The weather is SO gorgeous outside, my recommended day-touring on a day like this would be to head North.  Catch the Northern Line to either Archway or Highgate tube stations and catch the afternoon tour at Highgate Cemetery.  You can tour the East cemetery on your own for £3, seeing notable graves such as that of Karl Marx, then partake in the guided tour of the cemetery’s atmospherically overgrown West cemetery, also the resting place of reputable people such as the Rossetti family.  Under the shade of the immense trees (a few of which are Redwoods from America’s West coast), you’ll meander through the lush vegetation and look on the chipped and eroded outcroppings of Victorian-style gravestones; perhaps the most unexpected part of this tour is the “Egyptian Avenue,” crypts fashioned after ancient Egyptian burials, which was the vogue thing to do in 19th-century England, evidently.

From Highgate Cemetery, you are in walking distance of the nearly 800 green acres of Hampstead Heath.  Tour this immense park at your leisure, hiking the hills, sitting by the duck ponds, or even swimming in the designated human ponds   A great pub located just outside the Northwest edge of the heath is the Spaniards Inn, where you don’t yet have to forego the outdoors when you seat yourself in the sunshine of their beergarden.  Otherwise, make your way to the high street for any assortment of sidewalk cafes and boutiques.  From here, you can hop the tube at either Hampstead or Belsize Park stations.

Depending on how your day is progressing, you can close it out here or perhaps take advantage of the extended summer daylight hours and make your way to the darling village of Primrose Hill (via tube to Chalk Farm or walking) for dinner and to watch the sunset from Primrose Hill itself, which, like Hampstead Heath, offers an outstanding city view.

This is a trek that not many tourists make, but when you actually move to London, make a point to explore these serene, residential Northern villages.

Londoners revel in the rarity of sunshine at Kensington Gardens.

Anyone visiting or moving to London has been clued in on its weather stereotype:  cool, grey, wet.  Well, there’s a reason why stereotypes exist sometimes, and London is no exception.

Having faced the coldest winter it’s had in 30 years, London is only just now unfurling its buds and blooming into action.  We had a gloomy introduction to Spring that held us at bay, pressing our faces to the puddled pavement with its oppressive cloud-cover and cold temps, as we just gritted our teeth against it and compliantly grunted, “Thank you, sir, may I have another?!”

This past weekend, though…*sigh*  Now we’re talkin’.  With temperatures creeping closer to 20 degrees Celsius (that’s in the upper 60s, for us Fahrenheit folk) as the sun shined on and on through clear skies (yep, still clear of airplanes, too, because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland; SO strange to see during such otherwise clear weather), residents and visitors alike were reveling in the euphoric freedom of it all.

An obvious response to this shift is when, delighting in their liberation as they scamper through the city parks, people perhaps liberate a lot of their skin.  This same phenomenon made me laugh back in Chicago, when on a nice Spring day, people would be dressed in shorts and tank-tops, when in reality if it were that temperature during the Autumn, they’d be layering up in sweaters and jackets already.  People are always so eager that they jump the gun, and it is sometimes the innocent onlookers that become the victims of others’ strip-downs, when they really overdo it and practically need a censor to blur certain parts out for a PG-rated audience.

Now, I’m just teasing about how some people choose to dress in their excitement over nicer weather; others around the city are in uproar over an extreme of this—namely, the current controversy going down regarding Hampstead Heath and a petition circulating around in favor of allotting more space for nude sunbathers.  The Heath currently maintains a pond for male nude swimming, but naturists complain of the insufficient space for sunbathing, arguing that the area could be easily obscured from the rest of the public if the display would make others uncomfortable to view.  The UK is quite more stringent on public nudity than continental Europe in this respect; ironically, as I recall from past travels, the English Garden in Munich has an extensive meadow for naturists.  When you move to the UK, you’ll find there are quite a number of cultural differences between this island and mainland Europe; for as much as it’s different than the States, the British share many similarities with Americans that other Europeans don’t, so I suppose this relative prudishness is one.

In what ways might you enjoy the weather if you’re relocating to London in time for late Spring or Summer?  If you’re seeking to situate yourself near pleasant outdoor spaces, let us help you find a fine indoor space as well by contacting London Relocation Ltd. with any relocation questions you may have!

This semi-sunny, on the cusp of Spring day compels me to recommend a lovely spot in Northern London where you might fancy living if you’re moving to London, or to at least visit:  Hampstead.  Maintaining a village atmosphere, this area experienced population growth during the Victorian age, to which many of its quaint buildings date back.  It is known as an artistic and literary haven, and no doubt Hampstead Heath has provided much of such inspiration over the centuries.  Nearly 800 acres in size, the Heath is an immense bounty of green space to be had in London.  With its wooded trails, open, rolling meadows and ponds, it’s a tranquil retreat from urban life that is easily accessible from the city center.  Even just strolling through the pristine, postcard-perfect residential streets is a calming treat that takes you back to another era.  One particular home of interest in Hampstead is Keats House, where the poet lived from 1818 to 1820 and wrote some his most notable poems, including “Ode to a Nightingale.”  The Spaniards Inn, which Keats himself liked to frequent (as did Lord Byron) alleges that this poem was written in its gardens; whether true or not, I highly recommend this pub as a stop for food and libations.  It has a charming beer garden, and whilst sitting there you can revel in its history–it dates back to the 16th-century and is even mentioned in classic literature like Dickens’s first novel, The Pickwick Papers, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

It’s true that this is a very expensive neighborhood to live in, so if it’s a bit outside of your budget, you can content yourself that London Relocation Ltd. will place you in a lovely locale that meets all your needs and will be close enough to public transport so you can catch the Tube to visit Hampstead whenever you want–take the Northern Line to either Belsize Park or Hampstead stations and step right onto the high street to delight in its cute boutiques and cafes.