Hampstead Heath & area

Other guidebooks are available - Rough Guide to London is a good choice - which will have more on Hampstead.

It’s a very pretty, very affluent part of London. Lots of yummy mummies etc.

There are good shops & restaurants as well as lots of interesting sights. It feels a bit like a day trip out of London.

Thank you, This Person Who Writes Stuff. But... what are "yummy mummies"?

Yummy Mummies = well off mother’s.

Hampstead is like Beverly Hills.

The Heath is a lovely walk.

Lots of walkers and dogs. Nice POV of London from Parliament Hill. Look for the Jim Henson bench.

Check out the lawn bowling club and from there walk through the neighborhood and enjoy lunch at The Flask Pub.

If you make reservations now you might’ve able to include a visit to the incredible Highgate Cemetary while you are exploring the Heath.

Thank you! Cemetery sounds great.

We visited Highgate Cemetery on a rather grey November day – very spooky. Highly recommended.

Note that you don't need to book a tour for the East Cemetery; you can just wander around on your own. This side includes the graves of Karl Marx, George Eliot, Douglas Adams, and other notables, and also has many intriguingly shaped tombstones, such as a piano, a record player, an anchor, one with a dog, and one that just says D E A D in stylized letters (Patrick Caulfield's). And of course many tombstones that are listing and covered with ivy.

The West Cemetery can be visited by guided tour only. We didn't see it (although we should, someday!) b/c we weren't sure of our schedule and in November a lot depends on the weather also!

Wow! George Eliot. How did I not know this. Thank you.

Yes, I was much more excited to see her grave than Karl Marx's! ;-)

I believe there is a Hampstead London Walk. Unfortunately the Observatory is under maintenance but on a London Walks Pub Walk we got to visit the Observatory(think Victorian) on the Heath and see Saturn through the telescope. There is some nice architecture and some historic pubs as well.

Yes, I took and enjoyed the London Walk to Hampstead.

“I was much more excited to see her (George Eliot’s) grave.” than that of Karl Marx.

Yes, I would be, too, but who had more influence on the whole world? And to this day,

Norma and Laura--this is what Eliot herself said (last lines of Middlemarch): "But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly depending on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."

Not that Eliot's life was hidden, or her tomb unvisited, and yet I would like to think that the "effect of her being ... was incalculably diffusive" on "the growing good of the world."

London Walks has two Hampstead Walks. One is Saturday at 7 pm and seems to be a pub walk combined with a tour of the neighborhood, heath and cobblestone lanes. The other walk they have is on Sunday mornings and sounds similar minus the pubs I guess. Maybe someone who has taken these walks can give us more detail on the differences?

The images on Google are charming! But as I looked closer, there was a Zara and other chain stores on the High Stree. Although I'm guessing that London Walks avoids the commercial touristy areas.

The images on Google are charming! But as I looked closer, there was a
Zara and other chain stores on the High Stree. Although I'm guessing
that London Walks avoids the commercial touristy areas.

Yes, there are a lot more chain stores in Hampstead than there used to be. No one else can afford the rent. It’s a very, very expensive area.

I'm off for a walk across the Heath today. I love the place.

Fenton House - National Trust, just northwest of the centre of the village - has a long history, a great collection of early pianos and harpsichords, and a not too bad collection of fine porcelain. Pretty decent garden, fun widow's walk on the roof.

Kenwood House across the top of the Heath has a completely different feel. English Heritage. Very much transports you to the early 20th Century, in a very good way.

Don't be surprised by how big the Heath is. Go up to Kite Hill and look out. Visit Daunt Books by Hampstead station in the very southwest corner of the Heath.

You can very happily have an entire holiday in Hampstead, Rosslyn, and Belsize Park and on the Heath and in Primrose Hill without seeing any more of London.

Enjoy.

Thank you, Nigel. I've been wondering about Kenwood House, and general comments. That's what I'm hoping to do--stay in Hampstead (I have been to the major tourist sites in other parts of London before). And thanks, CaliMom for London Walks tip. I didn't know about that.

There are stores there because people in the village want to shop in them. Many are independents and some are chains.

We also took the London Walks tour of Hampstead. Very informative and pleasant couple of hours. We didn't go to the retail area of town. London Walks

Yes, the London Walks tour takes your through the side streets and the alleyways of Hampstead. It's still a charming area though I still prefer Highgate myself.

If you go to Highgate Cemetery, there is a great pub about a 15 minute walk from there. It's the Lord Palmerston at 33 Dartmouth Park Hill Rd. It's in a nice little neighborhood, well off the beaten path. I guess it would qualify as a "gastropub" as the food is excellent and the place has been redone beautifully. Nice fireplace at the back and an outdoor garden behind. My son lives near there and we eat there when we visit him in London. Also look for an interesting group of houses right near Highgate Cemetery...it's called Holly Village and was built by Charles Dickens and a wealthy heiress back in the 1800s. It's very unique and a good photo stop!

London Walks has two Hampstead Walks. One is Saturday at 7 pm and seems to be a pub walk combined with a tour of the neighborhood, heath and cobblestone lanes. The other walk they have is on Sunday mornings and sounds similar minus the pubs I guess. Maybe someone who has taken these walks can give us more detail on the differences?

I’ve taken both (years apart) and the walks are similar ... just one stops at pubs and one doesn’t.