You could spend your Valentine’s dining under one of London’s most picturesque and historic buildings

an image of the old royal naval college's painted hall

(Image credit: Old Royal Naval College)

There are almost an overwhelming number of ways to spend Valentine's, let alone once you start venturing into Galentine’s and Palentine’s territory. Dinners, cocktail-making courses, Pinterest-coded highly themed evenings in, crying into a Jellycat in front of a 90s rom com – all good options. One that tops them all? A three-course meal under one of London’s most exquisite and historical buildings: Old Royal Naval College’s Painted Hall.

Following 4 consecutive sell-out years, Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College is opening its doors once again for the ultimate event – a Valentine’s Dinner in its Painted Hall. Bringing a scrumptious spectacle under a Baroque masterpiece, on 14th February, Old Royal Naval College is hosting a champagne-filled three-course dinner with live music, swoon-worthy scenes, and a stunning setting.

It’s not the cheapest of evenings, with individual tickets priced at £125 (pp), but after the price of a certain pop star’s Wembley tickets that went on sale this week, it feels like a positive steal. It kicks off at 7pm and will wrap up around 10.30pm, leaving you time to head on to another bar to round off the night, or just head straight home.

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On the menu are some delicious-sounding dishes, including: Stonebass ceviche, lamb rump, potato pavé, dark chocolate tart, and a whole host of other French-sounding things which no one is 100 per cent sure is an ingredient or a cooking method. Either way, it’s a fairly sure bet you’ll be sensationally stuffed.

If it doesn’t sound quite fancy enough, you can opt for the VIP Champagne Package, which means, in addition to your welcome glass of champagne, you’ll get a bottle to share between you across the meal.

Designed by  Sir James Thornhill and painted between 1707 and 1726,  the Painted Hall features more than 3,700 square metres of Baroque walls and ceilings. These surfaces are covered in striking images depicting 200 figures, including kings, queens and mythological creatures.

Usually, you can only explore the Painted Hall as part of a visit between the hours of 11am and 4pm so this is a preeeeetty special experience. So if you’ve completely forgotten to organise something for Valentine’s and want to make it look like you have in fact been planning something very, very special for a very long time, then this may just be the answer to your prayers. After all, dinner at a UNESCO World Heritage Site is going to take some beating.

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Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.

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