Beyond Hyde Park
Portobello – The best place to buy antiques in London is also a bustling food and vegetable market popular with locals.
Tube: Notting Hill Gate
Exit the tube by the Portobello Road exit. Turn right onto Pembridge Road before taking a left onto Portobello Road; you’ll pass one of George Orwell’s many London residences halfway down a row of brightly coloured houses – keep an eye out for the plaque. The great, energetic sprawl known as Portobello market has existed in one form or another since the last 1860s. The secondhand market is open Fridays, while the antiques market is held on Saturday toward the southern end, near Notting Hill Gate. Fruit and vegetable vendors, sellers of knickknacks, antique shops, and junk shops stuffed with treasures occupy the central part of the market every day of the week. Alice’s, established in 1887, is a good place to pick up vintage cricket bats and fishmonger signs.
The Portobello Arms and Armour Shoppe has an odd and varies selection of bayonets. The Electric Cinema was built for showing films in 1910; these days it features a bar and two lovely sofas available to rent out and view the movies from if you want privacy from the other cinema-goers.
Just off Portobello Road, at 30 Talbot Street is the incredible Rough Trade record shop, always stocked with rare audio delights. Back on Portobello Road is Café Grove. From its rooftop terrace patrons can watch the bargain hunter on the street below. Skip any chain stores with names you might recognise, supporting these local, unique shops is a thrill in itself. The market is best explored in a loop. Retrace your steps back to pick up any antiques that caught your eye on the way down, then exit to the Notting Hill Gate tube station.
Holland Park – Thought it was bombed to ruins during WWII, the house at the centre of Holland Park remains the centrepiece of the park’s beautiful grounds
Tube: Notting Hill Gate
Take the Portobello Road tube exit and then a right along Notting Hill gate. Turn left on Hillsleigh Road, head up the hill and then turn left again on Aubrey walk. Turn right on Campden Hill Road, past the Windsor Castle pub with its three interconnecting bars and garden, then turn right on Campden Hill and finally into the shelter of Holland Park.
Cross over the bike trail and follow the path ahead. You’ll eventually pass a statue of Lord Holland sitting in his favourite chair. Hidden throughout the park are some of the best modern sculptures in the country. Follow the right that leads to the peaceful Kyoto Garden, with its ponds full of fat koi fish. Upon leaving the garden turn left toward one of the first great houses in Kensington, Holland House, which was bombed in 1940. The Orangery Gallery, originally Holland House’s conservatory, is located nearby in the former garden ballroom of Lord Holland. Next to it is the high class eatery, The Belvedere. Follow the walkway around to the playing fields, then exit on to Ilchester Place. A left on Melbury Road goes past the home of pre-Raphaelite painter, William Holman Hunt. A left on Kensington High Street leads by the flapping flags of the Commonwealth Institute, built to promote member countries of the Commonwealth. Briefly detour left on Phillimore Gardens to stop at Sticky Fingers, the restaurant owned by former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, have a chocolate malt and gaze at the decades of Stones memorabilia before continuing down Kensington High Street to the High Street Kensington tube station.
Kensington Gardens – A gently stroll through beautiful gardens leads to a royal palace fit for a princess.
Tube: Lancaster Gate
The marvellous Christopher Wren-designed fountains and summerhouse greet you as you enter Kensington Gardens through Marlborough Gate. Head across the gardens via Budge’s Walk past Speke’s Monument to round Pond, where King George I kept his edible turtles. To the left of the Queen Victoria statue is the entrance to Kensington Palace; its residents have included Queen Victoria, Prince Charles, Diana, Princess of Wales, Princess Anne and a raft of other royals. Fans of Diana can pay a hefty entrance fee to see the State Apartments and Royal Dress Collection. At the rear of the palace are the tree-lined sunken gardens and the marvellous Organery with its pleasant cafe. Leave the palace turning left on Kensington Palace Gardens past the Romanian and Israeli embassies. Turn right onto Kensington High Street. On the corner of Kensington Church Street is St Mary Abbots Church. To the left of the main door are the wonderful cloisters. Pass through and into pretty Kensington Church Walk. At Holland Street the excellent Elephant and Castle pub is to the left. Head back up Holland Street and then turn left to Kensington Church Street for some charming little antiques shops. Both Kensington Lighting Co. and Adam Harrington are superb. At the end of the street make your getaway via the Notting Hill Gate tube.
South Kensington Museums – London’s finest museums are packed into a few easily traversed blocks.
