A Quiet Route Through Flask Walk, the Heath, and One of the Best Views of the London Skyline
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
Hampstead to Parliament Hill: The Walk That Explains Why Londoners Stay
There is a walk in North London that takes approximately two hours, costs nothing except the tube fare to get there, and produces, at its midpoint, a view of the London skyline that is — and I say this as someone who writes about London for a living and is not given to superlatives without evidence — one of the finest urban views in Europe. The walk goes from Hampstead tube station through the village lanes of Hampstead, across the Heath, and up to Parliament Hill.
Begin at Hampstead tube station on the Northern line. The station is London’s deepest tube stop, reached by a lift that descends with the kind of commitment that makes you aware of exactly how far underground you are going. The village of Hampstead is immediately visible when you emerge: Georgian townhouses, independent shops, the specific pleasant prosperity of a North London village that has been wealthy and attractive for three centuries and knows it without being unpleasant about it.
The Route
Walk up Flask Walk from the tube station. This street — narrow, slightly crooked, lined with the kinds of shops that remind you London still has independent retail if you know where to look — leads you toward the Heath. At the top of the hill, turn right onto East Heath Road and enter the Heath at the main gate. The path climbs steadily. Resist the temptation to stop at the ponds (unless you want to swim — the mixed pond and the men’s and ladies’ ponds are open year-round for the committed) and continue up to Parliament Hill.
Parliament Hill’s view northward is pleasant. Parliament Hill’s view southward, across the Heath and toward the London skyline, is the point of the whole exercise: Canary Wharf to the east, St Paul’s dome visible in the middle distance, the Shard beyond Southwark, and the mass of central London spread across the horizon in a way that makes you understand both how large the city is and why anyone would choose to live in it. The London Prat’s Hampstead guide covers additional stops including Kenwood House, whose grounds are free and whose café is good. London’s green spaces are its best-kept secret from visitors who plan only the indoor attractions. The Heath is 790 acres of park accessible to anyone who can reach Hampstead tube. On a clear day, with the skyline visible and the Heath quiet around you, it is possible to understand why Londoners endure everything else the city requires of them in order to stay. The view helps. Come on a weekday morning if you can.
