If you’re planning a relocation to London, one of the first items you must consider is where to live in London. Belinda and I both continually discuss London neighborhoods from time to time, and for a while there I’d been maintaining this series that toured London postcode by postcode. Well folks, it only took me almost a year to get around to it (literally), but today I am finally rounding out my eight-part neighborhood series with London’s Southeast postcodes. Ta-Da!!!
Here they are:
SE1 – Bankside, Bermondsey, Borough, Newington, North Lambeth, South Bank, Southwark, Waterloo
SE2 – Abbey Wood, Thamesmead South
SE3 – Blackheath, Blackheath Park, Kidbrooke, Westcombe Park
SE4 – Brockley, Crofton Park, Honor Oak Park
SE5 – Camberwell
SE6 – Bellingham, Catford, Hither Green
SE7 – Charlton, Harvey Gardens, New Charlton
SE8 – Deptford, St. John’s
SE9 – Eltham, Mottingham, New Eltham
SE10 – Greenwich
SE11 – Kennington, Lambeth
SE12 – Grove Park, Lee
SE14 – Hither Green, Ladywell, Lewisham
SE15 – Nunhead, Peckham
SE16 – Rotherhithe, South Bermondsey, Surrey Quays
SE17 – Elephant and Castle, Kennington, Walworth
SE18 – Plumstead, Shooter’s Hill, Woolwich
SE19 – Crystal Palace, Gipsy Hill, Norwood, Norwood New Town, Upper Norwood
SE20 – Anerley, Penge
SE21 – Dulwich, Upper Sydenham, West Dulwich
SE22 – East Dulwich
SE23 – Forest Hill
SE24 – Herne Hill
SE25 – South Norwood
SE26 – Bell Green, Lower Sydenham, Sydenham
SE27 – Tulse Hill, West Norwood
SE28 – Thamesmead
Located in SE1, Southwark has a high-density of both population and attractions. This is where you’ll find the London Eye, the London Aquarium, the London Dungeon and other tourist havens with a lively riverside atmosphere that includes street performers and markets. With the National Theatre, Old Vic Theatre (where Kevin Spacey is artistic director and actor), and The Southbank Centre among other venues dedicated to the arts, SE1 is a real cultural center. Shakespeare’s Globe is also here in the Bankside area, the vicinity where the original Globe stood and was thereby part of London’s original theatre district. Restaurants, pubs, and office buildings line the river here, yet for as much commerce as there is in and around the SE1 area, it’s also quite residential, with ample access to amenities as well as entertainment. The extensive outdoor market near London Bridge in Borough is among London’s best renowned, and this area is desirable for those looking for an edgier, artistic, and eclectic scene and/or needing a short commute to the City.
Greenwich in SE10 is perhaps best known around the world, however, as the place “where time begins.” Outside its Royal Observatory is the famous Greenwich Meridian Line, which represents the Prime Meridian of the world at Longitude 0º. Greenwich’s observatory and National Maritime Museum are a big draw for tourists and residents alike, and the area is home to the Royal Naval College and Greenwich University, but this lovely village has much more to offer those living there. Greenwich Market boasts an amazing collection of arts and crafts, antiques and collectibles, and an assortment of other unique gifts, while the quaint surrounding area is filled with pubs and boutiques. Hilly and leafy, it’s a tranquil place to picnic and relax, truly feeling like a little village removed from the city’s bustle.
Just east of SE1 is SE16, where the neighborhood of Rotherhithe sits on the River Thames among the Docklands. Rotherhithe was the departure site of the The Mayflower ship, kicking off its voyage to the New World. Nearby Canada Water offers a convenient transport link with both Underground and Overground services, and Surrey Quays houses a large shopping complex more akin to what North American expats are used to. This area is overall rather non-touristed and makes for a quiet residence. Just southeast of Greenwich lies SE3, where the annual London marathon starts in Blackheath on the fringes of Greenwich Park. And going further southeast from there, in SE9 you can find two golf courses, the Royal Blackheath Golf Course and the Eltham Warren Golf Course.
SE19 is probably best known for Crystal Palace’s National Sports Centre, an athletic training facility as well as host to major international track and field events. The vicinity is characterized by wide-open green space, and Crystal Palace Park is perfect for family days out; it used to be a Victorian pre-historic theme park and still contains dinosaur sculptures around the Boating Lake along with a children’s farm. And if southwest London’s Clapham is considered “Nappy Valley,” SE22′s East Dulwich is on its heels for claiming the title. You’d be hard-pressed not to see a woman walking down its sidewalks who is either pregnant or pushing a pram—seriously. Young families are flocking to this area in droves these days to take advantage of more affordable housing and a quieter residential life that still has close access to high street and boutique shops, artsy cafés, and restaurants.
If you find this of any use as you prepare for your London move, get psyched for the London Relocation company‘s soon-to-be-arriving new website, which will include a more comprehensive and downloadable guide to London neighborhoods, thanks to the expertise of its London Relocation agents.
