Kensington, starting from the High Street

Most of Kensington hangs off one street, however sprawling it looks on a map. Kensington High Street, London W8 (often shortened to Kensington High St), has the Tube station, the big shops and the Design Museum, and Kensington Gardens, Holland Park and Kensington Church Street all lead off it, so nearly everything worth doing is within fifteen minutes' walk of the station.

The High Street and Church Street

The Design Museum moved in 2016 into the old Commonwealth Institute, a 1962 building with a swooping copper roof worth a look even if you skip the exhibitions. The permanent collection display is free and the big shows are ticketed. Further east, Whole Foods fills the art deco former Barkers department store, handy if you're self-catering, and High Street Kensington station is on the District and Circle lines.

Kensington Church Street climbs north from the High Street towards Notting Hill, with antiques dealers along much of the way. Clarke's, at 122-124, has been Sally Clarke's restaurant since 1984, and her shop across the road does breakfast pastries and bread to take home. Near the top is the Churchill Arms, the pub hidden behind a wall of flowers, with a Thai kitchen in the back conservatory.

The palace, the parks and two artists' houses

Kensington Palace, run by Historic Royal Palaces, opens its State Apartments and changing exhibitions to visitors; buy timed tickets online, especially for weekends. If you've got under-tens with you, the Diana Memorial Playground on the north side of Kensington Gardens has reopened after a multi-million-pound renewal, and it's the best playground in central London by some distance.

Holland Park, west of the High Street, is where locals actually walk, with woodland paths, peacocks and the Kyoto Garden, a Japanese garden with a waterfall and a koi pond. On the park's southern edge, Leighton House was the home and studio of the painter Frederic Leighton, and the reason to go is the Arab Hall, lined with Islamic tiles. The borough's museum service also runs Sambourne House on Stafford Terrace, a Victorian family home kept almost exactly as its owners had it, and you can do both houses in a morning.

Most of Kensington's garden squares are private, but walking past them is half the pleasure. Cornwall Gardens, just west of Gloucester Road, is one of the grandest, with long stucco terraces and a conservation area of its own, while Edwardes Square, off the western end of the High Street, is smaller and prettier. One naming trap: Kensington Gardens Square isn't in Kensington at all. It's a garden square in Bayswater, W2, north of Kensington Gardens near Westbourne Grove, so an apartment address on it puts you nearer Notting Hill and Paddington than the High Street.

Museums, and getting about

The Science Museum and the Natural History Museum sit side by side on Exhibition Road, not far from many Kensington residences. Aim for opening time on a weekday outside school holidays, or late afternoon once the school groups have gone. Between them and the High Street, on Cromwell Road, The Mosaic Rooms is a small gallery of contemporary art from the Arab world, and a calm half hour if the big museums have worn you out.

The stations matter here. High Street Kensington has the District and Circle lines, Gloucester Road and South Kensington add the Piccadilly line for Heathrow and the West End, and Notting Hill Gate, on the northern edge, has the Central line. From the High Street, buses run east along Kensington Road past the Royal Albert Hall towards Hyde Park Corner, a much better way to see the area than the Tube. Walking is better still: the back streets between the High Street and Cromwell Road are among the best-preserved in west London, some of them packed with listed buildings.

Thirty-odd serviced residences cover Kensington, from about £175 a night, with plenty of Tube and rail lines close by. They're spread over a wide stretch, from Notting Hill Gate down to Earl's Court, so ask for the nearest station before you book, and say if it's the High Street you want.

Food hygiene ratings for the places in this guide

Official fact Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, checked 23 September 2026. 5 is the top rating.

Name	Registered address	Rating	Inspected
Clarke's	122-124 Kensington Church Street, W8 4BH	5	Nov 2025
Sally Clarke shop	121 Kensington Church Street, W8 7LP	5	Sep 2023
The Churchill Arms	119 Kensington Church Street, W8 7LN	5	Jul 2026

Ratings cover hygiene only, not food quality. Matched by name and address; a venue not shown was not found or could not be matched with confidence.