Perched on the heights of North London, Hampstead is with its magnificent park, its steep alleys, its Victorian and Georgian houses a bucolic district.
Visiting Hampstead is a journey through time, a source of change of scenery and tranquility. Discover this typically English village which has many surprises in store!
Hampstead Heath
With almost 320 hectares, Hampstead Heath is the second largest london park after Richmond Park. It is one of the highest points in London offering breathtaking views of the City. This London green lung is home to an outdoor swimming pool, water jets, swimming ponds, sports grounds and facilities as well as playgrounds; in short, impossible to get bored!
Kenwood House
North of Hampstead Heath, Kenwood House is a 17th century neoclassical villa that features a remarkable collection of paintings, including canvases by Van Dick, Rembrandt, Turner and Vermeer.
Free admission.
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Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill is a 98-meter-high hill, located south-east of Hampstead Heath, famous for its sweeping panorama stretching from Canary Wharf to Westminster and offers views of The Gherkin and the st paul's cathedral.
On the slopes of this hill, there is an open swimming pool, a running track, playgrounds, soccer fields and a tennis court. It is also a superb spot for a picnic or simply to rest!
Hampstead Heath Ponds
Located in the heart of nature, the ponds are exceptional swimming spots. Three in number, they are respectively dedicated to women, men and mixed groups (including accompanied children aged 8 to 15).
Of the three ponds, only the ponds for men and women are open all year round and the opening hours vary according to the seasons. It is advisable to consult the site before traveling.
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Golders Hill Park
Part of Hampstead Heath, Golders Hill is a lovely park with Mediterranean gardens, a bandstand, croquet lawn, tennis courts, table tennis tables and a children's play area.
A visit to Golders Hill Park will also delight animal lovers who can discover a butterfly house, a deer park as well as a zoo with free entry and home to lemurs and coatis.
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Burgh House & Hampstead Museum
Built in 1704 during the reign of Queen Anne, Burgh House is a free museum that features a collection of objects, artwork, documents and furniture related to the history of the house.
Concerts, recitals, exhibitions and conferences are regularly organized.
Address : New End Square, Hampstead, London NW3 1LT
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Fenton House
Fenton House is a XNUMXth century merchant's house with a walled garden featuring exotic plantings, a rose garden, vegetable patch and orchard.
The house, open to the public, presents a collection of paintings, 1612th century porcelain and keyboard musical instruments, including a XNUMX harpsichord on which Handel played.
Address : Hampstead Grove, Hampstead, London NW3 6SP
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Keats House
Keats House is a Georgian-style house-museum where the romantic poet John Keats wrote his finest poems. Inside are exhibited original works of the poet, his books and manuscripts as well as the ring he gave to Fanny Brawne during their secret engagement.
Address : 10 Keats Grove, Hampstead, London NW3 2RR
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Freud Museum London
This museum was the home of the famous Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud where he lived with his family during their exile, after leaving Vienna to flee the Nazi regime.
This museum, open to the public, presents personal effects of the father of psychoanalysis such as the famous couch on which his patients told him their dreams, his library as well as his collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities.
Upstairs, a room is dedicated to his psychoanalyst daughter Anna who lived and worked at the house until her death in 1982. The Freud Museum is one of the few buildings in London to have two blue plaques, the one for Sigmund and the other for Anna.
Address : 20 Maresfield Gardens, London NW3 5SX
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Highgate Cemetery: one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Europe
Of the seven Victorian cemeteries (called Magnificent Seven) Built in the mid-19th century around central London, Highgate is the most famous and iconic.
Opened in 1839 during the Victorian era, Highgate Cemetery reflects the taste of the era with many Gothic sculptures, oriental arches and lush vegetation. It has "the finest collection of sepulchral sculptures from the Victorian era" made up of some 53 graves including those of many celebrities such as Karl Marx, George Elliot and more recently. George Michael.
The cemetery is also considered a cultural heritage by the venerable English Heritage and listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The most fascinating part of Highgate is undoubtedly the Circle of Lebanon: a collection of tombs arranged in a semicircle and crowned by a magnificent century-old cedar of Lebanon.
Highgate Cemetery appears in the works of Dracula by Bram Stocker and An Uncertain Place by Fred Vargas. A place for a bucolic walk, very different from the ordered cemeteries that we know in France, Highgate is home to a rich and varied flora and fauna.
To make a free or guided visit of the cemetery, it is imperative to do an online reservation
Address : Swain’s Lane, Highgate, London N6 6PJ
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The most beautiful streets of Hampstead
Hampstead is a charming village with lovely little shops, antique shops, cozy cafes, pubs and restaurants as well as beautiful colorful houses.
Flask Walk: a picturesque street
With Georgian houses, pubs and pretty shops, Flask Walk is a quaint pedestrian alley, hidden behind Hampstead High Street.
Holly Mount
Originally built in the 1790s, The Holly Bush is a lovely, photogenic pub that sits at the top of Holly Hill.
Admiral’s Walk
At the heart of this street is a strange house whose shape recalls that of a ship. Built in 1791, it was the residence of Lieutenant Fountain North who used to fire cannon salutes from her terrace to celebrate the Queen's birthday.
In addition, novelist Pamela Lyndon Travers, best known as the creator of the character of Mary Poppins, was inspired by this house and its occupant for the house and the character of Admiral Boom.
Frognal House
Frognal House is an 18th century Georgian house set in a park on one of the hills of Hampstead. It was inhabited by General de Gaulle from 1942 to 1944 during his stay in London.
The house now houses a convent which welcomes young girls aged 18 to 35, single, of any creed or nationality, coming to study in London.
Address : 99 Frognal, Hampstead NW3
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How to get to Hampstead from London?
The easiest way is probably to take the metro and get off at Hampstead station, which is on the Northern Line; or take the overground which is a train and get off at Hampstead Heath station.
Metro or train, the price is the same and you can use your Oyster Card ou Travelcard.