King George VI and his Queen consort, Elizabeth - Image via Wikipedia
Author: Colleen
All righty, time to wrap up my brief series on The King’s Speech for those of you moving to London and interested in learning more of the city’s history, especially with all the media attention it receives lately. Yesterday, I spoke of London locations and elsewhere in the UK of note in the film, and today I’ll focus a bit more on the people.
As I’ve mentioned before, viewing the film for the first time last week prompted assorted random questions in my mind, which I’m in turn answering and sharing in this series of posts. One of these moments of curiosity surrounded how King George VI came to meet his wife. We know her best these days as the Queen Mum, which is the title conferred on a Queen consort who is the widowed mother of the reigning monarch. Thus, Queen consort was her title when her husband was alive and well and reigning as King George VI. Prior to his coronation when he was Prince Albert, Duke of York, she was consequently the Duchess of York. But before even that, she was The Honourable Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon – of Scottish nobility but not royalty; indeed, she had been the first commoner to marry into royalty for centuries. She was born to the Scottish Lord Glamis, who eventually became the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, a status that conferred upon young Elizabeth the title of “Lady” and put her within high-ranking social circles. After WWI, she was a sought-after debutante and won Prince Albert’s heart. She was wary of joining the royal way of life, however, apprehensive of giving up a private life to become such a public figure, so she’d actually turned Albert down twice before finally saying “yes” and marrying him in 1923.
How different and yet how the same royal weddings were back then…
I was understandably quite curious about the speech therapist as well – Lionel Logue, who helped King George VI overcome his stammer. The film mentions that he is Australian (born in Adelaide, South Australia), though I hadn’t detected that in his accent – a little research has since taught me that this was a result of his studies in elocution during his youth. His initial employment included assistant-teaching and working at a gold mine, and, once he was married and settled in Perth, he began teaching elocution, acting, and public speaking, then traveled the world and helped WW1 soldiers recover from shell-shock-induced speech afflictions. Believing stammers to be caused by personal trauma rather than any permanent disability, the key ingredients to Logue’s unique method were “humour, patience, and superhuman sympathy” (from Australian Dictionary of Biography, author: Suzanne Edgar). Logue moved to London, England in 1924 and set up shop at 146 Harley Street in the London neighborhood of Paddington, near Regents Park.
If you’re relocating to London, once you’re all settled into your new London apartment rental, take yourself out on your own King’s Speech field-trip out and about town. Walk the streets its people walked, understand the lives they lived, and feel appreciative of the new history you’ll create here as you find your own voice in London.
Happy Valentine’s Day, London-lovers! For those of you who love the UK so much that you’re moving to London, I’m continuing today from Friday’s post as a direct response to the second part of my previous mini-series, “Finding Your Comfort Zone After Relocating to London.” Whereas that two-parter addressed where Americans relocating to London, England can find a little bit of home in their new surroundings, this present one aims to embolden you to dip a toe outside that comfort zone.
So, to address the same categories I did in Part 2 of “Finding Your Comfort Zone” (which listed London venues and entertainment where American expats in London can get their Yankee fixes), here are some local counterparts:
London restaurants
Seriously, I wouldn’t know where to even begin listing off all the amazing restaurants in London by specific names, but I’ll see what I can do. First of all, British food has typically gotten a bad rap (perhaps regarded as a wee notch above the Irish and Scottish ), but when you relocate to London, you’ll taste it with new buds. I personally enjoy the traditional English fare to be found in pubs citywide (for examples, see “Speaking the Queen’s English [Food---Part 2]“); it’s the ultimate comfort food especially when ducking inside from cool, wet winter weather. “Gastropubs” offer a more gourmet touch to old favorites or new experiments—these are typically more upscale pubs (though many still have a cozy, laidback atmosphere) with a special license to serve their fine cuisine. Favorite gastropubs of mine include The Pembroke, The Easton, Duke of Clarence, The Peasant, and The Atlas.
Beyond British meals, I’ve said time and again that London is a city where you can really take advantage of ethnic cuisine. Restaurants devoted to food around the globe abound throughout the city in every neighborhood, but some concentrated areas where you can have fun sampling from Indian to Middle Eastern to Chinese include Brick Lane, Edgware Road, and Soho.
London entertainment
In addition to the popular stage plays and musicals to be found in London’s theatre district (Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, and The Strand, generally), don’t neglect off-West End theatres like The Old Vic Theatre (near Waterloo Station) and Shakespeare’s Globe (located at London’s original theatre district on the Southbank), or bargain tickets for stage shows at the Barbican and National Theatre. Conversely, you can enjoy some cheap pints and rock in any of the intimate music venues of Camden Town.
