Hampstead has been fighting chain encroachment for decades — with mixed results on the high street, but with genuine, hard-won victories in the form of the independent shops that remain. This is a street-by-street guide to the best of them: what they sell, what makes them worth visiting, and why they have survived where so many others have not.
Bookshops
Daunt Books — 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB
The Hampstead branch of Daunt Books sits at the South End Green end of the area rather than on the high street, which gives it a slightly different character from the Marylebone flagship: quieter, more neighbourhood in feel, with a loyal local customer base that keeps it genuinely busy on weekend mornings. Daunt is technically a small chain (seven London branches) but has always operated with the philosophy of an independent — thoughtfully curated, staffed by people who actually read, and generous with the kind of handwritten recommendation cards that tell you more than any algorithm can.
The travel section is organised by country rather than author, which sounds like a minor point but transforms browsing entirely. The fiction and literary non-fiction sections are exceptionally well kept. Children's books occupy a long dedicated section that is one of the best in North London. Author events run most months — check the Daunt website for the calendar, as Hampstead events fill quickly.
Open: Mon–Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 11am–5pm. Best for: Literary fiction, travel, children's books, author events.
Keith Fawkes — 1–3 Flask Walk, NW3 1HJ
An antiquarian bookshop in the proper sense — half the stock is secondhand fiction and poetry arranged in the controlled chaos of a shop that has been accumulating books since 1975; the rear room is rare and first editions behind glass. The owner, who has run the shop since opening, is one of the last of a kind: a bookseller who knows his stock, will talk about it at length if you show genuine interest, and has no interest in operating an online shop.
Open Tuesday to Saturday, afternoons only (typically noon to 6pm, but the hours are approximate). Go slowly. Ask questions. If you want something specific and cannot find it, describe it — he will usually know whether he has it and where it is buried. Prices are fair; nothing is inflated simply because the address is Hampstead.
Open: Tue–Sat, approx 12–6pm. Best for: Secondhand literary fiction, antiquarian and rare books, specialist poetry.
Wine and Drinks
The Flask Wine Shop — 14 Flask Walk, NW3 1HE
Not to be confused with the adjacent Flask pub — though both share the same address effectively — the Flask Wine Shop occupies a small premises on Flask Walk and stocks one of the most carefully selected wine lists in North London. The focus is on natural, biodynamic and low-intervention wines from small producers, but the conventional list is equally well-considered and runs to around 200 bottles. Staff taste everything they stock; the advice is reliable and never pushy.
Prices run from around £12 for an everyday drinking bottle to £60 or more for something special. The shop runs occasional Saturday tastings — usually three or four wines, £15 a head — which are among the better ways to spend a Saturday morning in the village. No booking required, first-come.
Open: Mon–Sat 11am–8pm, Sun 12–6pm. Best for: Natural and biodynamic wines, honest advice, Saturday tastings.
Hampstead Wine Company — 5 Flask Walk, NW3 1AH
The other end of the wine-shopping spectrum: a more conventional merchant with a broad range across all price points and a weekly blind-tasting on Friday evenings (£15 per person, five wines, usually themed by region or grape). The selection leans toward France, Italy and Spain but covers most major wine regions. Good for everyday drinking bottles in the £12–20 range where the Flask Wine Shop's natural-leaning selection may not appeal.
Open: Mon–Sat 10am–8pm, Sun 12–6pm. Best for: Everyday wines, broad international range, Friday blind-tastings.
Food and Cheese
La Fromagerie — 6 Heath Street, NW3 6TE
Patricia Michelson opened the original La Fromagerie in Marylebone in 1991; the Hampstead shop on Heath Street is the second outlet and operates with the same rigour. This is the best place in North London to buy cheese — possibly the best in London full stop for the combination of range, quality, and staff knowledge. The selection is serious, seasonal, and sourced directly from producers where possible. Raw milk cheeses are stocked year-round; seasonal specialities (Mont d'Or in winter, fresh chèvre in spring) arrive when they should.
Staff will cut you a taste of anything you are undecided about, and the advice on what pairs with what is specific and useful rather than generic. The shop also stocks charcuterie, preserves, crackers and a small wine selection chosen to complement the cheese. Expect to spend time here — it is not a shop to rush.
Open: Tue–Fri 10:30am–7pm, Sat 9am–7pm, Sun 10am–5pm. Best for: Cheese, charcuterie, informed advice, seasonal specialities.
Rosslyn Deli — 56 Rosslyn Hill, NW3 1ND
A neighbourhood deli on Rosslyn Hill that has expanded over the years without losing its character. The cheese counter is a scaled-down version of La Fromagerie's range; the bread comes from good bakeries rather than being baked in-house; the prepared foods (salads, tarts, charcuterie boards) are made daily and are reliably good. The coffee is from Rosslyn Coffee of Leadenhall (a related business) and is among the best in the area.
Rosslyn Deli functions as many things at once: a deli, a café, a wine shop, and a lunch spot. It is busiest on Saturday mornings before the farmers' market and the combination of the two makes for an excellent start to a weekend day in Hampstead.
Open: Mon–Fri 7:30am–6pm, Sat 8am–6pm, Sun 9am–5pm. Best for: Prepared foods, sandwiches, coffee, daily lunch.
