Afternoon tea in London without reservation? Is it possible?

If you're flexible with regards to where you go, then I'm pretty sure on any given day you will find a table somewhere, but it might require you to try to few places especially during the peak summer season. You might also need to be a bit flexible with regards to time, as the peak time 4-5pm is likely to be busiest.

EDIT: I had a look at the Ritz, Savoy and Dorchester, and none of them required credit card details for booking, so I don't know where you've been looking?

What do you expect "afternoon tea" to be? It is just a snack of tea and cakes, a very light meal, or small sandwiches, which is consumed around about 4 to 5 o'clock to fill in the gap between late breakfast and dinner. Some places (usually the expensive hotels or restaurants) have tried to blow it up into some sort of exclusive aristocratic ritual which excludes the "ordinary mortal".

If you stick to that assumption then you will inevitably be disapointed when you tuck into a small fairy cake and cup of tea then realise that you have paid over £20 per person for the privilege of having it in a fancy tea room.

There are hundreds of places in London where you can have good quality afternoon tea without booking. If you want to stick to the big hotels or posher restaurants then you will find that they fill up, so there may be a problem if you just "turn up" that's why they like you to book.

Why not forget stereotypes of London (I realise this can be difficult) and just wander into somewhere that is not "international"? Forget the Ritz or Savoy (which has made a feature of publicising its "afternoon tea") and other large hotel chains. This means look at smaller hotels or even restaurants in places where you wouldn't think of looking.

Places like Fortnum and Mason (a very prestigeous "royal" grocer); Harrods (the biggest department store); the Victoria and Albert Museum (has a beuatiful tiled tea roon) all have excellent restaurants where you can meet and enjoy tea and cakes. You can find plenty of smaller restaurants and cafes in the Covent Garden area where you can enjoy great quality afternoon tea in historic surroundings without being "ripped off". Booking is not done in these places so just turn up - if one is full then try nearby.

Look at these links for some guidance and hints:

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/the-15-quirkiest-afternoon-teas-in-london

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/9124793/Londons-ten-best-afternoon-teas.html

I'm sure quite a few places (not just hotels) offer afternoon tea without a reservation. Here is a link to some venues.

London hotels are over priced. You can have afternoon tea outside London in tea shops for a fraction of the cost.

you may want to check out the threads on "Afternoon Tea" at the Trip Advisor site

http://www.tripadvisor.com/SearchForums?q=afternoon+tea+without+reservations&scope=2&ff=17&geo=186338&returnTo=__2F__ShowForum__2D__g186338__2D__i17__2D__London__5F__England__2E__html

Probably not, because the kind of hotels that offer it do tend to get booked up in advance, especially if you want it at tea time! I just looked up the Ritz - as I write, you can book for next Wednesday at the earliest, but only if you want afternoon tea at 7.30 pm. Then there's next Saturday at 11.30 am, then nothing until Tuesday at 7.30 pm - you get the idea? There is absolutely no afternoon tea in the afternoon available until September.

Phone the hotel as you don't want to book online.

Yes