Ready to explore London's famous Kengsington neighbourhood?
There you can find the best museums, places that have inspired immortal novels (quite literally), as well as the homes of huge music icons.
No matter how much London changes, grows and infinitely reinvents itself with new, trendsetting districts, the city will always have its fundamentals that never disappoint, making it always worth visiting. Kensington is one of those places – it’s one of London’s most traditional neighbourhoods, linked to the British monarchy and to several of the country’s great cultural icons.
Meliá London Kensington [1]
It’s the company’s third property in the British capital – they already own the Meliá White House and the ME London which are in Marylebone and the West End, respectively.
The new Hotel London Kensington is situated in the heart of this central district, in a Victorian building that was once an old hotel. It has been completely renovated to meet the Meliá group’s standards. It is a charming boutique hotel with only 81 rooms, a restaurant bar and a gym, and it’s just a short walk from other attractions in the city such as Knightsbridge, home to the Harrods and Harvey Nichols department stores. Despite being very English, in keeping with the neighbourhood that it’s located in, the hotel does have traces of Spanish influence, particularly in its foyer – its social core where you can sample different variations of Iberian cuisine.
133 Gloucester Road (the house where J. M. Barrie lived) [2]
According to Google Maps, it only takes five minutes walking in a straight line on the other side of Cromwell Road to reach 133 Gloucester Road, the former home of J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan. He lived there between 1895 and 1902, the period of time in which he wrote the story of the boy without a shadow who didn’t want to grow up. When looking out of the windows of this beautiful, three-storey red-brick building, it’s not hard to imagine Wendy and the twins flying away during the magical start of one of the most beautiful stories ever told.
Kensington Gardens [3]
Fans of Peter Pan will also find it very interesting to visit Kensington Gardens. Not only because Barrie’s statue, which he inaugurated himself, is there, but also because the gardens are where he met the Llewelyn Davies family who inspired the story, with their five children who used to go to the park on a regular basis. Also, Kensington Gardens, one of the most extensive of the royal parks, is full of attractions – you could spend the whole day there. Start your visit at Kensington Palace, home to the British Royal family (including their ghosts) since the 17th century (it’s where Diana lived and where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge currently reside).
There you can visit the royal apartments, see an exhibition about Diana of Wales’ personal style, and enjoy several other exhibitions about the life of Queen Victoria, who was born at the palace in 1819. After that, you absolutely have to wander through the Sunken Garden, planted in 1908 and inspired by the Victorian carpets that decorate its interior. Just in front, in an old pavilion at the palace, is The Orangery Restaurant, the perfect place to take part in the tradition of five o’clock afternoon tea with all of its frills. If
FANS OF PETER PAN WILL ALSO FIND IT VERY INTERESTING TO VISIT KENSINGTON GARDENS.
you prefer something more contemporary, you can go for kale, pizza or mochi at Kensington Whole Foods Market, where they have almost every food item imaginable.
Victoria & Albert Museum [4]
In front of the Albert Memorial, also in Kensington Gardens, you can find this institution, one of the world’s leading museums of art and design. The V&A is home to everything, from embroidery and glasses to furniture and drawings by Raphael.
The museum will host an exhibition to celebrate the bicentenary of Queen Victoria’s birth until December 2019. ‘Wonderful Things’, an exhibit featuring photographer Tim Walker’s work, will start on 21 September and continue into 2020. Or if you want to enjoy visual evidence of how the car has evolved and changed our lives in its 130 years of existence, you can visit ‘Cars: Accelerating the Modern World’ which starts on 23 November 2019.
Free architectural tours are offered throughout 2019, so that people can get to know the building better. They take place on a daily basis at 11am. Also, throughout the year on Friday nights, ‘Friday Late’ takes place – a series of events which the public can get to know, first hand, contemporary
FREDDIE MERCURY’S FORMER HOME CAN BE FOUND AT NUMBER 1 LOGAN PLACE.
artists and designers through films, performances, lectures, speeches and installations.
Royal Albert Hall [5]
There are very few concert halls in the world that have the same prestige and history of this distinctive circular building, inaugurated in 1871 by Queen Victoria herself. Since then, its stage has been graced by artists ranging from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Deep Purple to Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli and Raphael. Furthermore, the Eurovision Song Contest has been held here and even the Dalai Lama has spoken at this famous venue. No matter the season, there is always something interesting on its agenda. And that’s not including visits to the actual building itself, which is a true, architectural masterpiece.
Natural History Museum [6]
It’s worth visiting this museum just to gawp at its beautiful architecture. But inside, it holds many secrets that are related to our universe since its creation. The most exciting parts include dinosaurs, fossils and gigantic cetacean skeletons; but this year the exhibits coincide with the anniversary of Apollo 11 – the first trip to the moon. This trip will be celebrated in the ‘Museum of the Moon’, an installation by Luke Jerram who constructed a model of the surface and light of the moon that has a diameter of seven metres. If you want to delve deeper into the subject, you can visit the Science Museum which is also in the South Kensington area. This museum organises various exhibitions related to this ‘small step for man, giant leap for mankind’.
Serpentine Gallery [7]
This former tea pavilion at Kensington Palace, built between 1933 and 1934, became a prestigious contemporary art gallery in 1970 in which the works of artists such as Man Ray, Henry Moore, Christian Boltanski and Damien Hirst are exhibited. Just a five-minute walk across the bridge that crosses the Serpentine Lake, you’ll find the gallery’s other section, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery. This gallery opened in 2013 with an extension designed by Zara Hadid Architects. Every year, its summer pavilion acts as a platform for experimentation for a leading architect (in 2019, it was Japanese architect Junya Ishigami’s turn). If you’re looking for work by independent art, design, photography and architecture publishers that are difficult to find in other places, you absolutely must head to the Koenig Books bookshop.
Japan House [8]
Situated on Kensington High Street, inside a beautiful Art Deco building, is Japan House London, where the city’s multiculturalism shines. It’s a creative space where, through various exhibitions, activities and experiences, the cultures of both countries are twinned. Experience Manga exhibitions, cinema, Sake tastings and catwalk shows – in Kensington, you’ll be closer than ever to the land of the rising sun.
Design Museum [9]
Holland Park, with its Victorian houses, charming hotels and nice shops, is one of the most special places in London. We all enjoy walking there, but only a few can afford to call it home (David Beckham included). Since 2016, there has been an added attraction – the Design Museum. It was moved here from its original location on the banks of the Thames. Voted European Museum of the Year in 2018, its permanent collection includes all branches of design: product, industrial, civil, graphic, fashion and architecture. In 2019, it celebrated its 30th anniversary, and for that reason its schedule is filled with exhibitions and commemorative activities until 2020.
1 Logan Place (Freddie Mercury’s former home) [10]
This completely open-air museum used to be the home of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen and immortal icon of 20th century pop culture. It can be found at number 1 Logan Place, a small, residential street in Kensington near Earl’s Court Road. Now it belongs to his ex-wife, Mary Austin, who many now know from Bohemian Rhapsody, the film about his life.
This is where fans gather to write messages and leave graffiti on the residence’s wall – they can’t visit his grave because Austin is the only person who knows where his ashes were scattered.