From July 27 to September 29, 2010, the recently opened Garden Café will provide visitors the opportunity to enjoy some light refreshment on the West Terrace, located between the State Rooms and the Palace garden. The café overlooks the Palace’s famous lawn and lake.

The Garden Café is open during the Palace’s visiting hours, from 9:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. View the Palace’s Web site for more information.

The price of luxury

Of course, the fancy ambiance does come for the cost of a visit to the State Rooms: The café sits at the end of this exhibit. Admission costs £17 (£15.50 reduced).

Buckingham Palace also offers “A Royal Day Out” combination tickets, with admission to the States Rooms, the Royal Mews and the Queen’s Gallery for £30.50 (£27.50 reduced). The combination tickets are available from July 27 to October 1, 2010.

If you’ll be in London again (and can’t get enough of Her Majesty’s posh pad), buy your combination ticket from the Royal Collection to get free admission for the next 12 months. (Otherwise, stick to the standard ticket and save the pounds for a confection at the café.)

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When last we pounded the pavement researching hotels in London for our guide, we remembered fondly finding respite (and caffeine) in the UK coffee chains (Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee, Coffee Republic, Pret a Manger) and, yes, also in the American chains (Starbucks and McDonald’s).

Setting aside the question of the “best cup of coffee in London,” (another post entirely), where can you find the cheapest cup?

Researching this online was a no-go. Every chain has its own website, of course, but you won’t find any prices listed. This is probably due to fluctuations in pricing throughout the UK — and to prevent pesky investigators from blogging about it. So we went about our research the old fashioned way… we called ’em on the phone. (Thank you, Vonage.)

Note that coffee prices inside London may vary for the same chain, as well. Thus, we called only coffee outlets in central London, asking for prices for a small latte and for a small Americano (“drip” coffee isn’t widely available). Keep in mind that true sizes may differ from chain to chain — even though they’re all called “small,” one chain may offer more ounces.

We also only inquired about “take away” prices — when we started asking too many questions, baristas and managers got a little nervous.

The results:

Caffe Nero – The Winner!
Small Americano: £1.30 ($2.56)
Small Latte: £1.50 ($2.95)
We spoke to baristas at two central Caffe Nero locations, both near Covent Garden, in order to verify the price. These are nearly New York prices.

Runners Up

Pret a Manger
Small Americano: £1.40 ($2.76)
Small Latte: £1.79 ($3.52)
We’re fans of these cute little outlets. We spoke to a barista at a location on Villiers Street, near the Strand.

McDonald’s
Drip: £1.59/1.99 ($3.13/3.92)
Latte: £1.59/1.99 ($3.13/3.92)
We spoke to a manager (we believe) near a location on the Strand. We asked too many questions and he hung up on us. Interestingly, McDonald’s was the only chain we called that serves drip coffee instead of Americano. Also, they don’t have “small” sizes, only “medium” and “large.” (What, no “supersized”?)

Pricier Coffee Chains

Coffee Republic
Small Americano: £1.69 ($3.32)
Small Latte: £1.89 ($3.72)
We spoke to a friendly barista at a popular location on Tottenham Court Road.

Costa Coffee
Small Americano: £1.70 ($3.35)
Small Latte: £1.95 ($3.84)
A nice guy at the Embankment Place location (near the Strand) offered these rates, although he was curious. “Are you a customer?” he asked us. Of course! (We have enjoyed a Costa cup in the past, after all.)

Starbucks – Most Expensive
Small Americano: £1.75 ($3.45)
Small Latte: £2.05 ($4.04)
The prices were given to us by a barista at a Villiers Street location, near the Strand. This confirmed our suspicions that the Seattle-based chain was, in fact, the priciest coffee-chain cup in town. Or at least, the priciest cup we called.

We didn’t have time to check in on cool independent cafes in London, but that’s another post.

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