw Mark do just that using cue cards.

St James’ Park

London is lucky enough to be graced with many a beautiful park, but none can compete with St James’s. After all, there are pelicans. The bridge over the pond close to Birdcage Walk is prime kissing fodder, you might just want to watch out for selfie sticks.