North London

North London is the outer northern district of London.

Understand

Many outer areas of North London were once part of the county of Middlesex, which no longer exists for administrative purposes. However, residents of these areas still have the option of using Middlesex in their postal addresses.

Boroughs

North London consists of the following boroughs:

Barnet — the borough includes:
- Barnet
- Edgware
- Finchley
- Golders Green
- Hendon
Brent — the borough includes:
- Wembley
- Kilburn
- Neasden
- Willesden
- Harlesden
Enfield — the borough includes:
- Enfield, Edmonton and Bush Hill Park
- Palmers Green
- Southgate
Haringey — the borough includes:
- Harringay
- Crouch End
- Muswell Hill
- Tottenham
- Wood Green
Harrow — the borough includes:
- Harrow, Harrow town centre is a bustling shopping and business area, while Harrow on the Hill, with the famous Harrow school, has remained almost unchanged for a hundred years.
- Pinner, a suburban town with a Tudor high street dating back to the 14th Century.
- Stanmore

London Borough of Enfield

Enfield can be split into four distinct areas:

Enfield Town, Chase, Slades Hill and Hadley Wood

Shopping here in Palace Xchange can be relatively expensive but there are some well-known stores such as United Colours Of Benetton, Ralph Lauren, Armani Exchange, The Arsenal Store, H&M, Next, Rolex, Per Lui, TK Maxx, Pearsons Department Store, JD Sports, M&S, Jane Norman, plus coffee shops (Caffè Nero, Starbucks and Costa). Also, Enfield Town is the world's first working and commercial ATM at the Barclays Bank on The Town EN2.

Southgate and Palmers Green

Wealthy suburban areas with beautiful Victorian and Edwardian-era houses; a short bus ride from Enfield Town on the 121/329.

Oakwood, Cockfosters, Grange Park and Cat Hill

Upper-middle-class suburbs bordering London's Metropolitan Green Belt; views of the open countryside are not uncommon in both Chase and Oakwood.

Edmonton and Bush Hill Park

Two outer London middle-class suburbs; location of the Edmonton Green shopping centre, Edmonton Green Bus Station and many shopping villages.

Finchley

This is a large, thriving metropolitan area in central North London and can be divided into several areas including Finchley Central (known historically as Finchley Church End), East Finchley and West Finchley.

Finchley Central is one of the only areas within London to be fortunate enough to have a city farm. College Farm is an attraction for locals and tourists who can expect to see horses, cows, yaks, pigs and other farmyard animals (a rare sight in London). Finchley Central is also home to the famous 'naked lady' statue at the Henly's Corner. Hotels in the district range from smaller bed and breakfasts to the Holiday Inn Finchley.

Finchley Central contains an odd mix of upper-middle class suburbia infused with some working class aspects too, thus giving it a unique vibe. There is a strong Jewish community in Finchley, however, this does not have many Orthodox Jews who generally choose to make the neighbouring areas of Hendon and Golders Green their home. The Jewish community is represented by several synagogues in the area, the most prominent being the New North London Synagogue on East End Road. It also acts as a local hub for Jewish culture.

There are a number of restaurants in Finchley Central which are reasonably priced and these include specialist restaurants such as Kosher and Halal establishments. Finchley also has bohemian and lively bars, some of which have late licensing laws. Travel in and out of central London is simple via the Northern Line and a variety of bus routes. Although Finchley has a distinctly urban feel, you can venture close by to the neighbouring Mill Hill area to experience some of the great British countryside.

Kilburn

Kilburn is a busy, diverse area situated along a stretch of the Roman Watling Street that makes up the local Edgware Road. Northern Kilburn encompasses the smaller area of Brondesbury. Known as 'Little Dublin', Kilburn spans the boroughs of Brent and Camden.

Being surrounded by generally wealthier areas, Kilburn is a mixture of influences. Historically, it was a focus point for Irish immigration (at some point it was even referred to as "County Kilburn"), and although there are few remaining in Kilburn, their influence is felt in the naming and styling of some of Kilburn's cafes and pubs. The community is very diverse, both ethnically and socially, with a mix of wealthy and poor streets.

Tottenham

Tottenham is mentioned in the Domesday book as the homestead of a man named Tota. The village of Tottenham grew up around the area of High Cross, on the junction with the High Road (the Roman road Ermine Street) and what is now Monument Way.

As a rural village this was a popular destination for the wealthy, and Henry VIII is believed to have visited the Tudor Bruce Castle, then in the hands of the Bruce family (descended from Robert the Bruce). The area stayed semi-rural until the late 19th century when the railway (with its new, reduced, workmen's rates) brought new trade and the need for more housing to the area. The area rapidly became built up, and by the time of World War II was a major target for Luftwaffe bombing campaigns.