Nicely Lebanese Grocer — Flask Walk, NW3
A small but exceptionally well-stocked Lebanese and Middle Eastern grocer on Flask Walk that carries some of the best olives, tahini, za'atar, pomegranate molasses and olive oil in North London. The kind of shop where you go in for one thing and come out with six — the stock is chosen well and the prices are fair. The fresh herbs are reliably good. Worth a detour specifically for the pomegranate molasses and the pickled vegetables.
Best for: Middle Eastern groceries, olive oil, preserved goods, fresh herbs.
Homeware, Kitchen and Design
Objects of Use — 17 Flask Walk, NW3 1HJ
One of the more unusual shops in Hampstead: a carefully edited selection of kitchen and household tools from small European makers, with a particular focus on objects that are functional in the truest sense — designed to work well and last a long time rather than to look impressive on a shelf. The chef's knives range from £30 to around £200; the wooden boards, brushes, preserving jars and measuring tools are similarly well-chosen. Occasional weekend demonstrations of technique (knife sharpening, bread scoring) are advertised in the window.
Open: Tue–Sat 10am–6pm, Sun 11am–5pm. Best for: Kitchen tools, chef's knives, functional homeware from small makers.
Designs — Heath Street, NW3
A family-run shop on Heath Street selling hand-printed linen, leather goods, ceramics and one-off artworks from local and European studios. Everything is either made in Britain or produced in small Italian and Portuguese workshops. The price point is significant — this is not a shop for impulse purchases — but the quality justifies it and the selection changes regularly enough to reward return visits. Particularly good for gifts that feel genuinely considered rather than generic.
Best for: Hand-printed textiles, leather, ceramics, considered gifts.
Arc Design — Perrins Court, NW3
One of three shops on Perrins Court, the narrow pedestrian lane that cuts between Heath Street and Hampstead High Street. Arc specialises in Scandinavian ceramics and glassware — clean lines, muted colours, built to be used — alongside a small selection of Japanese homeware. Prices are reasonable for the quality. The kind of shop that changes slowly and rewards browsing rather than specific shopping.
Best for: Scandinavian ceramics, Japanese homeware, Scandi glassware.
Florists and Garden
Bloomsbury Flowers — South End Road, NW3
A florist on South End Road near the overground station with a consistently good seasonal selection and a pricing structure that sits well below what the high street florists charge. The arrangements are not trend-chasing — they tend toward the classic and the natural rather than the architectural — and the quality of the stock is reliable. Good for weekly flowers as well as for occasions. Order in advance for larger arrangements.
Best for: Seasonal cut flowers, good value, weekly bunches.
Perrins Court: The Pedestrian Lane Worth Knowing
Perrins Court is a narrow pedestrian passage that runs between Hampstead High Street and Heath Street and is easy to miss if you don't know it's there. It holds three independent shops in quick succession — Arc Design, a jeweller (Gina's, contemporary British and Italian silver, mostly under £200), and a small gallery that changes its exhibiting artist every six weeks. Worth walking through even if you are not specifically shopping; it is one of the quieter corners of the village and a good shortcut between the two main streets.
South End Road: The Local End
The stretch of South End Road between the Rosslyn Hill junction and Hampstead Heath Overground station has a more functional, less polished character than the high street — this is where people who live in Hampstead actually shop rather than where visitors tend to go. Alongside Daunt Books and Rosslyn Deli, you will find a hardware shop that has been here for decades, a small but well-stocked florist, and Hampstead Wine Company. The Friday blind-tasting at the wine shop (£15, five wines, 6pm) is a reliable weekly fixture for locals.
The Farmers' Market Connection
The Hampstead Farmers' Market runs every Saturday from 10am to 2pm in the car park behind Waitrose on Hampstead High Street. It is not the largest market in London but it is one of the most consistently good — the same stallholders week to week, high sourcing standards, and a selection that covers bread, cheese, charcuterie, fresh pasta, smoked fish, seasonal vegetables and preserves. Combining the market with a walk along Flask Walk and a stop at Keith Fawkes or the Flask Wine Shop makes for the definitive Hampstead Saturday morning. See our Farmers' Market guide for the full detail.
What Has Been Lost — and Why It Matters
Hampstead has lost several independents in the last decade: a small independent cinema that showed foreign language films on weekday afternoons, a proper record shop on the high street, two interior design studios, and a long-running independent pharmacy that had served the area for three generations. Rents on Hampstead High Street are now around £150 per square foot per year — up from approximately £90 a decade ago — and most of what remains as independent is either owner-occupied with no lease to renew, carrying a long-term below-market lease from before the rent rises, or subsidised by a second income stream (online shop, wholesale, events).
The shops that have survived have done so because their customers are loyal and consistent, not because they are cheaper or more convenient than the alternatives. When you buy from Daunt Books instead of Amazon, from Keith Fawkes instead of a large-format secondhand retailer, from La Fromagerie instead of the supermarket cheese counter, you are supporting a particular kind of urban life that does not self-sustain without active participation. Hampstead's character is, in a real sense, what its residents choose to spend their money on.