London is blessed with some amazing areas which will transport you to a countryside feel within 20-30 min from the busy city center.
Hampstead village is an affluent neighborhood in North London, tucked beside the wild Hampstead Heath. The place is really timeless with Victorian houses, cafes, leafy boulevards and centuries old pubs.
After having heard enough about its quaint and quiet streets where one would want to take a peek and pic of the lovely gardens of the residents, I decided to head to the village to enjoy a lazy Saturday afternoon.
Hampstead is on Northern Line on London Tube map.
After exiting the station I started some random walking. On Heath Road, there are pubs, boutiques and very leafy side roads. The road leads to the Observatory and Whitestone pond.
After reaching end of the Heath Road, I turned towards the East Heath road to head to Vale.
This is a beautiful road with lovely houses with leafy canopies, baskets of flowers, white french windows and colorful doors.
As much as it may sound rude and cheap, I still clicked pictures of facades of some of these charming houses.
The Heath is a large area which is quite wild and natural. Large ponds for swimming, trails for walking, vast spaces to bring your food basket and bask in the sun; There is a lot for everyone.
The last leg of my walk covered Well Walk which is again a quaint street with The Wells Pub.
This street leads to Gayton Street ending in High Street. There I rested my legs at a cafe where I stopped for a quick cup of coffee.
Before heading to the tube station, just at the right corner of Paul’s Patisserie is the Flask Walk which is a cute street with cafes, flowers shops and pubs tucked between two high walled streets.
Hampstead is a great day out and a very pleasant departure from the busy Central London. Specially in summers, it makes an ideal afternoon or day break.
Do not forget to head to Parliament Hill in Hampstead Heath for an amazing view over city of London. Its indeed priceless.