And where television entertainment is concerned, you’d be surprised, first of all, how many US shows derive from UK ones (see my post, “Moving to London: What’s on Your London Apartment Telly is Not So Foreign“), in addition to all the UK shows that are broadcast directly on the BBC America channel, like Gavin and Stacey and Top Gear. As for stations here, if you haven’t moved to London yet, you can peruse the websites of some popular ones like BBC, ITV, Living, and UKTV (which encompasses Blighty, Eden, Alibi, and Dave channels, etc.) and Sky‘s own channel offerings. Panel shows like QI, Mock the Week, and A League of Their Own are popular, as are reality shows like Come Dine With Me, Four Weddings, X Factor, and Got to Dance. I’m the first to admit I need to get properly acquainted with more UK fictional shows, as the abundance of familiar ones from home usually derail me (seriously, when is Two and a Half Men NOT on here?). But in addition to quality British comedy, the crime/sci-fi/thriller/paranormal genres are prevalent (my latest intrigue is the new Bedlam series), and if you’re one for soap operas, try out Eastenders and Coronation Street.
Again, the lists would get too long and never be fully exhausted, but hopefully this smattering of references gives you the general idea. As proud of your home culture as you may be, as an expat you do at some point have to adapt to your new locale—so move to London and step outside that London apartment to learn what Britain has to offer so you have new, interesting things to write home about.
Today’s post is in direct response to my previous two-parter, “Finding Your Comfort Zone After Relocating to London.” Sure, a London move is challenging, and you deserve to envelope yourself in what home comforts you can to help keep your stress levels down and ease you into the more unfamiliar. You might find that it takes a few weeks to a few months to really feel settled in, so with that in mind, it’s certainly worthwhile to start nudging yourself out of your comfort zone early on to expedite that transition.
So, to address the same categories I did in Part 1 and Part 2 of “Finding Your Comfort Zone” (which listed London neighborhoods, stores, and venues where American expats in London can get their Yankee fixes), here are some local counterparts:
London Neighborhoods
I mentioned previously that Americans are drawn to the west side of London, so how about checking out its north, east and south sides? Neighborhoods like Camden, Islington/Angel, Farringdon, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, and Hackney north of the Thames and Borough and Southwark south of the Thames offer more ethnic diversity and less gentrified, mainstream shops and venues to instead revel in a more bohemian spirit of vintage and kitsch, and outdoor markets abound. On the other hand, if you’re seeking something more contemporary, spacious, and sterile, Canary Wharf is an option.
London Stores
Doing all your shopping in American import stores will get expensive, and, with the exception of those favorite brands you can’t find elsewhere, it really isn’t necessary—you can find everything you need in the local London grocers, of course. Reasonably priced grocery chains in London include Tesco, Somerfield, and Sainsburys, and if you’re willing to pay a little premium for quality meats and such, try Waitrose or Marks & Spencer.
And if you’re missing Walgreens from the States, the UK answer for your toiletry/pharmaceutical needs is Boots. Likewise, your Barnes & Noble/Borders equivalents are Waterstones and WH Smith (though they can’t promise you an in-house café).
London is a fashion capital, so its independently-owned boutiques are not to be missed—rather than me list them off, I encourage you instead to wander around and discover your own favorites! Fun neighborhoods for shopping are Notting Hill, Sloane Square, Chelsea, and Soho in the west, Camden, Crouch End, and Hampstead in the north, and Brick Lane in the east. As for “high street” (a.k.a., main street) store chains akin to the ones I listed in my previous post, some common ones replicated in every neighborhood are H&M, Zara, M&S, Monsoon, Topshop, Jigsaw, John Lewis, Oasis, and All Saints (I am in deep smit with this last one of rocker-chic fashion, which is unfortunately out of my price range…).
Join me Monday as we continue to explore the London restaurant and entertainment options that will guide you out of your expat shell after you relocate to London.
Living in London – London Airports - Image via Wikipedia
Author: Belinda
London has several airports and it can be quite daunting to try to get from any of the airports to Central London. Moving to London means you will probably be expecting friends and family from back home on a regular basis and being able to get into London quickly and cheaply is a skill and some worthwhile information to have ready.
London Heathrow Airport
Located about 30 km from central London, Heathrow Airport (LHR) handles more passengers than any other airport in the world today. With five busy terminals, over 65 million people arrive in London through Heathrow every year and they’ve made it very easy to get into the city and out to the airport for everyone. The new long distance terminal at Heathrow is the biggest freestanding building in the United Kingdom.
Hop and a skip to Heathrow
The quickest way to get to and from Heathrow is on the Heathrow Express. Leaving from 5am until 11.45 pm it is a quick 15-minute non-stop journey to or from Paddington Station. Tickets prices range from £16.50 for an online ticket up to £23 for a ticket purchased on board the train. You can also take the tube from Heathrow to London on the Piccadilly Line, but while it is slightly cheaper it is much longer; about 50 minutes to central London with multiple stops on the way.
