The best luxury picnic baskets and hampers for summer
If you're going to dine al fresco, do it in style
All products are chosen independently by our editors. Luxury London may earn commission on items purchased.
The sun is beginning to shine, spring is here and there’s now been enough space between us and pandemic-enforced outdoor dining to make al fresco socialising fun again. All of which means one thing: it’s time to get your picnic gear in order. Because, yes, while it won’t be long before it’s warm enough for outdoor dining and London’s rooftop bars will soon be back with gusto, you’re going to have to be pretty quick off the mark to secure a good table – and who really wants their long lunch cut short by a two-hour time slot?
Much better to invest in a chic picnic hamper, fill it with Fortnum & Mason’s finest, and head to one of London’s most beautiful parks. Here are some of the best luxury picnic baskets available to buy now.
Alessi Dressed En Plein Air picnic set
Italian kitchenware brand Alessi is responsible for some of the world’s most famous cooking accessories (its Juicy Salif is, perhaps, history’s best-known lemon squeezer), so it makes sense that its range would extend to al fresco dining. Designed by Dutch architect and designer Marcel Wanders, this elegant round wicker basket puts a sophisticated twist on the classic hamper and comes complete with enough glasses, cutlery, plates and bowls for four.
Prada picnic backpack
Thought picnic baskets had to be all wicker construction and leather straps? Prada, and its iconic nylon backpack, would beg to differ. The Italian fashion house has repurposed one of its most famous designs to house everything you need for a stylish and sustainable picnic. Side pockets are home to reusable stainless steel water bottles while the backpack unzips to reveal compartments for cutlery, napkins and steel sandwich boxes with lids that double as cutting boards.
Fortnum & Mason Camellia picnic hamper
Fortnum & Mason, the creator of the original high-end picnic, offers an expansive range of hampers and baskets so, if you’re going to go all out, make it your go-to destination. Neatly stored inside the leather-finished wicker hamper are four plates, four mugs, four glasses, four cutlery sets, cotton napkins, a flask, a lunch bag salt and pepper shakers, a freezable wine cooler, a corkscrew, and a bag for waste, with room left over to pack full of foodie treats with which to impress.
Ralph Lauren Bailey Picnic Basket
This sophisticated wicker basket from Ralph Lauren is lined in a chic striped cotton and comes complete with enough tableware and accessories for four, including plates, cups, a bottle opener and cheese service essentials (obviously), as well as a Johnstons of Elgin wool blanket. Trimmed with leather accents and rotating buckles, it’s guaranteed to be the most practical and chic picnic basket in the park.
Coco & Wolf Thorpe Hill Picnic Basket
It doesn’t get much more quaint than this picnic basket from Coco & Wolf. A traditional silhouette handcrafted in Somerset from natural, environmentally friendly wicker and lined with scalloped Liberty print cotton, it features a double opening lid for convenience and is filled with all the picnic essentials. From plates and tumblers, created in collaboration with Falcon Enamelware, to cutlery and patterned napkins, the four-person basket is your answer to beautiful and functional al fresco summer dining.
Regency fitted picnic hamper
Cotswolds-based brand Regency specialises in hampers of all kinds (the company is a real go-to come Christmas) but its line of picnic hampers is easily our favourite. This four-person wicker number is more akin to a restaurant-in-a-box than an elevated packed lunch. Along with the usual cutlery, porcelain plates, napkins and wine glasses, there’s also salt and pepper shakers, an insulated wine bag, polar fleece picnic blanket, stainless steel cups, a thermal flask and a cooler compartment.
Les Jardins de la Comtesse Champs Elysées picnic basket
Picnic hampers don’t get more elite than this design by Les Jardins de la Comtesse. Handcrafted in classic wicker and lined with a gorgeous tartan print, it has enough cutlery, plates, wine glasses and napkins for 10, plus a corkscrew and picnic blanket to take it up a notch. It even has a built-in cooler bag to keep those all-important bubbles chilled.