Since then, Tottenham has become most notorious for being one of the most deprived areas of North London and the scene of the Broadwater Farm riots in 1985. Since then, the area has done much to recover, and is now reputed to be the most ethnically diverse part of Western Europe. The 2011 England riots were sparked in Tottenham, which saw some of the worst looting.

Get in

51°36′35″N 0°12′23″W

Map of London/North

By Tube

North London is well served by Tube connections from Central London:

Metropolitan line (burgundy) runs through Wembley and Harrow, terminating at Uxbridge in West London, Watford in Hertfordshire, and Chesham and Amersham in Buckinghamshire.
Jubilee line (silver) runs through Wembley, terminating at Stanmore.
Bakerloo line (brown) runs through Wembley, terminating at Harrow and Wealdstone.
Northern line (black) has two branches, one terminating at Edgware and the other at High Barnet, with the High Barnet branch having a sub-branch to Mill Hill East.
Piccadilly line (dark blue) terminates at Cockfosters.
Victoria line (light blue) runs through Tottenham, terminating at Walthamstow.

By train

From London Euston (part of the overground network, orange) through Wembley, along the same route as the Bakerloo line, to Harrow then continuing to Watford.
From London King's Cross to Barnet and Enfield.
From London Liverpool Street to Tottenham and Enfield.
Tottenham Hale station is a stop on the Stansted Express from London Stansted Airport (STN^IATA) to Liverpool Street.

By road

The North Circular Road (A406) is the main west to east road through North London. It has junctions with:

From the North: M1/A1, A10.

From the East: M11.

From the West: M4, A40.

Crouch End

By Tube

Tricky as there is no Tube to Crouch End. If you insist on taking the London Underground, these stations are nearby:

Turnpike Lane (Piccadilly line)
Finsbury Park (Piccadilly and Victoria lines)
Highgate (Northern line – High Barnet branch)
Archway (Northern line – High Barnet branch)

By London Overground

51.5713-0.11711 Crouch Hill railway station. Crouch End can be easily accessed by Crouch Hill on the London Overground's Gospel Oak to Barking line (nicknamed 'GOBLIN'), by transferring at Gospel Oak. (updated Jan 2024)

By bus

Bus 91. You can take a number 91 bus from Trafalgar Square (calls at Aldwych, Holborn, Euston and King's Cross) but it takes almost an hour (off-peak) from Trafalgar Square. (updated Oct 2022)
Bus 41. Alternatively, you can go by tube to Archway and then take bus number 41 to Crouch End. Or take a Victoria Line/Piccadilly Line train to Finsbury Park, and then the W7 bus. Finsbury Park tube station has an exit closed for refurbishing until around 2020. (updated Dec 2023)
W5 bus. There is also a W5 local bus, which runs from Sainsbury's at Harringay Green Lanes and serves the YMCA just down from Crouch End Broadway. (updated Dec 2023)

Harlesden

51.531944-0.2441672 Willesden Junction station, Station Approach, NW10 4UY. A major interchange on the London Overground with connections to the Lioness and Mildmay lines. There is also a connection to the Bakerloo line. The station is in TfL fare zones 2+3. There is also a small Puccino's café. (updated Apr 2022)

London Overground services to:

Lioness line (Watford DC) trains (4 tph) to Watford Junction.
Lioness line (Watford DC) trains (4 tph) to London Euston.
Mildmay line (North London Line) trains (4 tph) to Richmond.
Mildmay (North London Line) trains (6 tph) to Stratford (4 from Richmond, 2 from Clapham Junction).
Mildmay (West London Line) trains (4 tph) to Clapham Junction via Shepherds Bush.

Tottenham

By tube

Tottenham is served by two tube stations on the Victoria line (both in Zone 3) – from north to south:

By train

These stations are on the National Express line between Enfield Town and London Liverpool Street:

51.582931-0.0733063 Seven Sisters. (updated Jan 2024)
51.594-0.07044 Bruce Grove. (updated Jan 2024)
51.605-0.0715 White Hart Lane. (updated Jan 2024)

By London Overground

51.5802-0.0726 South Tottenham station. On the London Overground's Gospel Oak to Barking route (nicknamed 'GOBLIN') between Gospel Oak and Barking. (updated Jan 2024)

By bus

There are many more bus services that come through Tottenham.

Bus 123 (Wood Green to Ilford). (updated Jul 2022)
Bus 149 (London Bridge to Edmonton). (updated Jul 2022)
Bus 243 (Wood Green to London Waterloo). (updated Jul 2022)

Wembley

By tube

Two London Underground stations are within a short walk of the venues:

Wembley Park is on the Metropolitan and Jubilee lines.
Wembley Central on the Bakerloo and London Overground lines.

Access to the venues are via Olympic Way and the White Horse Bridge respectively. London Underground services typically run every 5 minutes in each direction until midnight, seven days a week.