The National Express runs coaches between Victoria Coach Station and Heathrow central station with the journey taking between 45 and 90 minutes depending on the route. The tickets are cheap though, about £5 and the services run from the early morning until about 9.30pm. There are buses that run from Heathrow every 30 minutes between midnight and 5.30am. The N9 Night bus takes about an hour and it’s a very cheap alternative, £2 cash and even less on your Oyster Card
For a grand entry or exit of London, you can take a famous ‘black cab’, but it will cost between £40 and £70 for the journey.
London City Airport
This busy London airport is located in the heart of London and can be accessed by all types of transport. Originally conceived to make business travel into London quicker and more efficient, today it is used by tourists and business people alike and is one of the most popular airports in London. It has a single runway and mostly handles short flights with a large proportion originating in Europe and New York City. It is only 10 km from the very centre of London and 5 km from the busy and modern area of Canary Wharf. Bus, taxi or the Underground from anywhere in London can access London City Airport. It has a pleasant terminal, which includes left luggage, a bureau de change and information desks as well as shops and restaurants.
Getting there
The tube connects with London City Airport from the Jubilee Line and the Central Line via the Docklands Light Railway. The Docklands Light Railway runs every 8 to 15 minutes and ticket fares are the same as the tube, so use your Oyster or Travelcard. Local buses to the airport are the 473 from Stratford and the 474 originating in Canning Town. Both routes have many stops on the way to the airport so you can hop on wherever you are.
Well, well…it’s been a while since I’ve revisited neighborhood overviews on where to rent London apartments! Now, if you’ve been following this series, understand that London neighborhoods are too many in number to detail out one-by-one, so I’ve been approaching this on an overall area-by-area basis and highlighting those neighborhoods most popular among expats. As I’ve mentioned before, there’s a difference between where you’d live if you were settling down for the long-haul versus getting the London experience for a few years, so most expats desire to stay central, in the middle of the action, with the exception of families who out of necessity need to go further out for more space, better schools, etc. And there are also city neighborhoods that just aren’t that great—they’re unsafe, not well maintained, or simply don’t have much of anything going on or for them. So that caveat aside, I do hope this overview is helpful as you narrow down where to live in London.
So now, for the Southwest postcodes:
SW1 – Belgravia, Brompton, Millbank, Pimlico, St. James’s, Victoria, Westminster
SW2 – Brixton, Brixton Hill, Streatham Hill
SW3 – Brompton, Chelsea
SW4 – Clapham, Clapham Park
SW5 – Earl’s Court
SW6 – Fulham, Parson’s Green
SW7 – Brompton, South Kensington
SW8 – Nine Elms, South Lambeth, Vauxhall
SW9 – Brixton, Stockwell
SW10 – Chelsea, West Brompton, World’s End
SW11 – Battersea, Clapham Junction
SW12 – Balham
SW13 – Barnes, Castelnau
SW14 – East Sheen, Mortlake
SW15 – Putney, Putney Heath, Putney Vale, Roehampton
SW16 – Norbury, Streatham, Streatham Park, Streatham Vale
SW17 – Furzedown, Summerstown, Tooting
SW18 – Earlsfield, Wandsworth
SW19 – Collier’s Wood, Merton, Putney Vale, South Wimbledon, Southfields, Wimbledon, Wimbledon Park
SW20 – Bushy Mead, Copse Hill, Cottenham Park, Raynes Park, South Wimbledon, West Wimbledon
As you might figure, SW1 is very much central and in the thick of tourism—yes, it’s Westminster as in Parliament and the Abbey, and Victoria as in Victoria rail station. This also puts you in close proximity to Buckingham Palace and some theatres. While hotels and businesses are abundant in this area, there is nonetheless some nice housing tucked away on surprisingly quiet streets not far from Victoria station. I believe SW3 also captures Knightsbridge, which is the posh shopping area where Harrods is located with just as posh (a.k.a., nice, but super expensive) housing. A lot of expats with medium to high-end budgets (say, £325+/week) in southwest London tend to live in postcodes SW5-10—Earl’s Court, South Kensington, and Chelsea are very popular with Americans as they have a classic London aesthetic of white-columned Victorian terraced houses and feel quietly residential while still close walking distance to gobs of shops and restaurants. Lady Diana used to live on Old Brompton Road when she was courting Prince Charles, just a block or so from the site of Beatrix Potter‘s home (author of Peter Rabbit) in the very upscale blocks known as The Boltons (where the houses are still actually houses, not cut up into flats like where the rest of us live ).
Going west of Earls Court, the area around West Brompton station gets a bit more urban and deteriorated, yet eventually Fulham Broadway delivers a great hub of locally-owned restaurants (including Bodeans, which is American-owned and serves up BBQ and plays American sports on TV!), pubs, shopping, cinema and the nearby Chelsea Football Club. Going yet further into SW6, you enter into more residential, family-oriented neighborhoods that offer pretty walks along the Thames river and an abundance of green space, including Wandsworth Park, Bishop Park, Walham Green, Eel Brook, and Parsons Green. This is also where the famous Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race takes place, from Putney Bridge to the Fulham Football Club (one of the oldest, if not the oldest football clubs in London). Overall, the Putney/Parsons Green area feels almost suburban with very quaint high streets and good access to the City.
