Why I love living in Crystal Palace - and some of the best things to do there

Crystal Palace's titular park and sports centre, as seen from above (Photo: Historic England Archive/Heritage Images via Getty Images)Crystal Palace's titular park and sports centre, as seen from above (Photo: Historic England Archive/Heritage Images via Getty Images)
Crystal Palace's titular park and sports centre, as seen from above (Photo: Historic England Archive/Heritage Images via Getty Images) | Getty Images
South London’s Crystal Palace is home to dinosaurs, great sandwiches, and excellent bird watching.

When most people think ‘Crystal Palace,’ the Premier League football team probably comes to mind.

Or perhaps it’s the namesake structure itself, an enormous glass and iron building which once housed the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. Later moved to South London, it was lost to a fire in the 1930s - its legacy living on through name alone.

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But there’s more to Crystal Palace than a colourful history and a football club, and as a semi-recent arrival, I’ve found it’s for good reason that it was named the best place to live in London by The Times. Moving to the hustle and bustle of London from the relative tranquillity of New Zealand, I remember being warned by a British co-worker that the great outdoors and green spaces I loved so much would be a thing of the past.

Living in Crystal Palace, I’m pleased to say, has definitely proven otherwise - and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Not only is it packed with parks of all sizes, shapes, and types, but it’s home to some of the highest spots in London - allowing you to look out across the city. Besides the Shard and the London eye - and an absolutely cracking view of the New Year’s Eve fireworks display - this reveals a sea of green. So many trees interspersed with its buildings that you could basically call London a forest, as far as the eye can see. Coming from somewhere where nature was always just a stone’s throw away, this offers a great sense of comfort - and makes it all the easier to feel at home.

Crystal Palace is also relatively affordable, I was startled to find, compared to the frankly exorbitant cost of living prices London is so well known for. The area itself offers great boutique shopping and plenty of independent businesses (a breath of fresh air compared to some parts of the city made up of the same few chain stores). It almost has a ‘village’ feel about it, where you know and are friendly with your local baristas and grocery store staff - not always a guaranteed in so big a place as London. But at the same time, it’s still so connected, with amazing, reliable public transport to most anywhere you could want to go.

The dinosaur statues have called Crystal Palace Park home since it first opened in 1854 (Photo: DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)The dinosaur statues have called Crystal Palace Park home since it first opened in 1854 (Photo: DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
The dinosaur statues have called Crystal Palace Park home since it first opened in 1854 (Photo: DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

It’s an ideal place for wanderers and explorers too, with hidden gems and secrets tucked away behind every corner. For example, did you know there’s a lavish Victorian-era train station underground, lying beneath Crystal Palace Parade? With pillars and a colourful vaulted roof designed by Italian cathedral specialists? Neither did a friend who has lived here much longer than me.

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I’ve found there are always plenty of incredible things to do in Crystal Palace, from the International Film Festival to catching a match at Selhurst Park Stadium. But here are five of my favourites, which you can check out almost any day of the week, any time of year:

Five of the best things to do in Crystal Palace

See the famous dinosaurs

Rising out from the foliage and lake water are a little piece of history dating back to when Crystal Palace Park first opened, in 1854. A series of life-sized sculptures of dinosaurs and other extinct animals were specially commissioned for the the park, believed to be the very first of their kind in the world. Sculpted under close watch by experts to the very best of scientific knowledge at the time, these 170-year-old beasties look a little different to how we imagine many of these animals looked today - and there are helpful placards along the scenic lakeside ‘dinosaur walk’ illuminating these sometimes stark differences.

It’s a beautiful walk visiting these heritage-listed treasures on a sunny day, and definitely family friendly - I often see kids squealing with delight as they spot them. Best of all, it’s absolutely free.

Redwings are some of the unusual visitors to be found around Crystal Palace in the winter months (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)Redwings are some of the unusual visitors to be found around Crystal Palace in the winter months (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Redwings are some of the unusual visitors to be found around Crystal Palace in the winter months (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Go birdwatching

Despite coming from a country renowned for its bird life (and loving many of my homeland’s native species deeply), I never really got into ‘birding’ as a hobby until I moved to the UK. Crystal Palace Park is one of my very favourite places to birdwatch, home to everything from little owls to firecrests - alongside a cast of other charming characters that change with the seasons (the dinosaurs, for example, are joined by a host of migratory ducks over the winter months).

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But some of the best birdwatching in Crystal Palace is to be found in its myriad other parks and gardens. For hundreds of years, this particular patch of Southeast London had been home to the Great North Wood, an ancient oak woodland, and remnants of it still stand to this day. Biggin Wood and Beaulieu Heights can both be found in the general Crystal Palace/Upper Norwood area, and are both within walking distance to train stations with good bus links too. Both are laced with dainty bluebells and cacophonous with birdsong this time of year, and if you’re lucky, the tapping of woodpeckers - and they’re really must-see sights if you’d to see some of London’s lesser known birdlife.

Get one of London’s best sandwiches

Crystal Palace’s most popular sandwich shop blew up the internet recently, and for good reason. As a pandemic baby, Chatsworth Bakehouse is a fairly new addition to the Anerley Hill area - which runs down one side of Crystal Palace Park - but thanks to its glorious Italian-inspired sandwiches (on luscious handmade focaccia) and baked treats, it’s proven to be a winner.

The bakehouse is in a tiny little red-painted shop about halfway down the hill. It’s only open from Wednesday to Saturday, and its menu changes weekly (it’s a good idea to check social media for its latest offerings). However, its popularity means sandwiches sell out quick, and there can be long queues for walk-in orders - so it’s best to plan to be there early if you want to give this instant classic a try.

Go antiquing

The Triangle is perhaps the heart of Crystal Palace. Home to most of the area’s best shopping, these equilaterally-laid out streets are dotted with charming little coffee shops and eateries, and notably, a diverse array of antiques stores. Church Road in particular has loads of them, and their window displays alone are a often sight to behold.

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From merely retro to positively Victorian, you can get it all here - from art, to clothes, to furniture, to the kind of bric-a-brac you didn’t know even existed. If you’re in the market for something vintage, Crystal Palace’s decades-in-the-making scene is a treasure trove of amazing things just waiting for you to take them home. It’s a bit more tucked away, but you shouldn’t miss the Haynes Lane Market either for curios and collectibles of all kinds. There’s also a wee food market there on Saturdays with some amazing fresh produce, if you’re wanting to double up and get your farmer’s market fix.

Buy a coffee and a vegan pastry, and pick out a new plant

Everyone wants a coffee while they’re exploring the streets of London. Probably my favourite shop in Crystal Palace is The Vaults Collective, and coffee’s just one of the things it has on the menu. The product of two different businesses working together, here you can grab a top notch-coffee and plant-based cake or pastry (my personal favourite is the vegan steak bake - the best one this side of Greggs) surrounded by a lush jungle of plants, which are also for sale.

Highlights of dining in include a wall of polaroids of cute canine customers (complete with their names), as well as a real-time Instagram followers counter. There are cookbooks and candles for sale, and there’s also a downstairs, where you can buy particularly trendy homeware - from neon signs to faux-tiger rugs.

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