On Foot
Walks & Routes
Hampstead Heath is one of London's great walking destinations. Whether you want a short stroll through the village lanes or a full circuit of the ancient Heath, we have a route for you.
320
Acres of Heath
25+
Waymarked Routes
3
Swimming Ponds
23°C
partly cloudy
Feels like
22°C
Wind
11 km/h
10 walks · scroll to load more
The Village & Literary Walk
Hampstead has more blue plaques per square mile than almost anywhere else in London, and this short loop threads through the densest concentration of them. I would give yourself ninety minutes rather than forty-five if you want to actually read the plaques and look into the houses properly. Start at Hampstead tube station and cross Heath Street to Flask Walk, one of the prettiest cobbled lanes in north London. The Flask pub on your left dates to the early 1700s and takes its name from the flasks once filled at the Hampstead Wells spring — this area was a minor spa town before the railways put it back on London's map. Continue along Flask Walk until it opens into Well Walk. At number 40, the painter John Constable spent the last years of his life (1827 to 1837) and painted several of his late Heath skies from the upstairs window. Turn right into Christchurch Hill, then left onto Downshire Hill — easily one of the best-preserved Regency streets in London, with almost every house built between 1810 and 1830. Look for St John's Chapel on the corner, a rare surviving example of a Regency proprietary chapel. At 47 Downshire Hill, the painter Mark Gertler lived in the 1920s; his parties drew Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, and Dora Carrington. Cut through to Keats Grove. The Keats House at number 10 is where the poet lived from 1818 to 1820 and wrote Ode to a Nightingale in the garden — reportedly after hearing a nightingale in the plum tree outside. The house is open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm; entry is around £8. Even if you don't go in, the garden is visible from the railings and worth the stop. Continue back up to Hampstead High Street via Pilgrim's Lane, then turn left onto Church Row — the most photographed Georgian terrace in the area, built around 1720 and once called the finest street in Hampstead by John Betjeman. St John-at-Hampstead churchyard at the end contains the graves of Constable, the painter Eric Kennington, and more recent residents including Kay Kendall and Hugh Gaitskell. The final stretch climbs Holly Walk to Mount Vernon and drops onto Hampstead Grove, passing Fenton House (a seventeenth-century merchant's house, now National Trust, with an important early keyboard collection). From there it is a short descent down Admiral's Walk — named after the nineteenth-century retired admiral who had quarterdeck railings installed on the roof of his house — and you are back at Whitestone Pond. Best time: mid-morning on a weekday, when the houses catch the eastern light. In summer, start before 10am to avoid the crowds drifting up from the tube. Many of the plaques are easier to photograph on overcast days; less glare on the ceramic.
Village Lanes & Hidden Courts
A slow walk through the quieter corners of Hampstead village — the passages, courts and back lanes that most visitors miss entirely. This route takes around 90 minutes at an unhurried pace, covering less than two kilometres of ground but revealing more of the character of the neighbourhood than any straight-line walk could. Begin at Hampstead tube station. Walk up Holly Hill past the Hampstead & Highgate fire station — note the original Victorian horse-ramp still visible on the left — and continue to Holly Mount, where the Holly Bush pub sits at the top of a Georgian lane that has changed remarkably little since the 1780s. From Holly Mount, take the footpath that runs east to Admiral's Walk — a private-feeling residential lane overlooking the Heath, with the large white houses of Grove Lodge (Galsworthy's home from 1918 to 1933) visible through the trees. Descend to Lower Terrace and pick up the alley that brings you out onto Judges' Walk, a long straight path on the Heath edge. Return through the back streets: Holford Road, Willow Road (stop at the Erno Goldfinger house at No.2, now a National Trust property), and back to Flask Walk via the Well Walk passage. End at the Flask pub or continue to the Burgh House museum on New End Square.
