The Test Valley is a hidden gem for coffee lovers! From cozy cafés to charming spots, this beautiful area is full of places to enjoy a great cup of coffee. Whether you’re after a quiet corner to relax with a book or a lively spot to catch up with friends, you’ll find plenty of options that cater to every taste. ☕❤️

Here are our favourite coffee spots in the Test Valley, each offering its own unique atmosphere and delicious brews. So grab your mug, and let’s explore the delightful coffee scene in this stunning valley! 🌳

👉 Want to make it a weekend exploring around the Test Valley? Check these highly-rated accommodation options.

Paws For Thought Cat Cafe

Cat cafe in Romsey, Hampshire… Paws For Thought Cat Cafe😸🐈🐈‍⬛☕️

Enjoy a visit to this feline friendly spot for a coffee in the heart of Romsey. We’ve visited a dog cafe and we can say cat cafes have a much more calming atmosphere than them 😂🐕🐈

The cafe has eight cats who wander around, nap away and mooch as you can enjoy a coffee or in our case a delicious luxury hot chocolate in a suitably themed cat mug. Homemade cake to accompany of course. The cafe is separated into 4 separate seating areas to enjoy and you will be shown to your table by the friendly staff. The kids loved the experience and really recommend as a gift for a special ocassion for family or friends. 🍰

You pay a £5 pp to visit for an hour which they call cat cover and it does cover the fantastic work they do regularly rescuing stray cats from the local area and also fostering cats. Food and drink is billed at the end of your visit. Children aged 6 up are allowed in the cafe.

📍 4 Church St, Romsey SO51 8BU

You can read more and book here – https://www.pawsforthoughtcatcafe.com/

Longstock Farm Shop & Cafe

Longstock Farm Shop & Cafe – Leckford Estate ☕️🍴💚🌱

Did you know Waitrose & Partners Farm is based in our very own Hampshire? Leckford Estate has a wonderful farm shop, cafe, nursery and water garden you can visit near Stockbridge which overlooks the picturesque valley of Longstock.

We always enjoy a visit to the test valley countryside and it’s beautiful villages and after enjoying breakfast and a stroll around the nursery with its seasonal offerings. We also like to head to the brilliant playground at Longstock recreation ground for the kids to enjoy which is just a few mins drive.

🐶 Dog friendly outside

📍The Farm Shop & Café, Park Nursery, Longstock, Stockbridge SO20 6EH

Houghton Lodge

The Glasshouse Tea Room 🫖🥗🧀

Yep we’d class this one as a hidden gem cafe, lovely indoor and outdoor seating areas, all with unique options of furniture and viewpoints. From the colourful decor inside to the tables overlooking the gardens and flowers outside. Outside for us and the friendly staff took our orders and served us up the likes of their epic two person ploughman’s board, delicious mushroom pasta and the daily special salad with juicy tomato’s and peaches 🍑

They have some great dishes on their menus as well as a wide variety of drinks to go with and plenty of deserts like cheesecake through to local Jude’s ice cream. Clearly local produce is the name of the game with them. Like it.

⏱️Open every day – 8:30 to 5pm and they stop serving hot food at 4pm

🦮Dogs allowed on leads including garden and cafe

✔️Buggy friendly and wheelchair friendly in most areas

📍Houghton, North Houghton, Stockbridge SO20 6LQ

Headlands Farm Coffee Shop

Headlands Farm Coffee Shop in west wellow near Romsey ☕️

Always enjoy stumbling across nice coffee spots and on a trip out we came across this gem in the Test Valley spot. The green garden was a peaceful place to sit and enjoy a drink and some cake, with the garden overlooking apple trees 🍏🍎

Sometimes people ask us how we find these hidden gems, some we get from recommendations and seeing other posts, others a bit of research. This one was a simple search en route via google maps and we always tend to opt for farm shop cafes etc as they tend to have a bit of character and are particularly nice in the summer outside 🚜☀️

📍Romsey Rd, West Wellow, Romsey SO51 6BG

Kimbridge Barn

Kimbridge Barn in Romsey🌿

Kimbridge Barn is an idyllic coffee spot that’s perfect for a refreshing break after a local walk. The rustic, welcoming setting features cozy indoor seating and plenty of outdoor tables by the water, ideal for a peaceful moment to relax. ☕️💧

While the prices are on the higher side, the quality is well worth it—the coffee is smooth and flavorful, and the waffles are light and delicious. 🧇

Beyond the café, Kimbridge Barn also hosts weddings, special evening events, and seasonal gatherings, making it a versatile and inviting destination in the heart of the Test Valley.

