Kensington
is a large district just to the west of the very centre of London.
A short journey to most of London's main attractions.
There are various sub-districts within the Kensington area, broadly
the further east you go towards the centre the more affluent and upmarket
things become.
On this page we look at the Gloucester Road, South Kensington, Kensington
High Street district of Kensington. We have another page providing
a briefing of Earls
Court Kensington. |
Harrods
Knightsbridge |
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Gloucester
Road Area
If you look at our Kensington
hotel map, you will see that one of the focuses for hotels in
Kensington has Gloucester Road Underground station at its centre.
There are a lot of large chain 4 star hotels in the immediate vicinity
including Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Raddisson and Millenium.
The axis for this district is the Cromwell Road that come in from
Heathrow and passes through this part of Kensington on its way into
the very centre. The Piccadilly Line of the London Underground runs
parallel with the Cromwell Road with stations at Earls Court, Gloucester
Road, South Kensington and Knightsbridge. Just 5 minutes walk to the
west of Gloucester Road is the Earls
Court district, mostly cheap independent hotel accommodation but
with some good more upmarket options sprinkled in among them.
Immediately to the east of Gloucester Road is South Kensington, dominated
for visitors by the South Kensington museums. The further you go east
towards the centre the more upmarket it becomes culminating in Knightsbridge,
one of the most select districts in Central London.
You can walk to the famous Harrod's department store from Gloucester
Road in about 15 minutes.
Just to the north of Gloucester Road is Kensington High Street, arguably
again more upmarket. |
Getting
To The Sights
With the notable exception of the South Kensington Museums you will
be using the London Underground to get around. You should be able
to get to most places you want to see in Central London within around
20-30 minutes using the Underground.
Most visitors should be purchasing an Oyster
Card or Travelcard, the most convenient places in the district
to buy from is from the ticket offices of the Underground Stations.
The Piccadilly Line takes you direct into the theatre/entertainment
area of Central London whilst the Circle and District Line follows
the River Thames and is good for many of the major sights like Westminster
Abbey, Big Ben and Tower of London. |
A very
popular option for visitors to get orientated with London is to use
the hop on, hop off tour buses. There are two major operators, the
Original London Tour and the Big Bus.
For those staying in the Kensington Gloucester Road Underground /
Kensington High Street area, the Big Bus has an advantage as one of
their main routes picks up at both these locations.
For the competing Original London Tour you would need to walk about
5/10 minutes to the South Kensington Museums. |
Big Bus Hop on Hop Off Tour Bus |
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