The Idler Academy

If you like your coffee with a strong shot of philosophy, The Idler Academy is the place for you. This cafe-cum-centre of learning was set up by The Idler's Tom Hodgkinson - the man who advocates doing less is more through his Idler books - and aims to revive the 18th century coffeehouse, mixing in a good dose of the 1950s grammar school. Alongside their Monmouth coffee, organic ploughman's lunches and cream teas you get lessons in topics as varied as history, philosophy, sewing, cooking and carpentry. Lessons in a typical month include Rabbi Julia Neuberger giving a symposium on death, historian John Nicholson with an illustrated lecture on riots, rebellions, uprisings in England, and a programme of light works by Beethoven and his contemporary, the Italian guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani. Free goblets of wine and nibbles are served at some of the evening courses, adding to the sense of convivial learning. The Idler Academy motto is libertas per cultum, meaning 'freedom through education', in the sense of 'cultivation' of knowledge. If you thought learning was boring the Idler folk will make you think differently.