Home >

The south of London stretches from lovely Greenwich in the south east to Richmond in the south west of the city. It is an area of distinct contrasts, Greenwich and the riverside ‘villages’ of Barnes and Ham are wealthy places with the likes of generally deprived Southwark and Lambeth in between.

The architecturally impressive Borough of Greenwich stretches for eight miles along the Thames. Its museums, parks and river frontage attract visitors from all over the UK and beyond. It is the centre of world time and has a long seafaring tradition, with the Royal Naval College and the National Maritime Museum based here. King Henry VIII, Queen Mary and Elizabeth I were all born at Greenwich. One quarter of Greenwich’s total land area is parkland, hills, commons and heaths giving a feeling of space and greenery while remaining close to the City of London.

The centre of Greenwich has an old world charm with antiques and craft stalls in the market square at weekends. It has a well known theatre, cinemas, pubs and restaurants. Greenwich was chosen as the focal point for Britain’s celebration of the millennium and is home to the Millenium Dome, which housed extensive exhibition halls and is now being redeveloped as a huge exhibition and leisure location. Communications into the borough are excellent with the using the Jubilee tube line and the Docklands Light Railway which links Greenwich with Canary Wharf in 12 minutes.

Blackheath is one of the most desirable areas of south east London with its huge expanse of heathland, surrounded by 18th and 19th century residences and its excellent selection of upmarket specialist retailers, bars and restaurants in Blackheath village.

Dulwich has a very definite ‘village’ feel and is centred around the beautiful Dulwich Park. One of the principal attractions of Dulwich is the Picture Gallery which exhibits masterpieces from the 17th and 18th centuries as well as visiting exhibitions. The village is also fortunate to have a good selection of up-market bars, cafes and restaurants, and this coupled with the gallery, the eclectic Horniman Museum and the park offers more than enough scope for filling a lazy weekend.

Battersea, Wandsworth and Clapham are all popular places for young professionals and young families for their proximity to the centre of the city, their parks and commons and the variety of shopping options and nightlife available locally.

Wimbledon will be forever associated with a ‘rainy’ fortnight in June when the Tennis Championships are held in glorious surroundings at the All England Club in this green suburb of south London. This well heeled residential area is well endowed with shopping and eating possibilities and Wimbledon Common ensures that walking, riding and leisurely picnics are on your doorstep.

Putney, Barnes and Kew all offer slightly different hues of the same complexion. They are all pretty, wealthy riverside locations offering plenty of rowing potential and riverside walks, perhaps involving a drink at one of the many pubs and bars overlooking the Thames. Each of these desirable locations has a good area of green space and Barnes in particular has a ‘village’ feel with its duck pond and Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses. Barnes is the unlikely location of the Wetland Centre, created from Victorian reservoirs it attracts birds and insects essential to the ecological future of the city. Kew is home to the world famous Royal Botanic Gardens which occupies a 300 acre site filled with over 30,000 species grown outdoors and in the stunning Victorian glasshouses which attract millions of horticultural wannabees from all over the world.

You can’t do better than to say that Richmond attracts celebrities like a honeypot! The likes of Jerry Hall, Mick Jagger and Jemima Goldsmith LOVE Richmond for its stunning Victorian buildings, its shops, its deer park and the Thames, but most of all for its incredibly glossy image, the place oozes wealth! Richmond Park is one of London’s least tamed parks with herds of red and fallow deer and offers walking, birdwatching and riding.

Hampton Court Palace, only slightly further along the Thames, was a gift to Henry VIII from Cardinal Wolsey. In the mid 1500’s Hampton Court was one of the grandest palaces in Europe and it still is half a millennium later. The building itself is stunning but the gardens make Hampton Court unmissable, especially as it is so accessible to central London.

Back to top