Explore your creative side and embark on a journey to learn new skills in London. Immerse yourself in a world of culinary delights by joining cooking classes at some of the most innovative and pioneering restaurants in the city. Delve into the art of pottery, candle-making, and calligraphy with the trend-setting independent companies that London has to offer.
By attending these workshops, you will not only gain valuable knowledge and techniques but also have the opportunity to network and connect with fellow enthusiasts in the creative community. From perfecting your cooking techniques to honing your artistic abilities, London's top-notch workshops provide a vibrant and immersive learning experience.
After a fulfilling day of exploring your creative potential, consider a stay at the county hotel, where comfort meets convenience, offering you the perfect place to relax and reflect on your new skills.
So why wait? Take the plunge and explore the 19 best creative workshops in London.
Baking Doughnuts at Bread Ahead
Famed Borough Market Bakery, Bread Ahead, has people with a soft corner for desserts lining up for their renowned doughnuts, tantalizingly filled with tangy blueberry jam, creamy chocolate, or salted-caramel. These sweet lord bits of dough are light as a feather and delectably filled. Decode the making of these doughnuts at one of their concise workshops and shape your own six doughnuts within just a few hours.
Crucial time-saving tips like kneading your dough and then keeping it in cool storage for the proofing process overnight, followed by an immediate step forward with a pre-prepared batch. This will enable you to rapidly shape and fill your six exquisite doughnuts akin to the famous DIY segment in the Blue Peter show.
Address: Bread Ahead Bakery and School, Cathedral Street in Borough Market, London SE1 9DE
Telephone: +44 20 7403 5444
Website: breadahead.com
**Price:** £90
Discover the joy of baking, the anticipation of proving and, the satisfaction of biting into a doughnut you've made yourself. Who knows, once you've mastered the secrets from the best in the business, you might just start a bakery of your own!
Discover Clay Art at Skandihus
Skandihus offers a unique opportunity for art enthusiasts ready to transform their craft beyond the casual afternoon hobby. This ceramics haven provides engaging twelve-week courses in pottery where you can master the art of handcrafting and wheel shaping clay artifacts. Much akin to the famous pottery scene from Ghost, Skandihus lets you play with various forms before you breathe life into your final masterpiece with creative decorations.
For those hesitant about diving into a full-term course, Skandihus conducts introductory taster sessions. These half-day workshops give you a chance to create and glaze your very own clay pot, adding a personal touch to your artistic journey.
Location: Skandihus, 90 De Beauvoir Road, London N1 4EN
Online presence: skandihus.co.uk
Charges: £45 for taster sessions. Full course of 12 weeks costs £320.
Mastering Pickling at Little Duck – The Picklery
Many beginner cooks are often left dumbfounded when they discover the intricate difference between pickling and fermenting. Essentially, fermenting utilises the innate bacteria already present in the food, allowing it to react with its natural sugars, while pickling utilises a certain type of acid. At Little Duck – The Picklery in Dalston, sister to the renowned Soho's Ducksoup, you can learn both processes. Engage in a hands-on experience with other culinary enthusiasts around a grand marble island set before an open kitchen. Under the guidance of professional Chef Thom Eagle, you'll learn how to create tangy kimchi and tart pickled walnuts.
Did you know? Pickling has a history dating back 4000 years. It was used not only for preserving food but also for enhancing its taste; a testament to the enduring appeal of this culinary technique.
Location: Little Duck – The Picklery, 68 Dalston Lane, Dalston, London E8 3AH
Phone Number: +44 20 7249 9177
Website: littleduckpicklery.co.uk
**Cost:** Starts at £10
The Art of Floral Arrangement at Grace & Thorn
Nestled not far from Columbia Road Flower Market, Grace & Thorn's sleek, industrial studio with polished concrete offers the backdrop for their evening learning sessions. Discover the skill of fashioning a bundle of season-appropriate flowers, either hand-bunched or creatively placed in an unconventional pickle jar. For those looking for a creation that extends beyond the weekend, opt for a workshop focused on dried flowers, where you get to learn how to fabricate your own enduring bunch.
**Location:** Grace & Thorn, 312 Hackney Road, London, E2 7SJ
Contact: +44 20 7739 1521
Online:graceandthorn.com
**Rate:** Begins from £80
Experience the Art of Candlemaking at Earl of East
In the heart of Hackney resides the aromatic hub known as Earl of East, widely recognised for its olfactory delights. Here, every candle is meticulously hand-poured and presented for sale in a charmingly rustic, exposed-brick storefront, nestled amongst a variety of captivating options such as incense, essential oils, perfume, and skincare products. They offer workshops where you are given the opportunity to craft your own fragrant candle by selecting a personal scent to infuse into a soy wax candle. The resulting creation is yours to retrieve the following day, or conveniently shipped to you, if preferred.