By train

Two mainline stations are within a short walk of the venues:

51.552222-0.2966677 Wembley Central station, High Rd, Wembley, HA9 7FA. Is on the London Overground Watford DC line, providing services to Watford Junction northbound and London Euston southbound via Willesden Junction. Services typically run every 20 minutes in each direction M-Sa, and every half hour on Sundays. Southern trains also run M-F peak hour services on the West London Line, also to Watford Junction northbound but to Clapham Junction and Gatwick Airport railway station southbound. Whether matchday services will run at the weekends on this route remains unclear.
51.5543-0.28638 Wembley Stadium station, Wembley Hill Rd, Wembley, HA9 8BQ. Next to the stadium of the same name. Services are provided by Chiltern Railways on the Chiltern Main Line to London Marylebone (one stop away) southbound. Services are every half-hour seven days a week. Northbound, trains only run up as far as High Wycombe and are every half-hour seven days a week. However, if travellers go first to Marylebone, there are northbound services that go all the way up to Birmingham Snow Hill. These run every half-hour, seven days a week.

Get around

It is relatively easy to get around, as there are lots of buses, as well as Tube and Overground stations.

51°36′7″N 0°11′13″W

Map of London/North

See

Enfield

51.6799-0.05851 Capel Manor Gardens, Capel Manor Gardens, Bullsmoor Lane, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 4RQ, ☏ +44 8456 122 122. 30 acres of grounds featuring over 60 different gardens and landscapes (some award-winning). Also has a restaurant and gift shop. £5.50 adults, £4.50 concessions, £2.50 children.
51.670265-0.0685282 Forty Hall & Estate. 11AM-4PM. A renovated 17th-century estate featuring a mansion and grounds. Has a gift shop and café. Free but charges apply to tours and special events.

Harrow

51.5728-0.33733 Harrow School, HA1 3HR (Tours meet at Bill Yard, near the jct of High St and Church Hill. Train and Tube: Harrow-on-the-Hill MET ), ☏ +44 20 8426-4638, enterprises@harrowschool.org.uk. Harrow is famous for its school, Winston Churchill attended it as did 7 other British prime ministers. The school is at the top of the hill, the buildings and surrounding area are a step back in time. Public tours take place four times a year in the holidays, while private tours for groups of up to 10 can be arranged any time of the year. Try to go in term time on a Sunday as the pupils in long coats and straw boaters, and the masters in mortar boards are a sight rarely seen anywhere outside of Hollywood films of Olde England!. Public tours: adult £6.50, concession £5.50, child £1.50; private tours (by appointment only) ominously don't list a price.
51.565496-0.3327164 Harrow on the Hill. Harrow on the Hill grew around the millennium-old St. Mary's Church, and was the centre of power for an area encompassed by what is the current borough. The hill is a place where you can see a chunk of English history in the urban landscape.
51.622-0.335 Bentley Priory Nature Reserve. The place is a beautifully preserved nature reserve but it also contains Bentley Priory, this place was the RAF Fighter Command HQ in the Second World War. When London was burning, this place was never bombed, some people say that German Air Command did not destroy it because they wanted to make it their own HQ, this place was inside the RAF Stanmore Air Base but now its been opened to the public. It also has a deer park and a beautiful pond; named Boot Pond.
51.594444-0.3556 Headstone Manor and Museum, Pinner View, Harrow, HA2 6PX (15 minute walk from Harrow & Wealdstone BAK OGD station). Local history museum for the London Borough of Harrow. Headstone Manor House was built in about 1310 and is the earliest timber framed building in the area. Over the centuries, it has been modified and expanded repeatedly and makes for an interesting study in the history of English houses. Nowadays it displays artifacts from the history of Harrow, ranging from prehistory through the 20th century. Cafe and Visitor Centre. Free. (updated Nov 2021)
51.592652-0.3866747 Heath Robinson Museum, Pinner Memorial Park, West End Lane, Pinner HA5 1AE (tube: Pinner MET ), ☏ +44 20 8866-8420, welcome@heathrobinsonmuseum.org. Th-Su + BH Mo 11AM-4PM. Small museum devoted to the life & work of British Artist William Heath Robinson who is renowned for his pictures of impossible contraptions. Café on site. Set in attractive park. Adults £6, 65+ £5, U16 free, other concs £4. (updated Dec 2022)

Hendon

51.598889-0.2386118 RAF Museum (Tube: Colindale NOR , which is a 25 minute ride from Central London). A must for any war buffs. It has extensive galleries detailing the history of the RAF and its aircraft. A sound and light show inside the museum focuses on the Blitz.
Saracens (Tube: Oakwood PIC ). Play rugby union in the Premiership, the game's top tier. In 2020 they were busted to the second tier for financial irregularities but bounced straight back in 2021. Their home ground is Copthall Stadium (capacity 10,500 and sponsored as StoneX Stadium). (updated Oct 2022)