The Ponds & Woodland Circuit
This is the walk for anyone who wants the quiet, shaded side of the Heath rather than the big views. Three kilometres, an hour at a gentle pace, takes in all three bathing ponds on the east of the Heath, the ancient mixed woodland above them, and finishes at Parliament Hill Lido — a 1938 art-deco outdoor pool that still operates as a public swimming pool year-round. Start at Gospel Oak overground station (eight minutes on the line from Hampstead Heath, or a ten-minute walk from Hampstead proper). Head north past the athletics track and pick up the east side of the Men's Pond. These ponds are not ornamental — they are seventeenth-century reservoirs that once supplied the New River system into central London. The Men's Pond on your left has been in continuous use for swimming since at least 1846 and costs around £4.75 for a dip; the changing hut on the eastern side is staffed by lifeguards year-round. Continue north, keeping the water on your left, and the path climbs into the woodland above the Ladies' Pond. This stretch of woodland is some of the oldest on the Heath — a mix of oak, hornbeam, and beech, with a dense understorey of holly that stays green through winter and gives the path a closed, intimate feel. If you are walking in April or May, the bluebells here are as good as any in the South East. The path flattens out on the ridge and drops you into the Kenwood boundary. Rather than going into Kenwood, take the south-facing path that cuts back through the Vale of Health — a hidden pocket of eighteenth-century cottages built on a drained area of the Heath, once a fever-ridden swamp until landowner Samuel Hoare cleared it in 1777. D. H. Lawrence lived here briefly in 1915; Rabindranath Tagore in 1912. The descent from the Vale of Health swings east around the Mixed Pond (mixed bathing, same operator, same price) and finally deposits you at Parliament Hill Lido on the south-east corner of the Heath. The lido holds 28,000 gallons of unheated filtered water, opened in 1938, and was Grade II listed in 1999 for its streamline-modern architecture. Members of the Hampstead Heath Winter Swimming Club swim here 365 days a year. Non-members can pay by the session; entry is around £9, cheaper for off-peak. From the lido, Gospel Oak station is a five-minute walk south, or you can cut through to South End Green for buses and cafes. Best time: late spring mornings for the bluebells, or clear winter days if you want to see the ice cutters at the lido. Avoid Sunday afternoons in summer. Wear waterproof footwear outside the summer months — the woodland section stays muddy long after the paths have dried out.
The Dawn Swim Walk
A walk designed around the Hampstead Heath bathing ponds — arriving at the Mixed Pond for an early swim, then walking the circuit of all three ponds (Ladies', Men's, Mixed) before heading back through the Heath as the rest of the city wakes up. Best done between May and September when the ponds open from 7am; in winter the experience is possible but the water temperature will be between 3°C and 8°C, which requires specific preparation. Start at Hampstead Heath Overground station at first light and walk north along the eastern edge of the Heath. The path rises gently through birch woodland before opening out onto the meadow above the ponds. Arrive at the Mixed Pond — entry £4, towel and goggles essential, no changing facilities beyond basic benches — before 7:30am on summer weekends to avoid the queue. After swimming, walk the chain of ponds from south to north: Mixed Pond, then Ladies' Pond (no entry for non-swimmers, but the path runs close enough to see the willows and the lifeguard tower), then the Men's Pond and the fishing ponds beyond. The path continues north to the Vale of Health — a curious enclave of private houses on the Heath, accessible by footpath but feeling entirely separate from the surrounding city — before looping back to the station via the main Heath path.
Parliament Hill & South Heath
The most accessible introduction to Hampstead Heath — starting from Gospel Oak station, climbing Parliament Hill for the iconic London skyline view, then looping back through the meadows and along the chain of Highgate Ponds. On a clear morning the view from the top takes in the full London skyline from Canary Wharf to the Shard. The route stays on wide, well-drained paths and is passable in almost any weather. Start at Gospel Oak Overground station and head north-east across the open meadow toward Parliament Hill. The climb is gentle — about 40 metres of ascent — but the view from the top (134 metres above sea level) is disproportionately dramatic. The bench at the top is one of the finest places in London to sit and do nothing. Descend north toward the Highgate Ponds — six linked ponds dug in the 17th century to supply London with drinking water. In summer you will see swimmers at the Ladies' Pond and Men's Pond; in winter, determined year-round swimmers who treat the cold as the point rather than an obstacle. Loop back west across the main meadow and descend to South End Green. The Magdala pub on South Hill Park is a good endpoint.