SW11 is a little more urban and rougher around the edges in spots than the above, but still a good value and increasingly middle class with some new, trendy venues. The historically industrial Battersea offers a lot of reasonably-priced newer construction for those not seeking period renovations, and its enormous Battersea Park off the river is a delight to stroll, run, bike, and even paddle around (Clapham likewise offers its Clapham Common). And as we start heading out toward SW20, we really get into more of a suburban sprawl. Wimbledon is well-known for its tennis tournament, but the surrounding area is also very conducive to families and those on a budget, providing a high quality of life with access to its own town center of all the high street amenities to keep it self-sufficient, as it’ll be more of a jaunt to access the City (probably at least 45 minutes to its center via tube, though overground rail is also an option). Other favored locations in this general Southwest area on the outskirts of London are Richmond and Kew, which, like Wimbledon, are absolutely lovely and ideal if you’re settling down for a while and want more space for the money. Green space reigns with Richmond’s river-walk and Richmond Park, and Kew is the site of the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Hopefully this is helping you get one step closer to finding that ideal London apartment (which, of course, is a guarantee if you further consult London Relocation Ltd.‘s expert services!). Join me next time as we wind it down with Southeast London.
Okay, to keep this London party-train rollin’ as we look for where to rent London apartments, we’re off to the well-known West side today:
W1 – Chinatown, Fitzrovia, Hyde Park, Marylebone, Mayfair, Piccadilly, Soho, West End
W2 – Bayswater, Hyde Park, Paddington
W3 – Acton, East Acton, South Acton
W4 – Chiswick
W5 – Ealing, Little Ealing
W6 – Hammersmith
W7 – Hanwell
W8 – Kensington
W9 – Maida Hill, Maida Vale, Warwick Avenue
W10 – Kensal Town, Ladbroke Grove, North Kensington
W11 – Holland Park, Notting Hill, Westbourne Green
W12 – Shepherd’s Bush
W13 – West Ealing
W14 – West Kensington
Given West London’s popularity, it continues to be a pricey area in general. Closest to Central London, as we see on the map, is W1, and from this proximity we should infer that the area is still largely within the tourist track. Every city has a Chinatown, so from this you can expect the same range of ethnic restaurants and shops that makes for a fun (and delicious!) cultural night out. Soho is a hopping shopping and clubbing scene, and, in combination with Piccadilly as part of “the West End” in general, captures a good deal of Central London’s theatre district. Mayfair is as posh as it gets—this and the area just East of Hyde Park have astronomical housing prices. The famous Oxford, Regents, and Bond Streets are located here, rendering this area a top-notch shopping district. Heading just off Hyde Park’s Northeast corner toward Marylebone, we see a different side to this neighborhood characterized by Edgware Road, whose immigrant population has yielded a continuous strip of amazing ethnic restaurants representing Turkish, Lebanese, and Iranian cuisine among a multitude of others.
Moving westward into Paddington we see some lovely residential areas tucked around its commercial aspect surrounding the famous Paddington Station, where Paddington Bear was discovered on a platform . Bayswater and W10′s Ladbroke Grove are an appeal for those wanting to live near Notting Hill more affordably. Its W11 neighbor of Hugh Grant-film renown (what’s it’s name again? ) hosts a mix of the young and trendy and established and affluent, with a like mix of eclectic and posh boutiques and cafés. Holland Park feels like a leafy suburb with beautiful residences, shops, and green space, and I would say the same for W9′s Maida Vale—rents can be high given the quality of housing, yet reasonable deals can still be found the less central you get. It’s the centrality of W8, however, that continues to make Kensington popular like Notting Hill, with the benefits of being close to the open space of Kensington Gardens and High Street Kensington shopping. Speaking of shopping, W12′s Shepherd’s Bush houses London’s gigantic Westfield shopping center, only a couple of years old, and to which W6′s Hammersmith also has good access in addition to its own abundance of amenities and entertainment (the Apollo is huge for UK comedy)—and along the river in the Hammersmith and Ravenscourt Park area almost feels like a quaint, nautical village. Moving farther out West will bring you to predominantly residential neighborhoods that are more like suburbs; thus, you’ll see lower rent prices, though will be a further haul to the city center—one bonus, however, is being close to Heathrow airport, which is useful for expats who visit home frequently or receive out-of-country guests.
Hopefully this is helping you get one step closer to finding that ideal London apartment (which, of course, is a guarantee if you further consult London Relocation Ltd.‘s expert services!). Join me next time as we circle down and see what Southwest London is all about.