Location: Earl of East, 5A Gransden Avenue, London E8 3QA
Official Site: earlofeast.com
Cost of Workshop: £49.50
Experience Whole-Animal Culinary Arts at The Ginger Pig
Immerse yourself in the art of whole-animal cooking with a hands-on butchery class at The Ginger Pig, renowned for their unrivalled sausage rolls. Their expert butchers offer an insightful culinary journey, educating meat lovers about the sources of their food and the most effective cooking methods to utilise the entire beast. Their pork-themed classes enlighten you about sausage production and the secret to perfect crackling, while the poultry-themed lessons delve into techniques of utilising every part of the bird, including the carcass, in home cooking.
Location: The Ginger Pig, 8-10 Moxon Street, Marylebone, London W1U 4EW
Contact: +44 20 3869 7820
Website: thegingerpig.co.uk
Fees: Start at £165
Immerse Yourself in Screen Printing at Print Club London
Experience the magic of creating your very own art piece at Print Club London's unique screen printing workshop, threading throughout the history of the fascinating art form. In this hands-on course, learn about crafting your designs digitally and master the technique of transferring them onto a screen through a unique emulsion method illuminated by UV light. On finishing the course, you'll be delighted to have your own set of unique prints you've ran yourself.
Screen printing not only borrows from the past but is also highly relevant today in various industries such as fashion, advertising, and fine arts.
**Location:** Print Club London, situated at 10-28 Millers Avenue, Dalston, London E8 2DS
Contact Number: +44 20 7254 9028
Official Site: printclublondon.com
**Course Fee:** Commence from £65
Crafting Jewels at London Jewellery School
Explore your creative side and immerse yourself in the artistry of jewellery making at the prestigious London Jewellery School located in Hatton Garden. This area is known for being London's pulsating heart of jewellery craftsmanship. They provide comprehensive courses on how to create unique jewellery using a diverse array of materials like silver, glass, and enamel. Whether you opt for a simple day class focusing on mastering the art of stone setting, or you're intrigued by the elegance of a traditional pearl necklace and want to learn how to string one together, the school has something to offer you. They even provide a selection of evening courses that allow you to leave with a collection of personally handcrafted items.
**Location:**London Jewellery School, Back Ground Floor Studio, New House, 67-68 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8JY
Phone number:+44 20 3176 0546
Online resource: londonjewelleryschool.co.uk
**Cost:**Starting at £132
Handcrafted Soap Classes at The Indytute
Join the sustainable lifestyle movement by creating your eco-friendly solid soap at The Indytute. Gain hands-on skills by curating organic mixtures from various essential oils and crafting a captivating scent that's all your own. Not only will you be reducing plastic waste but you'll also produce a visually stunning bathroom accessory thanks to the marbling colour technique taught at our workshop.
**Location:**Token Studio, Unit 1, St Saviours Wharf, 23 Mill Street, Bermondsey, London SE1 2BE
Contact: +44 330 999 4634
Online platform: indytute.com
**Fee:**Begins at £27
Experience Fragrance Creation at the Experimental Perfume Club
Dive into the exciting world of perfume crafting at the world-renowned Experimental Perfume Club. Their Apprentice Workshops spanning half a day allow a select group of students to grasp the fundamentals of perfume creation, from understanding essential components to mastering the various techniques. Moreover, you'll have the opportunity to fashion an unparalleled fragrance to take back home. An added perk is that you will be given the method to recreate your personalized scent, enabling you to reorder another bottle once the initial one runs out.
Location: EPC Lab, 4 Netil Lane, London E8 3RL
Website: experimentalperfumeclub.com
Cost: Starting at £115
Exploring Fermentation at Cub
In the heart of London resides Cub, the sustainable brainchild of renowned chefs Doug McMaster and Ryan Chetiyawardana, who is also known as Mr. Lyan. McMaster, who initiated the zero-waste restaurant Silo, transferred his pioneering venture from Brighton to London in late 2019. Together with Chetiyawardana, they converted Cub into a destination promoting sustainability one step further. This manifest itself prominently in their fermentation classes, aimed at daring home chefs looking to innovate by repurposing everyday ingredients.
In these classes, you won't be transmuting water to wine, but you will astoundingly learn to make miso paste from stale bread, or even turn unused vegetables into vibrant pickles. One of the unique lessons is the making of garum – a type of fermented fish sauce – from meat scraps, guided by the skilled instruction of notable chemist and chef Dr. Johnny Drain.
Location: Cub, 153 Hoxton Street, Hoxton, London N1 6PJ
Contact Number: +44 20 3946 7060
Website: lyancub.com
**Investment:**£95
Mimo's Unique Culinary Learning Experiences: Basque and British!