The Classic Heath Loop
The Classic Heath Loop is the walk I recommend to anyone visiting Hampstead for the first time — four kilometres that pack in almost everything people come here for: open sky, 500-year-old oaks, wild swimming ponds, and the best skyline view in London. Start at Hampstead station on the Northern Line (Edgware branch, the deepest station on the Underground at 58.5 metres) and head down Holly Hill toward the Heath entrance at Whitestone Pond, London's highest natural body of water at 134 metres above sea level. From Whitestone, take the path that cuts east across the open grassland toward Parliament Hill. The climb is gentle but persistent; don't be tempted to rush it. At the top, 98 metres up, the full London skyline unfolds — St Paul's, the Shard, Canary Wharf, the BT Tower. On a clear winter morning you can pick out the arches of Wembley 14 kilometres to the west. Parliament Hill is one of only thirteen views in London protected by planning law; every new tall building in the city centre must be assessed against its impact on this sightline. Descend the eastern slope and the path funnels you past the Model Boating Pond and down to the Mixed Bathing Pond, one of three wild-swimming ponds managed by the City of London Corporation. Open year-round (yes, even in January, when regulars chip the ice) and priced at roughly £4.75 for a single dip. If you're not swimming, sit on the wooden benches and watch the regulars — most of them over sixty, all of them unhurried. The middle stretch takes you through the ancient woodland of the West Heath, where the tree cover closes overhead and the temperature drops noticeably in summer. Some of these oaks predate the English Civil War. Keep an eye out for green woodpeckers and, if you're lucky at dusk, a muntjac deer. The path here is unpaved and gets muddy after rain — waterproof trainers make this walk a lot more pleasant in winter. The final leg climbs back to Whitestone Pond via the Vale of Health, a hidden pocket of eighteenth-century cottages tucked inside the Heath that almost nobody stumbles onto by accident. Emerge at the top of Heath Street and walk down through Hampstead village. If you finish by 3pm, duck into Coffee Cup on the High Street for a coffee before catching the tube. Best time to walk: weekday mornings before 10am, or winter weekends after frost. Avoid summer Sundays from 11am to 4pm when the Heath is at its busiest. Wear layers — the ridge is exposed and the wind off Hampstead can be five degrees colder than central London. Pack a small bottle of water and, if you want to stop at the ponds, a towel.
The Spaniards Loop
A circular walk that starts and ends at the Spaniards Inn — one of the great English pubs, dating from 1585 — taking in the northern edge of the Heath, the Kenwood car park wood, and a section of the ancient Sandy Road that runs along the Heath's western rim. An ideal walk for a Sunday morning, finishing with a pint in the Spaniards' garden before the lunchtime crowds arrive. Start at the Spaniards Inn on Spaniards Road — the bus stops directly outside (bus 210 from Archway or Golders Green). Walk east along the Spaniards Road, noting the original tollbooth on the opposite side of the road. Enter the Heath through the gate opposite the car park and head south along the avenue of trees. The Kenwood car park wood to the east is an unusual mixed plantation — limes, chestnuts, and a few remaining elms — planted in the 18th century as a formal approach to Kenwood House. In autumn the colour here is dramatic. Bear west along the Heath edge above the Viaduct Pond — the brick viaduct visible through the trees was built in 1844 and now serves primarily as a backdrop for wedding photographs. Loop back north through the birch scrub and return to the Spaniards along the Sandy Road path.
Belsize Park to Primrose Hill
This walk connects two of North London's most distinctive neighbourhoods — Belsize Park and Primrose Hill — through the back streets and then across open parkland, finishing on Primrose Hill itself with one of the best views of Central London in existence. The route takes in the arts-and-crafts streets of Belsize Park, the canal towpath alongside Regent's Canal, and the gentle climb to the Primrose Hill summit at 78 metres. Begin at Belsize Park tube station and walk south-east through the wide Edwardian streets of Belsize Park — Buckland Crescent, Belsize Crescent, Eton Avenue — noticing the consistency of the late Victorian and Edwardian terrace architecture, which has been protected from development more successfully here than almost anywhere else in inner London. Pick up the canal towpath at Primrose Hill Road and walk east along Regent's Canal. The canal was built in 1820 and feels resolutely un-London — narrow boats, willows, and a pace of life that bears no relation to the streets above. Exit at the Gloucester Avenue bridge and climb through Primrose Hill park to the summit. The view south from here takes in the Shard, the Gherkin, Telecom Tower and — on very clear days — the hills of Crystal Palace. Return via Fitzroy Road to Belsize Park or continue to Chalk Farm tube for the Northern line.
