Hampstead Heath and Parliament Hill

Starting at Hampstead Underground Station, this walk takes you from the cluster of elegant Georgian and Victorian streets forming London's highest urban village across the heath to the neoclassical proportions of Kenwood House, before returning via Parliament Hill and Keats House.

In the 18th century, Hampstead became a popular health resort for Londoners seeking cleaner air and iron-rich springs. Elegant historic streets include Church Row (built in the 1720s), St John's Church (1745, containing John Constable's grave), Holly Walk (home to Abernethy House where Robert Louis Stevenson once lived), Romney's House, and Fenton House (a William and Mary mansion housing early keyboard instruments). The walk also passes Admiral's Walk (where John Galsworthy wrote The Forsyte Saga) before entering Hampstead Heath near the War Memorial at 442 feet — London's highest point.

Passing through the Vale of Health, the route enters the ancient woodland of Kenwood House (a relic of the Forest of Middlesex protected as an SSSI) and its landscaped gardens designed by Robert Adam in the 1760s. The walk then descends to the Highgate Ponds and Parliament Hill (319 feet), which offers sweeping views over London and is traditionally linked to the Gunpowder Plot. Returning past the underground River Fleet sources, Keats House, Gainsborough Gardens, and Flask Walk, the trail completes its circuit back to Hampstead Tube Station.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.