Wimbledon

Wimbledon is known for tennis, but it's not just that. Wimbledon is a small village that looks like a town of its own. Enormous parks, rich people's mansions, churches and a buddha temple. It's a great place to escape the noise and crowds of central London. It's also a place to see how super rich people live in London. There are mostly chain restaurants in central Wimbledon, which don't look too appealing, but I'm sure there are some good places as well.

De Beauvoir Town

De Beauvoir Town is a mixture of council flats, trendy canal side bars and small gardens. It's one of East London's hip neighbourhoods with pop-up events and hipsters. in the northern areas there are nice quiet neighbourhoods of Victorian houses. It's not the most active neighbourhood and you sometimes have to look for back allies to find all the cool places, but when you find them, it's worth it.

Wapping

Wapping is an old dockland district beside the Thames. It's full of narrow streets, pubs, stairs to the river and small parks. It was once a very uneasy district but now there are no traces of unorderly behaviour. It's a great place to just walk around minding your own thoughts and staring at the river. Some of the pubs in this area are among the oldest pubs in London (from around 1500's). They're still there, since the fire of London didn't extend here. Here and there you can reach the river and walk by the Thames when the tide is down.

Bayswater

Bayswater is full of rows of bright white houses, neat streets, churches, good restaurants and small parks. It's not the most interesting area in London, but it's very pretty. The heart of the area is Queensway with many Chinese restaurants and shops. It's more pleasant than the neighbouring Paddington, but not as interesting as Notting Hill on the other side.

Deptford

Deptford is full of warehouses, industrial areas, council flats, railways on arched bridges and some modern buildings. It certainly is not as beautiful as the neighbouring Greenwich. There is some interesting architecture here though. Deptford High Street shows clear signs of gentrification with its cafes, pubs and ethnic restaurants. It's still mainly filled with Poundland stores, ethnic shops and diners, but there are some really cool places as well. Deptford is one of the places to look out for if you're looking for what's cool right now.

Barnes

Barnes is a wealthy neighbourhood south of Hammersmith. It's mostly a quiet neighbourhood with very little going on. Rich people's private yards, cricket grounds, parks and ponds. Some of the most over-the-top expensive houses though. Some parts of the area are restricted to the public, since the rich people seem to want to keep their privacy.

Twickenham

Twickenham is a posh suburb in South West London. Thames runs here narrower than in Central London and its riverside is full of boat houses with fancy boats. In addition to normal rows of houses, there are some mansion-like houses. The riverside is beautiful. On the main street you can find exquisite cake shops and cafes.

Battersea

Battersea is an industrial looking district on the southbank of Thames. One of London landmarks, the Battersea Power Station, is there, as well as great Battersea Park and some nice modern buildings. There's a huge contrast with the northern neighbour Chelsea. Little bit to the south from Battersea park, there is some pretty grim council housing, that may interest people who lke brutalist architecture.

Bermondsey

In Bermondsey the river is close. There are small canals for Thames flooding, WHARFs (ware house at river front) and balconies from one building to another. The narrow streets look really nice between the tall buildings. Bermondsey Street more towards south is a hip street with hipsters, nice cafés, art galleries etc. There is also a large number of amazing microbreweries in Bermondsey. This is probably the closest area to the city centre that can be described as cool.

Bethnal Green

Bethnal Green is a mixture of hideous council flats and nice and small parks. There are nice cafés and pubs and it's right in the heart of East London! There's also a great flowermarket! Although the appearance is a bit grim, this is one of the nicest areas in East London. It's a place of contrasts. Some of the places are really hip, while some show the reality of the poor. In a very little time the flats on the free market have become very expensive in this area.

Bloomsbury & Fitzrovia

Bloomsbury has academic air about it. A couple of London's most well-known universities are here, along with bookshops and museums. The houses look like university campuses and there are small parks here and there. Fitzrovia looks about the same. It's full of beautiful small squares and old bohemian pubs. The range in restaurants is vast and there are interesting tastes from all over the world. I cover these two areas on the same page since it's hard to tell them apart from each other.

Borough

Borough is an interesting neighbourhood south of London Bridge. It's mainly known for the market and The Shard, but there's more there. Nice pubs, churches and some interesting pieces of architecture. It's a lot nicer than the north bank on the other side of Thames. Borough can get quite busy on the weekends and especially on Fridays when business-clad people stay in the area after work.

Stockwell

Stockwell, at first look, looks very run-down, but once you get under its skin, there are some great little spots in there. There are Victorian town houses in a row, some coucil flats and some of the greatest pubs I've been to. It's close to Brixton's interesting pubs and restaurants so it's overshadowed easily, but at least it's a bit more quiet here.

Brixton

Brixton is one of my favourite places in London. This multicultural area has Caribbean restaurants and shops, Eritrean food, market with foods from around the world, wig shops, Reggae bars, music venues and really nice pubs and bars. So what's not to like? Brixton used to be a bit rough, but it's getting nicer by the minute (although there's a danger that soon it might be even too gentrified). Above all, music is present here!

Camden Town

Camden Town is the rock capital of London! Bars and clubs are dedicated to rock music and there are a lot of venues, where you can catch cheap or even free live music. There are also markets, comedy clubs and shops with stuff on their fronts. There are more and more tourists all the time, so you might want to escape the High Street for more interesting places. In weekends the place can get a bit too crowded.