Since its establishment in the old quarter of San Sebastian, a city renowned for its abundance of Michelin-starred restaurants, Mimo cookery school has been sharing the delights of Basque cuisine with curious food enthusiasts. Originating in 2009, Mimo specializes in educating travellers about the gastronomic wonders of the Basque region, from pintxos to tapas, before expanding its culinary journey to Seville, Algarve, Mallorca, and finally, setting roots in London's vibrant Borough Market in 2019. Sign up for a traditional Basque cooking class or explore something locally inspired like the afternoon tea sessions, designed to give aspiring pastry chefs a hands-on experience in crafting elegant pastries. Another top-notch selection is the Borough Market option as it provides a remarkable and unique culinary experience - a tour around the diverse food stalls, before creating delightful dishes from farm-fresh ingredients. All workshops culminate in a delectable meal, letting you savour everything cooked during the day. The practical sessions create a fun, engaging and hands-on experience to aid learning.
**Location:** Mimo London, 1 Cathedral Street, Borough Market, London SE1 9DE
Contact number: +44 20 3807 8229
Official Website:mimofood.com
Cost: Starting at £100.
Neon sign making with The Indytute
Neon maestros The Neon Workshops company make the journey from Yorkshire, where they’re based, to London every few months to run classes with The Indytute at Stoke Newington’s sweet creative space The Greenhouse. Learn to cut, fuse and stretch a piece of glass into your own design, then fill it with gas to create a bona-fide neon sign, with experts on hand to make sure the tricky process goes according to plan.
**Address:**The Greenhouse N16, 49 Green Lanes, Stoke Newington, London N16 9BU
Telephone: +44 330 999 4634
Website: indytute.com
Price: £380
Sourdough classes at E5 Bakehouse
Take things back to basics at this London Fields bakery set in Hackney’s hipster railway arches. Sourdough bread dates back thousands of years (baker’s yeast, in comparison has been used for only a few hundred), but this ancient tradition has had a resurgence in the past decade or so. Learn to create a ‘mother’ starter dough and use it to bake four different loaves – from a crusty country loaf to chewy bagels – that you can cart home at the end of the day.
**Address:**E5 Bakehouse, Arch 395, Mentmore Terrace, London Fields, London E8 3PH
Telephone: +44 20 8525 2890
Website: e5bakehouse.com
**Price:**£150
Learn to Create Terrariums with London Terrariums
Are you a plant enthusiast with a not-so-green thumb? Opt for terrariums – the perfect compromise, almost invincible to accidental plant-doting mishaps. London Terrariums offers instructional classes in their New Cross location as well as various other convenient places across London. The process involves filling a jar with soil, pebbles and moss to construct a welcoming environment for your chosen plants. Once finished, simply close it tightly and situate it in a well-lit space of your dwelling place.
**Location:** All around London
Official Site:londonterrariums.com
Cost: Starting from £30
Crafting Animal Illustrations with Wild Life Drawing
Experience a shift from the conventional to the charming with Wild Life Drawing's irresistibly adorable classes. They introduce piglets, hedgehogs, wolves and much more as your subject matter – adding a whole new dimension to live sketching. What's more, it's not just art – these classes also endorse an ethical perspective. As you sketch, expand your knowledge in areas like pig rearing welfare and issues threatening the existence of wolves. For a change of scene, there are occasional trips to the Brighton Sea Life Centre, allowing you to sketch sharks or jellyfish, and embrace your creativity akin to the natural splendour depicted in Blue Planet II.
Address: Subject to change
Telephone: +44 7966 441235
Web resource: wildlifedrawing.co.uk
Cost: Starting at £28
Mastering Calligraphy with Papier
Delve into the world of classic handwriting courtesy of Papier, a company renowned for its beautifully crafted cards and stationery. Their workshops are taught by seasoned professionals such as Suzie Dicker, the mastermind behind A l’aise, a notable Bath-based calligraphy firm. Aspiring learners get to learn the intricacies of a beautiful alphabet and are guided to create a piece that showcases their understanding and craftsmanship of the art. These lessons are hosted in some of London’s most upscale locales, from the exclusive Mortimer House members' club in Fitzrovia to the prestigious Anthropologie link in Chelsea's King's Road.
Location: Various Locations in London
Website: papier.com/events
Workshop Fee: Starts at £15
Carpentry at The Goodlife Centre
Whittling and working with wood is just one of the slow-lifestyle trends that’s been re-emerging around the world over the past few years. Follow the crowd at The Goodlife Centre, where you can take anything from a one-day introduction to woodturning class to a multi-week commitment from which you’ll walk away with a creation that can take pride of place in your home – a stool, chair or even a table.
**Address:**The Goodlife Centre, 49-55 Great Guildford Street, Southwark, London SE1 0ES
Telephone: +44 20 7760 7613
Website:thegoodlifecentre.co.uk
**Price:**From £175
Macrame at MADEptford
Upcycle some old cotton or yarn at this sweet macrame class at Deptford Market Yard, where MADEptford opened its doors for craft courses and workshops in 2019. Macrame is the art of knotting yarn (as opposed to weaving or knitting), which hit its peak in the 1970s. Embrace the retro trend under the tuition of local embroidery and knitting experts Chap & Darling.
Address: MADEptford, Arch 1, Deptford Market Yard, London SE8 4BX
Website: madeptford.com
Price: £25