📍Kimbridge Barn,Kimbridge, Romsey SO51 0LE

TJ Brews

Hidden gem coffee spot in Stockbridge… TJ Brews☕️

We visited this little spot down an alley off the high street in the pretty Test Valley town. ✨

It’s in part of an old converted barn building so expect big old wooden beams, and even a large window overlooking that crystal clear waters of the river test and its famous chalk streams. 🪵

They have indoor and outdoor seating in a nice yard to sun yourself, we had an amazing biscoff cold brew, and they serve up bagels which they make fresh on site each morning for around a fiver, we had the new yorker which was filled with pastrami and gherkins, yum. They also do a deal for a bagel, bake and brew for £12. 😋

Do visit this nice independent spot when your in the area soon, so many great walks nearby too.☑️

📍Unit 8, The Vine, Stockbridge SO20 6HF

🅿️ Free on street parking

🥾 Walk idea here too – https://ourhampshire.com/test-valley-stockbridge…/

👉 For highly-rated accommodation around the Test Valley, check these ones!

Lemon & Jinja

A visit to Lemon & Jinja: Refill Shop and Café in Romsey and nature reserve walk 🍋🌲☕️🥐

📍One morning we visited this spot just outside Romsey town centre, they are a zero-waste refill store with a café that serves plant-based coffee and yummy baked goods.

🛋️We sat and enjoyed a relaxing coffee in their upstairs area and they also have a downstairs seating area too. They have a cafe dog, so yep allow dogs, we had a HUGE biscoff croissant, cinnamon roll and yep they serve lunches too. Their coffee mugs were very cool with their unique look having been made by the team too.

Based in an industrial estate they are a hidden gem, the interior has been turned into a light, bright green space with lots of cosy corners to enjoy a coffee and catch up with friends and family. The owner Jess, set up in 2018, moved into a shop 2019 and after growing moved into their larger premises where they are today. Jess and her team are very passionate about zero waste movement, they’re a friendly approachable bunch too so happy to answer any questions you have about the set up and refill side.

✨On that note, they are the largest refill shop in the UK and you can either bring your own container or grab a donated one from them and fill up. With over 3,000 products, both food and non food products that are plastic free, from rices to pastas, from refillable beauty products to sustainable clothing, from herbs and spices to refillable household cleaning liquids there is plenty to explore.

📅They also put on lots of workshops and events throughout the year such as vegan food markets to pottery making, so do check out their in store noticeboard and social channels for news of these.

🅿️lemon and jinja have free parking to the right of the shop facing it, if there are not any spaces at the time, pop in to chat to a staff member. There is unlimited parking on the weekends.

Fish Lake Meadows walk 🥾🐟

Just a few minutes walk from the cafe and shop, we strolled to Fish Lake Meadows. Down a forested path which crossed some streams and out onto a beautiful nature reserve. Luck on our side and the sun shining, it gave us a glimpse of spring on its way with some of the colours of nature starting to come out.

🕊️🦆The sound of bird song echoed across the nature reserve and with one or two nature photographers around with their zoom lenses, we could hear and see this was a great spot for birdwatching.We found an info board with a circular route which you can do around part of the reserve, some of it does go along the roads etc as some areas are private though. It was pretty wet due to all the rain and as we didn’t have the right footwear we didn’t do a full circular route, but even walking parts of it was nice, lots of open views across the water and nice viewpoints.

🅿️Visitor car park is open 8am-6pm and is located at the end of the first left turning after entering Oxlease Meadows.

More info on fishlake meadows and the walk

https://www.hiwwt.org.uk/fishlake-meadows

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