The 1999 movie Love Actually may have put Notting Hill on the world map, but those in the know have been all too aware of its inimitable charms since much further back. To discover them for yourself, we suggest joining this well-curated walking tour.
A bustling scene in Notting Hill on market day (Photo: Mark Tominski via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Located in West London, around 5 miles from the city centre, Notting Hill has come a long way since its early 19th-century beginnings, when it was dominated by rural farmland and orchards. During the subsequent 100 years, as industrialisation began to take hold across Britain, it began its radical transformation into the vibrant and eclectic neighbourhood we know today, sprinkled with colourful houses, boutiques, restaurants and coffee shops, not to mention a bustling weekend market and internationally-acclaimed street festival. It’s also a delight to explore on foot, making the below walking tour – which should take around 2 to 3 hours in total – an ideal way to get to know this enchanting corner of the capital.
About the company
Guydeez allows travellers to find a local guide for private and personalised tours in around 80 destinations across the globe. All of their guides are local to the area and hand-picked based on their linguistic, cultural, societal, and historical skills and knowledge.
Tours are 100% customisable to your preferences and needs and you can plan your itinerary with your guide in advance via an online chat function. Alternatively, you can pick from a range of existing itineraries. Tours are available in English, French, Spanish and Italian.
Guydeez also offer tours of several other London neighbourhoods, including Shoreditch, Chinatown and Covent Garden
Full Tour Description
Those travelling into Notting Hill by tube will start their tour by arriving at Notting Hill Gate tube station. One of the oldest stations on the entire network, dating back to 1868, it is also one of the most architecturally eye-catching, with many of its original features, including its symmetrical arches and glass ceiling that drenches the platforms in natural light, still intact.
On exiting the station on the north side, head towards Pembridge Gardens, home to several impressive period buildings. Once you reach Pembridge Square, take a right and you’ll find yourself on Portobello Road, where you’ll get your first sighting of the colourful pastel houses for which the area is known.
Continue along Portobello Road and peruse the many market stalls that operate here each day, selling everything from antiques to vintage clothing to quirky collectibles. Saturdays are the busiest time, when street art and street performers add to the atmosphere, but this is a street that pulsates with energy every day of the week.
A Portobello Road market vendor selling his wares (Photo: Michiel Jelijs via Flickr / CC BY 2.0)
Running perpendicular to Portobello Road is Lancaster Road, a long, picturesque street lined with residential houses and a favourite photo stop with Notting Hill visitors thanks to its picture-book prettiness.
Colourful houses on Lancaster Road (Photo: Bex Walton via Flickr / CC BY 2.0)
Next, it’s on to the genteel surroundings of perhaps Notting Hill’s most photographed mews. Popularised in the previously mentioned silver screen classic Love Actually, the mew’s leafy houses, situated off of the eastern corner of Lancaster Road, positively ooze character and charm, evidenced by the steady stream of tourists who can be found milling around waiting for an opportune moment to take some uninterrupted snaps.
The perfectly delightful St Luke’s Mews(Photo: Bex Walton via Flickr / CC BY 2.0)
For a Notting Hill landmark of cultural significance, walk to the junction of Portobello and Acklam Road. Here, on the external wall of what is currently a restaurant, you’ll see one of legendary artist Banky’s oldest London murals, having appeared on the neighbourhood’s urban landscape in 200. Known as The Painter, the mural shows a graffiti artist (believed to be the 17th-century Spanish painter Velazquez) painting Banksy’s name in red.
One of the oldest intact Banksy murals (Photo: the euskadi 11 via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Next, head back onto Lancaster Road and, at around the street’s halfway point, turn left onto Ladbroke Grove. Keep going until you reach another of the area’s most culturally important sites: the music production venue once known as Basing Street Studios. Now occupied by Sarm Studios, the building in its 1970s incarnation was used by Jamaican music icon Bob Marley during his regular visits to London with his band Bob Marley and the Wailers. Today it is marked with a blue plaque commemorating the venue’s notable heritage.
From the studios, take a right onto Blenheim Crescent and follow its arched contours round until you reach Clarendon Road on the southeastern fringes of Notting Hill. From here, it’s a two-minute wiggle to get to The Bottle Kiln, a legacy of the 19th century when potteries and brickworks were established here. This heritage can also be seen through the presence of various pottery shops sprinkled within the vicinity of the historic kiln.
By this point, you might well be in need of a restorative drink, and where better to end your walking tour than in a quintessentially English pub. Wind your way back to Notting Hill Gate and the pub can be found just around the corner. Filled with memorabilia relating to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill – in tribute to his grandparents who once frequented the watering hole – the 18th-century real ale pub also grabs the attention on the outside, with its facade bedecked with flowers. In short, it’s the perfect spot to kick back in cosy surroundings and reflect on your Notting Hill experience before hopping back on the tube and back into the maelstrom of London Town.
The historic Churchill Arms public house (Photo: The Churchhill Arms)
Practical info
Notting Hill is well served by transport links, including its own Underground station – Notting Hill Gate – which connects you to the rest of the city via the Central line and the District and Circle lines.
There are also bus stops dotted throughout the neighbourhood, with direct buses transporting you there from various points across West London, including Chelsea, Kensington, South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Shepherd’s Bush and Paddington. However, if you are travelling to Notting Hill from further afield, it is recommended to take the tube, since London traffic can add significant time to your journey.
For visitors arriving into London by air who wish to come straight to Notting Hill, the closest Airport is Heathrow. From there you can either travel either by tube or mainline train into Notting Hill. Alternatively, you can also catch the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station before jumping on a District line which gets you to Notting Hill Gate in just two stops.
The architecturally impressive Notting Hill Gate Underground Station (Photo: Hugh Llewelyn via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Where to Book
You can book this walking tour via GetYourGuide.com