It’s baaack, our endless quest for where to rent London apartments. We left off last week with North London, and today we’ll mosey right on over to the Northwest:
NW1 – Camden Town, Marylebone, Primrose Hill, Regent’s Park, Somers Town
NW2 – Cricklewood, Dollis Hill, Neasden
NW3 – Belsize Park, Hampstead, Swiss Cottage
NW4 – Brent Cross, Hendon
NW5 – Gospel Oak, Kentish Town
NW6 – Brondesbury, Brondesbury Park, Kensal Rise, Kilburn, Queen’s Park, South Hampstead, West Hampstead
NW7 – Mill Hill
NW8 – Lisson Grove, St. John’s Wood
NW9 – Colindale, Kingsbury, The Hyde
NW10 – Alperton, Church End, Harlesden, Kensal Green, North Acton, Old Oak Common, Park Royal, Stonebridge, Willesden
NW11 – Golders Green, Hampstead Garden Suburb
NW1 is a very popular and fun postcode. Camden Town buzzes with its canal-side marketplace and alternative music scene. It maintains a gritty, eccentric edge to its vibrant nightlife that is a good time for trendy singles and couples, but this postcode’s other neighborhoods would be more family-friendly if you’re moving to London with children. Primrose Hilland Regent’s Park, as their names would imply, offer green space for stretching your limbs and, along with Marylebone (though it does bustle with busy shopping streets), offer a less urban and more residential community to dwell in. NW3 and NW8 are desirable for the same reasons, with Hampstead feeling more like a village beside its immense Heath and St. John’s Wood feeling like a posh suburb (the latter is also where the American School in London is located, for those of you who might be enrolling your children there).
The aforementioned are the best known of Northwest London neighborhoods, but others that offer nice residential living in proximity to amenities and green space are NW7′s Mill Hill and NW11′s Hampstead Garden Suburb, which, like Hampstead, is also located off the Heath and highly sought-after. Queen’s Park is considered a good value (and apparently good for random celebrity-spotting in the park, so friends say ). Other spots of NW London can get a bit commercial with retail parks, yet are great options for shopping (like the massive Brent Cross Shopping Centre).
Though a very general overview, I hope this is helping you become aware of the vast number of neighborhood options for seeking rental properties in London and hopefully giving you the gist of what characterizes each direction from London’s city center. Join me tomorrow for when we dip a bit South to explore London’s West side.
Continuing our quest for where to rent London apartments, much like the East side I wrote of yesterday, North London is one of the less obvious choices for expats moving to the UK, with the exception of its more central postcodes. Let’s have a look at those:
N1 – Angel, Barnsbury, Canonbury, Clerkenwell, Hoxton, Islington, Shoreditch
N2 – East Finchley
N3 – Church End, Finchley Central
N4 – Finsbury Park, Manor House, Stroud Green
N5 – Highbury
N6 – Highgate
N7 – Holloway
N8 – Crouch End, Hornsey, Turnpike
N9 – Lower Edmonton
N10 – Bounds Green, Muswell Hill
N11 – Friern Barnet, Brunswick Park, New Southgate
N12 – North Finchley, Woodside Park
N13 – Palmers Green
N14 – Southgate
N15 – Seven Sisters, South Tottenham
N16 – Shacklewell, Stamford Hill, Stoke Newington
N17 – Tottenham, Tottenham Hale
N18 – Edmonton, Upper Edmonton
N19 – Archway, Dartmouth Park, Tufnell Park, Upper Holloway
N20 – Totteridge, Whetstone
N21 – Winchmore Hill
N22 – Alexandra Palace, Bowes Park, Noel Park, Wood Green
At London Relocation, N1 is probably the most often requested/placed London postcode of the North. The Islington and Angelneighborhood is very attractive to many who work in the City as its proximity makes for a quick commute. Upper Street just outside of Angel Station boasts a bustling strip of shops, pubs, cafes, and restaurants that makes it a desirable area for the social scene. Its growing popularity is resulting in increasing gentrification, though the neighborhood maintains an artistic edge; though not quite polished and buffed, demand has kept rent prices fairly consistent with the popular West side, so some seeking better value and less mainstream crowds may seek elsewhere like Shoreditch. Highbury in nearby N5 is highly recommended, though Hoxton is not.
Many expats relocating to London that we work with aren’t necessarily looking to live in London for the long-term, which is why it’s infrequent that they request very far outside the city center—the logic being, 1) often the companies/schools bringing them over here are centrally located, so they want shorter commutes, and/or 2) if they’re only going to be in London for a couple years or so, they want to be where central sites and action are at. Someone not concerned about this or who is indeed in for the long-term—or is perhaps moving with a family and wants more space—might be more keen to look further out from the central postcodes. The further North/Northwest one gets, the more residential and suburban (if not village-like) neighborhoods can become, a notably charming one being Highgate in N6, near Hampstead, nestled right in the middle of the Northern postcodes, so still not all too far out. Nice neighborhoods like this can still cost, however, so, as usual, in London it’s a constant negotiation between price, space, safety, conveniences, and aesthetics; your search outside of central London would thus be best served working through a relocation agent or estate agent that can help you sidestep areas that are too out of the way, expensive, or indeed cheap for good reasons.
