Kentish Town Area Guide

Kentish Town is an area of North West London, in the London Borough of Camden. Many old buildings remain in Kentish Town, albeit hidden behind the facades of modern shops or neglected, and it is still possible to get a good impression of Kentish Town's heritage in present-day NW5. Kentish Town has always been noted for its pubs and bars. Kentish Town has a fairly large boundary, stretching from Camden Gardens to as a far north as the Highgate Road/Gordon House Road junction near Dartmouth Park. Kentish Town generally includes the areas to the west, around Queens Crescent and to the east around Torriano. This neighbourhood is one of the largest development opportunity areas anywhere in Zone 2.

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Highlights and attractions

Kentish Town is a wonderfully diverse area with nearby popular destinations, eateries and drinking spots of all shapes and sizes. Its location balances between the perks of a residential neighbourhood, and the abundant variety of shopping, eating and drinking destinations of Central London! Surrounded by a wealth of sights, it’s a great option for students looking to live in a quiet area, with convenient commute options and lots of exciting places at their doorstep.

Commuting

Kentish Town is a London Underground and National Rail station in Kentish Town in the London Borough of Camden. The station is served by the High Barnet branch of the London Underground Northern Line, and by Thameslink trains on the National Rail Midland Main Line.

Nearby points of interest

Hampstead Heath (Park) - 1 mile NW
Regent´s Park - 1 mile S
Regent's Park - 2 miles S
Emirates Stadium - 2 miles E
Arsenal Stadium - 2 miles E
Lords Cricket Ground (Stadium) - 2 miles SW
Madame Tussaud's London (Museum) - 2 miles S
University of London - 2 miles S
British Museum - 2 miles S
Lincolns Inn Fields (Park) - 3 miles SE
London School of Economics and Political Science (University) - 3 miles
St Andrew, Holborn (Church) - 3 miles SE
City Temple (Church) - 3 miles SE
London Transport Museum - 3 miles S
St Bartholomew-the-Great (Church) - 3 miles SE
Dr Johnson's House (Museum) - 3 miles SE
St Dunstan-in-the-West (Church) - 3 miles SE
R. Twining & Company Limited (Museum) - 3 miles SE
Prince Henry's Room (Museum) - 3 miles SE
Royal Academy (Museum) - 3 miles S
St Bartholomew-the-Less (Church) - 3 miles SE
Courtauld Institute of Art (Museum) - 3 miles SE
Gilbert Collection (Museum) - 3 miles SE
National Portrait Gallery (Museum) - 3 miles S
The Temple Church - 3 miles SE

Food and drinks

The Fields Beneath is a vegan café under Kentish Town West railway station, named after author Gillian Tindall’s history of Kentish Town, which is well worth a read.

Patron Cave à Manger is a Parisian-style brasserie in Fortess Road. The Pineapple pub in Leverton Street serves Thai food, and Ladies & Gentlemen is a cocktail bar tucked away in a former public loo at the junction of Highgate Road and Fortess Road.

At the southern end of Kentish Town Road, Italian restaurant Anima e Cuore is often booked up weeks in advance.

Here are some of our favourite places to eat and drink:

The Lion & Unicorn

The Lion and Unicorn is a welcoming London pub, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Kentish Town High Road. Renowned for their wonderful food offering, this North London local is the go-to pub for a mouth-watering meal. Head Chef Aiden loves to get creative in the kitchen and regularly updates the specials board with dishes that are made with locally sourced, quality ingredients. Their heated garden is an ideal spot to wrap up warm with your favourite bottle of red in the winter, you can also catch all the Six Nations action outdoors or inside the cosy pub! With scrumptious food and drink packages, there's no better place to soak up the atmosphere.

The Patate | French Burger

Offering Anglo-French comfort food to North Londoners, The Patate is the first permanent site from rookie restaurateurs Martin Le Boulc’h and ex-Frenchie operations manager Paul-Henry De Vassoigne. Prior to setting up shop in Kentish Town, The Patate only functioned as a street-food operation, with various stalls around London’s markets.

Pho Ta Vietnamese Street Food

Lovely authentic Vietnamese food, hidden away just a few minutes from Kentish Town High Street. With fresh flavourful dishes, there are plenty of choices on the menu for everyone and anyone's taste.

Shops

Kentish Towners seem very keen on the natural; There is Earth Natural Foods, which describes itself as “North London’s leading independent natural food retailer”, Naturally, which calls itself an “artisan store and delicatessen”, and Natural, a coffee lounge and natural food store. Doppio is a coffee shop with a difference — as well as selling coffee it sells coffee-making equipment and trains baristas.

The highlights are Owl Bookshop which holds events including talks by authors; landmark former ladieswear shop Blustons, renowned for its listed Thirties shopfront and now being run as a vintage clothing store by Octavia Foundation; Phoenicia Mediterranean food hall, and Harry’s Fine Foods, a butcher and fishmonger.

Supermarkets include Co-op, Lidl and Sainsbury’s Local, and the chain restaurants/cafés include Wahaca, Franco Manca and Gail’s.

Schools

Young families are attracted to Kentish Town due to the large choice in schools, both primary and secondary.

Parents are particularly keen on two primary schools — Kentish Town CofE in Islip Street and Eleanor Palmer in Lupton Street — and one comprehensive, The Camden School for Girls (ages 11 to 18, with boys in the sixth form) in Sandall Road, all of which are rated “outstanding”.

The other “outstanding” local state primary schools are Torriano in Torriano Avenue, Holy Trinity & St Silas CofE in Clarence Way, and Gospel Oak in Mansfield Road.

There is a cluster of three comprehensive schools, all judged to be “good” in Highgate Road: Parliament Hill (girls, ages 11 to 18); William Ellis (boys, ages 11 to 18) and La Sainte Union RC (girls, ages 11 to 18).

Acland Burghley School (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Burghley Road, also rated “good”, runs a consortium sixth form called LaSWAP.

Two private French bilingual schools attracting French families to Kentish Town are La Petite École Bilingue (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Vicars Road and Collège Français Bilingue de Londres (co-ed, ages five to 16) in Holmes Road.

There are two leading private schools in nearby Highgate: Highgate School (co-ed, ages three to 18) in North Road and Channing (girls ages four to 18) in The Bank off Highgate Hill.

Closest Airports

London City Airport - 9 miles E
Northolt - 12 miles W
London Heathrow Terminal 1 - 14 miles SW
London Heathrow Terminal 2 - 14 miles SW
London Heathrow Terminal 4 - 14 miles SW
London Heathrow Airport - 15 miles SW
London Heathrow Terminal 3 - 15 miles SW
London Heathrow Terminal 5 - 16 miles W
Biggin Hill - 17 miles SE
Luton Airport - 24 miles NW

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