Kenwood & North Heath
If you only do one longer walk in Hampstead, do this one. It covers the quieter, wilder northern half of the Heath, takes in Kenwood House (one of the best small art collections in Britain, and free to enter), and ends in Highgate village — which means you can finish with a pint at the Flask or the Wrestlers and get a bus or the tube back rather than retracing your steps. Start at Hampstead Heath overground station on the southern edge of the Heath. Walk up past the Parliament Hill running track — used by training athletes on weekday evenings and often entirely empty in the morning. Keep to the eastern path that skirts the Highgate Ponds, a chain of seven linked bodies of water dug in the seventeenth century to supply London's drinking water. The Men's Pond and Ladies' Pond here are the older, more secluded siblings of the Mixed Pond on the lower slopes. Past the ponds, the landscape opens into the West Meadow — the wildest part of the Heath and the one where you are most likely to see Exmoor ponies grazing (reintroduced in a conservation programme), green woodpeckers, and, in high summer, meadow brown butterflies in the long grass. Stay on the main gravel path that climbs gently toward Kenwood. If it has been raining, the side paths turn to mud and you will regret anything less than boots. Kenwood House rises out of the trees at the top of the slope. This is an eighteenth-century country house, remodelled by Robert Adam in the 1760s and given to the nation by the first Earl of Iveagh in 1927. Free entry, open 10am to 5pm daily. The collection is small but remarkable: Rembrandt's late Self-Portrait with Two Circles, Vermeer's The Guitar Player, a Gainsborough, two Turners. The orangery and the library are the highlights of the interior. Allow forty minutes. From Kenwood, continue east along Hampstead Lane and turn south into Highgate's Millfield Lane — the so-called poets' lane where Keats walked regularly and Coleridge lived in his later years. This drops you onto Swain's Lane, and from there a short climb brings you to Highgate village proper. Stop at the Flask (dating to 1663, rebuilt 1767) for a drink in the courtyard. Highgate Cemetery is two minutes' walk if you want to add it — Karl Marx's grave is in the East Cemetery, open daily, around £4.50 for adults. To return, take bus 210 back to Hampstead, or walk the Highgate-Archway steps to catch the Northern Line at Archway. Best time: mornings in spring or early autumn. The light on the Kenwood meadow is exceptional in late September. Avoid summer weekends when Kenwood can have queues; the open-air concerts on the Kenwood lawn (June to August) close parts of the route.
Highgate to Parliament Hill
A point-to-point walk across the northern and central Heath — start in Highgate village, cross the Heath at its widest point, and finish at Parliament Hill with the London skyline stretched out below you. At 6.5 kilometres this is the longest route in the collection, and the one that best conveys the scale of what 790 acres of open land actually means in the middle of a city. Start at Highgate tube station on Archway Road and walk up Highgate Hill to the village. Stop at The Flask on Highgate West Hill — not to be confused with The Flask in Hampstead village, though both are excellent — before entering the Heath at Millfield Lane. The northern Heath has a different character from the Hampstead side: quieter, wilder, with longer lines of sight across open grassland. The Highgate Ponds from this approach reveal themselves gradually — first the fishing ponds, then the bathing ponds, which in summer are among the most pleasant places in London. Cross the main meadow below Parliament Hill, climb to the summit, and look south. On a clear day you can see past Canary Wharf to the North Downs in Surrey — about 30 miles. The descent to Gospel Oak or Hampstead Heath overground stations takes 15 minutes.
All 10 walks loaded
Walking Tips
🥾 Footwear
The Heath can be muddy year-round. Sturdy walking shoes or boots are recommended, even on shorter routes.
🚇 Getting Here
Hampstead tube station (Northern line) is the easiest entry point. The Heath is a 5-minute walk from the high street.
🌤️ Best Time
Early mornings and golden-hour evenings offer the most atmospheric walks. Avoid busy weekends in summer if you prefer solitude.