Why London’s Hampstead is perfect for celebrity spotting and crêpes, you could even bump into Harry Styles!
Forget Notting Hill and Chelsea, London’s Hampstead has a unique charm that cannot be matched.
If you are visiting London for the day or for a week, chances are that most of your time will be visiting the trademark attractions, museums and possibly heading to the likes of Notting Hill and Knightsbridge in case you want to sample what Harrods is like.
However, if you want to not base yourself in central London or simply want to try a new neighbourhood, I would recommend you visit Hampstead which can be accessed either by the tube (Hampstead is on the northern line). Or alternatively you can go overground to Hampstead Heath.
For those of you who decide to head to Hampstead Heath, when you walk out of the station, you will be in an area known as South End Green, which is minutes from the Heath and is also a bustling area filled with shops as well as places to eat. If you take the tube to Hampstead, the minute you head out from the station, you will be in the heart of the neighbourhood.
What I would recommend you do first is to head to a paved street immediately off the high street called Flask Walk. In case you didn’t know, Flask Walk was the location for some scenes in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, starring Renee Zellweger. Bridget Jones’s children go to Galsworthy House School which was filmed at at Christ Church Primary School in Hampstead for exteriors, the interiors were shot at Yerbury Primary School in Islington.
If you want to stop at a pub in Flask Walk, then wander into The Flask Pub, which is Grade II listed. However for those of you who are thinking about getting a bite to eat at French restaurant La Cage Imaginaire, I am afraid to inform you that it shut down at the end of November 2025 after over 50 years in business.
Chances are however whatever you decide to do in Hampstead, don’t be surprised if you bump into an A-list star such as Harry Styles who lives in the area. In September 2023, I reported that Harry Styles was seen showing off his six-pack in green shorts as he took a dip in the public ponds on London’s Hampstead Heath.
As if the sight of Harry Styles isn’t enough, you might also see the likes of Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes as the couple have reportedly moved to the area while he films Starfighter. Nicole Kidman reportedly rented Boy George’s old home while she was filming Practical Magic 2.
If you don’t have the inclination to sit down but are feeling peckish whilst you are in Hampstead, you must visit La Crêperie de Hampstead, where you often see large queues of people waiting to order a delicious sweet or savoury crêpe.