London/North

North London is the outer northern district of London.

Location of the North London area in London

Understand

Wembley Stadium

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

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
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 (Cafe Néro, Starbucks and Costa). Also in 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 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 alike and one 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. There are a number of hotels situated in the district ranging from smaller bed and breakfasts to the Holiday Inn Finchley.

Finchley Central contains an odd mix of upper-middle class suburbia enfused with some working class aspects too, thus giving it a rather unique vibe. There is a strong Jewish community in Finchley, however, this does not contain many Orthodox Jews who generally choose to make the neighbouring areas of Hendon and Golders Green their home. The Jewish community is represented by a number of synagogues in the area, the most prominent being the New North London Synagogue which is situated on East End Road. This 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 a number of bohemian and lively bars, some of which have late licensing laws, though the number of traditional pubs has declined in recent years. 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, one can venture close by to the neighbouring Mill Hill area in order to experience some of the great British countryside.

Kilburn

Interior of St Augustine's Church in 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

By Tube

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

Metropolitan Line (purple) runs through Wembley and Harrow terminating outside the London region in Watford and Aylesbury, 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 a sub-branch line 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 Kings Cross to Barnet and Enfield.
From London Liverpool Street to Tottenham and Enfield.
Tottenham Hale station is a stop on the Stansted Express from Stansted Airport 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

Tricky as there is no tube to Crouch End
Crouch End can be accessed relatively easily by the London Overground railway line, by transferring at Gospel Oak.
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.
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.
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.

Tottenham

By tube

Tottenham is served by two tube stations on the Victoria line, Tottenham Hale and Seven Sisters.

By train

Seven Sisters, Bruce Grove and White Hart Lane stations are on the National Express line between Enfield Town and Liverpool Street.

South Tottenham station is on the London Overground route between Gospel Oak and Barking.

By bus

Buses: 123 Wood Green to Ilford, 149 Liverpool Street to Edmonton, 243 Wood Green to Waterloo, and many more services come through Tottenham.

Wembley

By tube

Two London Underground stations are within a short walk of the venues. Wembley Park is on the Metropolitan and Jubilee lines, and 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. Wembley Central is served London Overground, providing services to Watford Junction northbound and London Euston southbound. 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.

Wembley Stadium station is next to the stadium. 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.

See

Enfield

🌍 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.
🌍 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.