Prize draw: win a signed copy of London for Lovers, plus a delicious Valentine’s Night meal for two in one the book’s recommended restaurants

We really love this book. Reading it made us want to take a loved one by the hand and set out in search of adventure in the capital. The idea behind it is simple, but exquisitely executed: newlyweds Sam Hodges and Sophie Vickers have plotted a series of amorous escapades that each wend their way across pockets of London and take in the sights, quirks, history, cafés, clubs and shops worth knowing about and stopping for. They have grouped their 30-odd dates into natty themes, like ‘Leafy’ (from Spring Fungi Forays on Hampstead Heath to a cocktail with flamingoes on Kensington Roof Gardens), and ‘Lazy’ (from sipping Russian tea in Trojka to picking up a bite to eat at a favourite Farmer’s Market). What’s most fun is the way it weaves the curious with the cool, the beautiful with the bizarre, the historic with the hilarious and the intrepid with the inspiring.

Colourful retro typography, energetic storytelling (do you know about the noses of Soho? Or the licentious Princess Caroline’s sunken plunge bath in Greenwich? Neither did we), and gorgeous photographs make every page and idea zing – and the book has inspired us to fall in love with London all over again, never mind the lucky person we’ll be taking on one of the days or nights out – which, drum-roll please, you can do for free, on Valentine’s Day itself, if you win our fantastically-sexy-and-tempting prize draw.

OK, so we’ve got three signed copies of London for Lovers to give away to three winners, but on top of this, we’ve arranged an extra first prize of dinner for two in one of the books’s recommended restaurants on 14th February at 8pm. The restaurant is called Ida and trust us, it’s a wonderful, effortlessly intimate  place (see photo, below) that serves homemade and delicious regional Italian food, and specialises in handmade pasta, which it makes on site fresh every day. (FYI: if you want to learn how to make your own pasta, it also does great cooking workshops every Saturday). The prize works as follows: the winner will have a table for two reserved in his or her name on 14th February at 8pm at Ida, in Queen’s Park. The diners will be greeted at Ida with a Valentine’s Day cocktail and can then enjoy a three course meal and a bottle of wine – all on us! What’s not to love, Londoners? To enter, fill in the form below by 5pm on Thursday 7th February, and we’ll pick three lucky names out of a hat. First name gets the dinner date and a book, the second and third names get the book only. NB: winners will be notified by email.

ENTER COMPETITION