Paddington or Kensington?

I think most people on the forum would opt for Kensington over Paddington, although we’ve stayed in both. If you choose Paddington, be sure to visit Camden Town. If you walk through the rail station off Praad St., and out the back, there are signs to guide you. It’s a fun area.

We always stay in the North Kensington/Bayswater area on the north end of Hyde Park. There are good underground stations, and it's easy to navigate the city from there. The residential area around Paddington underground station is also nice.

It's just a short cab ride over to Paddington train station to catch the 15 minute Heathrow Express train out to the airport.

To help decide, you may want to look at a map of restaurants in each of the areas. Your food preferences and budget may be easier to accommodate in one or the other. It's nice to come back to the hotel after a long day of sightseeing and be able to walk down the block to have dinner.

I’d choose Kensington, by which I’m assuming South Kensington near the museums or Kensington High Street nearer Hyde Park. There are other Kensington’s which are less touristy than those mentioned, I wouldn’t choose those. Paddington is fine too, and is generally less posh than Kensington, but not in a bad way.

Kensington is more fancy French patisserie and Paddington more a great Lebanese Grill... both great depending on your mood.

If you stayed in Paddington, you will almost certainly visit Kensington on your travels. Staying in Kensington, you’d have little reason to visit Paddington; so if you want a broader London experience, try Paddington. Or split your time between both by moving hotels during your visit.

The only reason to visit Paddington is to go to the railway station. Kensington would be my preference any day.

Check for transportation to the sites you want to visit.

Be particularly careful over anything described as West Kensington. Nothing wrong with that area per se, but parts of it don't have that good connections to central London (reliant on bus routes or longish walks to the Underground).

Paddington will become a better connected area with Crossrail, although that always seems to be at least 18 months away whenever I write about it.

"be sure to visit Camden Town" - Responding to this suggestion from the person above
Camden Town IMHO is not worth the time anymore. 5+ years ago, it was stellar, however, ever since the $$$$ guys started developing Camden Market by totally destroying half of it with condos or apartments, not worth the trip. I realize they had a fire there awhile back, and the owners decided not to rebuild, but it was quite disappointing when I was there in 2017, and saw the changes.

I agree that "Kensington " covers a wide range. At least four Tube stops carry the name (Kensington West, Kensington High Street, South Kensington, Kensington Olympia) and Earl's Court and Gloucester Road stations qualify too. There is a string of major institutions, such as the Royal Albert Hall and several museums, stretching from Hyde Park down to the river. Lots of variety in pubs and dining, although any bargain for hotel rates can only be relative to posh or wannabe-posh aspirations. Google Maps will show hotels, pubs, restaurants etc. around a chosen address. Their lists cannot be comprehensive nor authoritative, but usually include useful links.

We always stay in South Kensington by the Gloucester tube station. Plenty of hotels and restaurants in that area. Both Earl’s Court and South Kensington tube stations are about a 10 minutes walk away. Each has plenty of restaurants too. I’ve never stayed at Paddington, just visited to catch the train and see the Paddington Bear statue. Camden Lock was interesting, and I liked the building fronts, but it was very crowded.

I've stayed at a hotel across the street from Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens (where they meet) at Lancaster Gate. It is only an 8-9 minute walk to/from Paddington. I think if you can find a hotel/B&B/Airbnb that fits your needs/budget in either of those two areas, you will be happy.

It is important to look carefully at where somewhere actually is - real estate agents often flatter by association, so do hotels, apartments, and other folks trying to separate tourists from their money.

I just returned and loved the area we stayed in Bloomsbury, right by the British Museum. I saw that Emma mentioned it. I mainly used the Holborn station as the purple line got me directly to and from Heathrow and easy access to everything. We did a lot of research on a flat and read reviews and it was ok but would book a B&B or hotel recommended in the RS book. I did like shopping at the local grocery stores and cooking and there were 4 of us so it was fine.

But I like reading the posts on staying in South Kensington. It was a lovely area.

It’s the Blue, Piccadilly, line that runs to Heathrow, but it does stop at Holborn.

Blue (light blue) is generally associated with the Victoria Line. Piccadilly Line is a very dark blue, many people call it purple.

South Kensington. Love it. Easy access to the tube, lots of walkable and affordable dining. We are museum fans and you can't beat the SoKensington neighborhood for the V & A.

There are some nice hotels in the Paddington area also, which is only three minute walk to Paddington Station and an 8 minute walk to Lancaster Gate tube station.

Even the characters in Downton Abbey debated north or south of the Park. I’m normally on the side of South Kensington where I usually stay, BUT the apartment you have already booked in Westbourne Gardens looks great, is highly recommended, and the ground floor will be nicely accessible.

As Rick says, assume you’ll return and then you can try another part of town.