Tube: South Kensington
Start with a short stroll down Pelham Street and a left onto Brompton Road. The highly original, proto-art deco Michelin Type Co, now home to the Bibendum Oyster Bar, positively gleams. At the traffic lights cross Brompton Road and turn left on Cottage Place, down the side of the Brompton Oratory. Legend has it that during the Cold War KGB spies used this vast Catholic Church as a dead-letter drop. At the end of Cottage Place turn left and then right around the pretty, cobbled Ennismore Gardens Mews. Turn left at Prince’s Gardens, cross Exhibition Road and walk down Prince Consort Road. Halfway down is the Royal College of Music and a stunning rear view of the Royal Albert Hall, London’s grandest concert venue. Backtrack to Exhibition Road and turn right. For a hands-on learning experience, the interactive displays in the basement of the Science Museum are a must. Enter the Natural History Museum through the grand main arch on Cromwell Road. The massive diplodocus skeleton dominates. Back along Cromwell Road is the Victoria and Albert Museum. Seven miles of galleries, halls and corridors make exploring this museum a long walk on its own. The Nehru Gallery of Indian Art and the Frank Lloyd Wright galleries are highlights, but it’s best to just wander. When finished, return to Exhibition Road and turn right on Thurloe Street to reach the South Kensington tube station. There are lots of good lunch stops in this area. Dino’s around the corner from the station on Pelham Street, has simple Italian food and friendly service.
Knightsbridge and Belgravia – No trip to London would be without a green bag from Harrods, the centre of shopping in London – and perhaps the universe!
Tube: Knightsbridge
Take the Harrods exit from the tube. It will deposit you right at the store. Some of the main attractions at this world-famous department store are the excellent ground-floor food halls and the striking Egyptian staircases. Make you way to Hans Road along the southwest side of the shop, then cut across Hans Place and down Hans Street. Cross over Sloane Street and go left onto Pont Street. Pont Street becomes Chesham Place at the German embassy and leads into Belgrave Square.
The square is home to more foreign embassies (Norway and Turkey) and to statues of South American heroes like Simon Bolivar ad San Martin. Walk counter-clockwise around the square, turn into Wilton Crescent and then immediately turn right down Wilton Row. This charming little street is home to the smartly turned-out Grenadier pub. Go through the large red door to the right and pass down the alleyway; at the end, turn right onto Wilton Place. St Paul’s Knightsbridge has wonderful tile work that has been lovingly restored.
Cross over into Kinnerton Street. The Wilton Arms has a good menu and there are some great shops like popular boutique Egg. Toward the end of the road turn into Halkin Arcade where you’ll find more shops and bars and right onto Lowndes Street. At the top of the street the deli Noura has outdoor seating. To complete your Knightsbridge experience, turn left and pay a visit to the Fifth Floor Bar and Restaurant of Harvey Nichols; this slick modern department store stocks all the major designers but has far fewer tourists than Harrods. Outside is the Knightsbridge tube station.
Sloane Square and King’s Road – Artists, the affluent, the army and the aristocracy have all left their mark on this part of Chelsea.
Tube: Sloane Square
By the Sloane Square tube station is the Royal Court Theatre, staging ground of some of the most socially conscious theatre of the past fifty years. Make for the striking art deco glass front of the department store Peter Jones. King’s Road was open only to royalty until 1830, after which several magnificent squares were built here. Turn left onto Cheltenham Terrace and straight on Franklin’s Row to the fine entrance to the Royal Hospital, where veterans of the army reside. You can’t miss these “Chelsea Pensioners” in their smart scarlet or navy uniforms. Walk straight out of the southern gate into Ranelagh Gardens, home of the annual Chelsea Flower Show in May. Large gates in front of the gardens’ war memorial lead to the traffic-laden Chelsea Embankment. Turn right and then right onto Swan Walk to the entrance to the Chelsea Physic Garden. Leaving the gardens, return to the Embankment and continue to Cheyne Walk. The Georgian houses here have been home to artists from Henry James to Mick Jagger. Turn right on Cheyne Row. A few yards away is Carlyle’s House where Dickens often dined, now a fascinating museum. Turn onto Lawrence Street for the Cross Keys pub. Continue along Lawrence and turn right onto Justice Walk and right into the equally delightful Old Church Street. Turn right to get back to bustling King’s Road. In 1975 Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood opened a fetish-wear shop called Sex. When it drew people like Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious, punk was born. Follow King’s Road all the back to Sloane Square tube station.
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