The best things to do in Golders Green, restaurants, parks, Golders Hill Park, Temple Fortune, cultural sites and what makes NW11 worth more than a quick visit.
Golders Green Road is the commercial spine: a working high street with a mix of Jewish bakeries, kosher restaurants, Israeli food shops, jewellers and the full range of urban services. It is one of the few places in London where the high street directly reflects the identity of the community that lives on it.
Golders Hill Park
Golders Hill Park is the main green space directly accessible from Golders Green, connected to the western edge of Hampstead Heath but with a more formal, managed character.
The park is one of the area's most underrated assets. It contains: - A free zoo with flamingos, wallabies, fallow deer, red-necked wallabies and various wildfowl - A walled flower garden (at its best in June and July) - A butterfly garden - A café with outdoor seating and a reliable kitchen - Ornamental gardens and open lawns - A duck pond
The zoo is genuinely impressive for a free attraction, the flamingos alone are worth the visit, and children consistently find it more engaging than expected. The combination of the zoo, the flower garden and the café makes Golders Hill Park an excellent destination for families with young children.
The park is free to enter and connects directly to Hampstead Heath via the extension to the south and east. From Golders Green station, it is around a 10-minute walk.
The Restaurant Scene
Golders Green Road has one of the best concentrations of Middle Eastern and Israeli food in London, and the quality is consistently high. The community demand for authentic food, from a population that knows the cuisines well, drives standards in a way that more tourist-oriented areas rarely achieve.
Israeli and Jewish food: Several restaurants and cafés serve authentic Israeli cooking, shakshuka, sabich, falafel, hummus and the full range of Levantine food. The quality of the hummus specifically is a reliable benchmark. Several places do excellent Israeli breakfast.
Kosher restaurants: Golders Green has the highest concentration of kosher restaurants in London, ranging from fast food to formal dining. The range of cuisine available under kosher supervision, Israeli, American, Japanese, Italian, reflects the sophistication of the local demand.
Bakeries: The Jewish bakeries on Golders Green Road are worth visiting specifically, challah, babka, rugelach, bagels and a range of Central European pastry that is difficult to find elsewhere in London. The Saturday morning crowds at the better bakeries tell their own story.
Middle Eastern: Beyond specifically Israeli food, the area has strong Lebanese, Persian and Turkish representation, with several restaurants that draw customers from across North London.
Temple Fortune
Temple Fortune, the neighbourhood immediately north of Golders Green, along Finchley Road and Hoop Lane, is quieter and more residential than the main Golders Green Road but has its own concentration of good food and drink.
The independent shops and restaurants on Finchley Road north of the junction have a more relaxed character than the busier Golders Green strip and are worth exploring for a less crowded experience of the same food culture.
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Hampstead Garden Suburb, an Edwardian planned community immediately north-east of Golders Green, is one of the most architecturally significant residential developments in the UK and worth visiting for the architecture and urban design alone.
The suburb was founded in 1907 by Henrietta Barnett to provide high-quality housing for mixed social classes, designed by Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker (who also designed Letchworth Garden City). The Central Square, with its two churches designed by Edwin Lutyens, is one of the best set-pieces of early 20th-century British civic architecture.
The suburb is a conservation area and has been remarkably well preserved. Walking its streets gives a clear picture of the Arts and Crafts urban planning that influenced housing design across the English-speaking world.
A full guide to the suburb is at Hampstead Garden Suburb: A Walking Tour.
Golders Green Hippodrome
The Golders Green Hippodrome on North End Road is a Grade II listed theatre and concert hall built in 1913. It has had a varied history, Variety, BBC broadcasts, concerts, temporary use as a religious venue, and its future has been the subject of ongoing discussions about heritage and community use.
The building is architecturally notable, and its history as a venue connects it to significant moments in British entertainment history. The BBC's Hippodrome concerts were broadcast from here in the mid-20th century.
Its current programming and access status are worth checking before visiting specifically.
The Northern Line Connection
Golders Green is the interchange point between the two Northern line branches, the High Barnet branch (serving Finchley, East Finchley and Highgate) and the Edgware branch (serving Brent Cross, Hendon and Edgware). It is the last stop on the line before the two branches divide northward.
This makes Golders Green an unexpectedly central hub for North London travel, connections are easy to Hampstead (one stop south), Finchley Central, East Finchley, Highgate and central London (15-20 minutes to King's Cross or Bank).
Getting to Golders Green
By Underground: Golders Green is on the Northern line (Edgware branch). From King's Cross, the journey takes approximately 20 minutes. From Hampstead, it is one stop (around 3 minutes).
By bus: Several bus routes serve Golders Green station, connecting to Brent Cross, Finchley, Cricklewood and Hendon.
By car: Golders Green is near the junction of Finchley Road (A504) and North End Road (A598). Parking is available in the pay car park adjacent to the station and on surrounding streets during off-peak hours.
Golders Green has a full range of day-to-day services: supermarkets (including a large Waitrose and several kosher supermarkets), a post office, pharmacies and the usual urban high street amenities.
The area is busiest on Friday afternoons before Shabbat, when the bakeries and food shops see their heaviest traffic. Sunday mornings are also busy. Quieter times are weekday mornings and early afternoons.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Golders Green famous for?
Golders Green is best known for its Jewish community and the associated food culture, kosher restaurants, Israeli food, Jewish bakeries and Middle Eastern cuisine of consistently high quality. It is also the home of Golders Hill Park (a free zoo and gardens) and the starting point for walks on the western edge of Hampstead Heath.
Is Golders Green worth visiting?
For food specifically, yes, particularly for Middle Eastern and Israeli cuisine, Jewish bakeries and kosher restaurants. For anyone interested in London's diverse neighbourhood character, or in the architecture of Hampstead Garden Suburb, it is also worth a visit.
Is Golders Hill Park part of Hampstead Heath?
Yes, Golders Hill Park is part of the Hampstead Heath estate, managed by the City of London Corporation. It connects directly to the main Heath and the extension grounds.
