Love Actually Filming Locations in London

Love it or find it insufferable, Love Actually is the film a very large number of people watch every December, and it is stuffed with real London. Notting Hill mews, Mayfair chapels, the South Bank, Selfridges at Christmas: almost all of it is out there and walkable.

Contents

Here is the full location list with addresses, the honest note about which famous scene was not filmed where you think, and how to string them together into one very festive day.

Before You Go

Time needed: a full day on foot and Tube, or a comfortable half day if you stick to the west London cluster.
Best time: late November to Christmas, when Selfridges and Oxford Street are lit and the whole thing makes sense. In July it is just a walk past some buildings.
Two clusters: Notting Hill and Mayfair in the west, then the South Bank across the river. An Oyster or contactless card covers all of it.

The West London Cluster

1. St Luke’s Mews, Notting Hill

Address: 27 St Luke’s Mews, London W11 1DF.
The scene: the cue cards. Mark, the boombox, “to me, you are perfect”, and one of the most parodied moments in British film.
Today: the pink house is instantly recognisable and the mews is exactly as pretty as it looks. It is also entirely residential and narrow, and the people who live there have had two decades of visitors on the doorstep. Photograph it from the mews entrance, keep your voice down, and do not linger by the door.

2. Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair

Address: 24 South Audley Street, London W1K 2PA.
The scene: Juliet and Peter’s wedding, and the surprise brass band coming up the aisle to “All You Need Is Love”.
Today: a working Georgian chapel, open to visitors outside services, and considerably plainer and more beautiful inside than the film’s decorations suggest. Check service times before you go in.

3. Selfridges

Address: 400 Oxford Street, London W1A 1AB.
The scene: Harry buying the necklace while Rufus, played by Rowan Atkinson, gift-wraps it with maddening ceremony. The best comic scene in the film.
Today: still there, still enormous, and its Christmas windows are a genuine London event that goes up remarkably early. Free to walk through.

The South Bank Cluster

4. Oxo Tower Wharf

Address: Bargehouse Street, South Bank, London SE1 9PH.
The scene: Mark leaving after dropping off the wedding video, walking out through the courtyards.
Today: a mixed building of galleries, studios and restaurants with a free public viewing terrace on the eighth floor that far too few people know about. Walk the riverside path from here past the National Theatre and Tate Modern for the best stretch of the South Bank.

5. Tate Modern

Address: Bankside, London SE1 9TG.
Today: free to enter, and the Turbine Hall in winter is one of the great indoor spaces in Europe. A ten-minute walk east along the river from the Oxo Tower, and the obvious warm-up stop when your hands stop working.

The Scene That Is Not Where You Think

The Prime Minister’s dance. Hugh Grant working his way down a grand staircase to “Jump (For My Love)” is the most-quoted sequence in the film, and people go looking for it at 10 Downing Street.

It is not there. The production could not get access, so the whole Downing Street interior, staircase included, was built at Shepperton Studios. Downing Street itself has been closed to the public behind security gates since 1989, so there is no version of this you can walk up to. Admire it on the sofa and spend the time on the South Bank instead.

Similarly, the airport arrivals sequence that bookends the film was shot at Heathrow, and while you can obviously go to Heathrow, standing in an arrivals hall for cinematic reasons is a thin afternoon.

Love Actually Filming Locations: Your Questions Answered

Where is the house from the cue card scene?

27 St Luke’s Mews in Notting Hill, W11. It is a private home on a narrow residential mews, so be quick and be considerate.

Which church is the wedding in Love Actually?

Grosvenor Chapel at 24 South Audley Street in Mayfair. It is an active chapel and generally open to visitors outside services.

Was Love Actually filmed at the real 10 Downing Street?

No. The interiors, including the staircase Hugh Grant dances down, were sets at Shepperton Studios. Downing Street has been gated off from the public since 1989.

Can you do the locations in one day?

Comfortably. Notting Hill and Mayfair in the morning, Selfridges around lunch, then the South Bank in the afternoon, finishing at Tate Modern or along the river.

When should I go?

December, without question. The Oxford Street and Selfridges Christmas displays are half the reason to do this walk, and London gets dark by four in the afternoon, which is atmospherically ideal and logistically worth planning around.

Where to Stay

Soho puts you between Oxford Street and the river and in the middle of queer London, which makes it the obvious base. Notting Hill is prettier and quieter and walking distance from St Luke’s Mews. The South Bank and Southwark side is generally better value and gives you the river walk on your doorstep.

More on the city in our London guide. If Christmas film trails are your thing, our Home Alone guide does the same for Chicago’s North Shore.

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