Tomorrow I’m going to make a diversion from this series (I could use the break, couldn’t you? ) as tomorrow is a special holiday in the UK. Don’t know? I’ll give you a hint: “Remember, remember the 5th of November...” Then after that we enter into our Weekend Warriors!
Continuing with our guide to London neighborhoods for those of you who are moving here and wondering where to rent London apartments, today I’ll move East of the city-center that was the focus of yesterday‘s post. Let’s revisit those fun London postcodes, shall we?
London’s East-side neighborhoods include:
E1 – Mile End, Shadwell, Shoreditch, Stepney, Wapping, Whitechapel
E2 – Bethnal Green, Haggerston, Shoreditch
E3 – Bow, Bromley, Bromley-by-Bow, Mile End, Old Ford
E4 – Chingford, Friday Hill, Hale End, Highams Park, South Chingford
E5 – Clapton, Hackney Marshes, Lea Bridge
E6 – Beckton, East Ham
E7 – Forest Gate, Upton Park
E8 – Dalston, Hackney
E9 – Hackney, Homerton, Victoria Park
E10 – Leyton
E11 – Leytonstone, Wanstead
E12 – Aldersbrook, Little Ilford, Manor Park
E13 – Custom House, Plaistow
E14 – Cubitt Town, Docklands, Isle of Dogs, Millwall, Poplar
E15 – Clapton Park, Stratford, West Ham
E16 – Canning Town, North Woolwich, Docklands
E17 – Higham Hill, Walthamstow
E18 – South Woodford, Woodford
I won’t go code by code, but generally East London offers a contrast to other parts that people are more familiar with or generally associate with the city—in interesting ways, though, which can make this an underrated area.
Historically, the East side has been largely infused with immigrants given inexpensive land and proximity to the docks. Industry and poverty was prevalent, but today it’s an area of urban renewal that has drawn artists and designers. The Docklands is primarily a financial district, which can make the area less appealing to some for residential purposes, yet it and Canary Wharf in E14 do draw those seeking new construction and more value for their pound. E15 is the home of the London 2012 Olympic stadium and village, and E16 contains the ExCeL Exhibition Centre and City Airport, to give an idea of the extent of commercial development around here.
There are still pockets of low income and a rough-around-edges feel (sadly, many historical buildings were lost to the Blitz), but the bonuses for living here are affordable rent prices and great diversity in cuisine, shopping, and just people in general. There’s an arty, bohemian spirit in some areas here that is a pleasant diversion from the mainstream, especially when so many expats flock to the West side; of those that don’t, Shoreditch and Hackney vicinities seem common choices—in Hackney specifically, Broadway and Columbia Road are recommended.
Perhaps least recommended neighborhoods for accommodation in this area are Hackney Central, Bethnal Green, and Brick Lane—the latter is, however a well-known street in E1 that all the Jack the Ripper tours get close to (indeed, it’s the neighborhood where his victims lived), and what their paying customers ought to do immediately after the tour is come back for dinner—delicious ethnic options galore! And as our East End correspondent who writes the “East Siiide!” guest posts will enthusiastically endorse, the near-East London postcodes have an abundance of quirky and fun vintage shops and markets like Spitalfields to explore. Whitechapel Art Gallery is another popular draw. If tired of the bustle, moving outward to, say E4 or E6 will bring you to more open, natural space on London’s outskirts—although there are city farms in E1 and E2; how fun is that?
Just a general overview in case you’re considering accommodation in London in the East or perhaps haven’t before and might now be more interested in exploring it further—either on your own or with the aid of London Relocation Ltd. .
As a guide to London neighborhoods for those of you who are moving to London, yesterday I started out with explaining the London postcodesystem. Today, I’ll begin to break down those cryptic letters and numbers to their respective neighborhoods, area-by-area of the city.
If you’ve visited London before, you are likely most acquainted with the major sites to behold in its historic center. Even though the London homes and offices in many films and TV shows depict windows overlooking Big Ben, that’s really not what your reality will be when you actually live and work here . London’s city center houses predominantly governmental and corporate buildings, as well as museums and other tourist sites, rather than personal residences. Though the modern-day city of London stretches rather far and wide, residents will refer to this central district specifically as “The City,” just as Americans would say “downtown.”
