One of London’s most elegant neighbourhoods, whose streets are lined with beautiful old houses, trees, and cast-iron lamp-posts. But behind the stately buildings, its winding, cobbled backstreets are filled with cosy pubs boasting roaring fires; independent cafés; antique shops and more. The centrepiece of the area is the sprawling Hampstead Heath; an ancient patch of greenery filled with rolling hills; woodland; and the famous wild bathing ponds – natural oases of complete serenity in the middle of the city.
The area’s history as a magnet for radical thinkers and libertarians means that it’s had some interesting residents in the past. You can still visit the houses of the poet John Keats and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (featuring his famous couch). Or you could spend the day blue plaque-spotting, picking up a crepe from the iconic street stall, and a coffee from a red phone booth en route…