PHOTOGRAPH: MATT MUNRO/LONELY PLANET. ILLUSTRATION: JOE DAVIS
Hampstead
Wanderings
By Dora Ball
One of my favourite things to do
attheweekendistosetofffromthe
very southwest end of Hampstead
Heath (pictured opposite) and
ramble a vaguely diagonal route
north, until one of us remembers
the way to the Spaniard’s Inn,
right at the northwest tip. We will
almost always get lost on the way.
The Spaniards is one of those
gloriously ancient London pubs,
built as a tollgate in the 16th
century and featuring in Dickens’
Pickwick Papers.It’salso,
apparently, where Keats wrote
Ode to a Nightingale, presumably
over a pint of lovely citrus IPA.
thespaniardshampstead.co.uk
AllChangeat
King’s Cross
By Amanda Canning
When I moved to London 25 years
ago, the only time I’d go to King’s
Cross was between midnight and
6am on a Sunday, in an attempt
to ruin myself in clubs – Bagley’s
or The Cross. Those legendary
venues are long gone – and King’s
Cross these days is a space for
decidedly more grown-up pursuits.
Granary Square is a good place
to start – there’s normally
something on at the weekend,
maybe a food market, classic-car
show or art installation, and
the House of Illustration has a
schedule of intriguing exhibitions.
You’re not shor t on decent food
and drink here either. The newly
redeveloped Coal Drops Yard has
a Middle Eastern restaurant and
avermouthbaramongitsmany
wonders, though I would head
back towards St Pancras station to
the German Gymnasium – I can
never resist a schnitzel and this
place serves one of London’s best.
kingscross.co.uk/granary-square
coaldropsyard.com
germangymnasium.com
Walthamstow
Weekender
By Kat Nelson
A boyfriend once introduced me to
the delights of Walthamstow. I like
togoforawalkinWalthamstow
Wetlands, then catch a film at
the lovely old cinema hall Mirth,
Marvel and Maud. It was built
in the 1930s as the Granada
Cinema, which was frequented
by Alfred Hitchcock, but films were
first shown on the site in 1896.
If it’s a Sunday, try its pub roast
and live jazz. Then I’d go and be
dazzled by the largest stock of
neon signs in Europe at God’s
Own Junkyard, followed by a
drink (or several) at the distillery
nearby, called Mother’s Ruin Gin
Palace. The boyfriend and I broke
up,butIkeepgoingback.
walthamstowwetlands.com
mirthmarvelandmaud.com
godsownjunkyard.co.uk
mothersruin.net
LONDON
Locals’
How do weLonely Planet
staff spend our weekends
in our hometown?
We reveal our favourite
experiences and places
to hang out in London
NORTH
Hampstead
O
Kings Cross
O
Walthamstow
O
Shoreditch
O
O
Nunhead
Hackney Marshes
O
Bow
O
OThe City
Richmond
O
O
Thameside
Barbican
O
O
Bermondsey
O
Beckenham
O
LP HQ
RIVE
R T
HA
MES
North
East
South
West