Postcodes denote “C” for “Central,” and are divided between WC and EC for West-Central and East-Central, respectively:
EC2 – Barbican, Bishops Gate, Clerkenwell, Liverpool Street, Moorgate
EC3 – Aldgate, Broadgate, Fenchurch St., Monument, Tower Hill
EC4 – Blackfriars, Fleet Street, St. Paul’s, Temple
In WC, Bloomsbury is known in the literary circuit as where author Virginia Woolf once lived (and was a member of the “Bloomsbury Group”), and it is home to the British Museum as well as a lot of college students. WC2 is active day and night as London’s popular theatre district. Piccadilly Circus glimmers like Manhattan’s Times Square, and Leicester Square sparkles with celebrity as the site of many London film premiers. Restaurants abound to service the pre/post-theatre crowd, and the Strand offers a long row of shopping. The famous Trafalgar Square—meeting point for celebrations and protests alike—National Gallery, and Charing Cross (where you can access trains for Southeast London and out to Kent) are also in this postcode.
In EC, you delve more into London’s financial district, though EC1 has become trendier in recent years as an area for restaurants and bars, as in the streets around Farringdon and Smithfields Market. If you’re looking for something nice and quieter on the weekends, you might consider the Hatton Garden and Exmouth Market areas of EC1 near Farringdon tube station; conversely, you may want to avoid Old Street. The Barbican itself in EC2 is Europe’s largest venue for the multi-arts, and, in addition to the Museum of London, many City offices are headquartered in this postcode. You can also find London Liverpool Station here, which services Underground Lines as well as overground trains to and from Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk (and providing routes to Norwich via Ipswich and King’s Lynn via Cambridge), plus the Stansted Express service to Stansted Airport. EC3 and EC4 encompass such notable architectural features of central London as the centuries-old Tower of London, Monument to the Great Fire, and St. Paul’s Cathedral as well as the ultra-contemporary Lloyds of London and “Gherkin” buildings that have transformed the modern London skyline.
Join me next time as we move onto more of the city’s postcodes and get you oriented for your London move!
Researching a move to London is a tremendous task ahead of you, and the hardest part is determining which London neighborhood to live in. It isn’t enough to have visited London’s big tourist sites before, as it’s doubtful you’ll be living next door to Westminster or the Tower of London. The staff at London Relocation Ltd. will discuss with you straightaway what your property and local area requirements are so that your flat-search can be narrowed down to neighborhoods most compatible to your lifestyle, desired aesthetic, and budget.
Below you can see a London map of postcodes to help you get oriented with the layout of Central and Greater London, as well as how those postcodes work! Those moving from a country where zip codes are comprised of only numbers might at first be daunted by the letters included in those of the United Kingdom, but don’t worry—they actually greatly simplify your bearings on where a certain address is situated in this large city. The letters actually represent the direction of a neighborhood from the city center, so “N” means “North,” “SW” is “Southwest,” and so forth.
Pretty logical, ay? What is not always so logical is the arrangement of the subsequent numbers, but, in general, they will increase as they stem further out from that central point. The directions+numbers indicated here are only prefixes to the full postcode; the entire code will include another 3-4 digit alphanumeric combination as its second half. For example, London Relocation‘s office is presently located in postcode W11 2SH, which is found in the “W“-for-”West London” neighborhood of Notting Hill.
You may find it useful, then, to get a sense of which postcodes will be most conducive to accessing your locations of priority—e.g., work, school, airports, etc. As you explore this, it will be important to cross-reference with London tube and bus maps as well to have a realistic idea of what your commute will be like. I’ll speak more on the specific London neighborhoods that correspond with these postcodes in future posts of this series.
(This excerpt previously appeared in my 17 May guest post on Anglotopia.net, a brilliant, comprehensive resource on all things UK that I highly recommend to all Anglophiles!)
As an American-owned and operated agency, we field a lot of enquiries from North Americans looking to make the big transatlantic move to the United Kingdom. A big part of the job is managing expectations, as, for as much as expatriates are seeking change in a new culture, it’s only that natural that they also seek a degree of familiarity with what they already know. We can’t perform architectural miracles that increase the square-footage and closet space of these predominantly Victorian-era buildings to meet modern American proportions; nonetheless, we can advise on which neighborhoods have a solid American demographic by virtue of other appealing factors. Generally, American expats dig London’s West side, so we’ll start this series with the neighborhood where our friendly lil’ office is located:
Notting Hill
No joking, this neighborhood continues to be a draw for Americans because of the Hugh Grant film of same name. There is a comfort to coming to Notting Hill from abroad thanks to a ready familiarity with the charms of Portobello Road as it’s portrayed in the movie. Bedecked in antique shops, fashion boutiques, pubs, cafes, and street stalls overflowing with produce, this colorful strip contains all the quaint appeal that Americans expect from London.
The amenities don’t stop at Portobello, however; indeed, the entire area is dotted with day and night-life amidst quiet residential streets that provide a nice escape from the city-center bustle and is close to green space like Kensington Gardens. The neighborhood’s Westbourne Grove has been nicknamed “Rodeo Drive” by residents for its posh clothing shops, and, overall, residences are well-maintained to an American standard.
), but when you relocate to London, you’ll taste it with new buds. I personally enjoy the traditional English fare to be found in pubs citywide (for examples, see “
