The Hampstead Heath Circular: a Sunday stroll with a pub lunch at the end
GO Outdoors has put the Hampstead Heath Circular on its list of the UK's best Sunday strolls, with the Spaniards Inn as the recommended stop.
Autumn walks come with an obvious reward: a pub at the end. GO Outdoors has built a top 10 list of the UK's best Sunday strolls around that idea, and one of them is in north London: the Hampstead Heath Circular.
The outdoor retailer says its list is a chance to "slow down, reset, and make the most of nature, with the promise of a warming meal at the end." Hampstead Heath, it turns out, can do that without leaving the city.
The route
A writer for Newsquest, in a piece that ran in the Ham & High and the Islington Gazette, walked the circular and started from Gospel Oak station. The entrance to the heath is a very short stroll from there, according to the report.
There is a set route on AllTrails, but the writer followed the edge of the heath for a while and then cut towards the centre. Paths are mostly flat, with one steep section fairly near the start.
Along the way there is plenty to look at: a lido, small ponds, statues and Parliament Hill, which the report calls well known. Later came Kenwood House and its old dairy, followed by various bodies of water, including some bathing ponds, on the way back to the starting point.
The distance
The Newsquest writer covered just under 7km, with a moving time of one hour and 42 minutes, not counting a lunch stop. The heath has so many possible routes that, the report says, you could easily spend a whole day roaming.
It was busy by the afternoon. The walk was done on a warm, sunny day, and the writer noted that it hardly felt like autumn, though imagined the heath would look glorious in orange.
The pub
GO Outdoors recommends the Spaniards Inn, on the outskirts of the heath, as the place to stop. The Newsquest writer found it a decent midway point for lunch.
The walk was done on a Saturday, so there was no roast. The writer had a Devonshire Cheddar and Pancetta burger instead, and rated it very tasty, noting that it held together rather than collapsing into a mess. The report adds that getting a Sunday roast without a booking might have been tricky anyway, so it is worth thinking ahead if a roast is the point.
Know before you go
- Start: Gospel Oak station, a short walk from the heath entrance, according to the Newsquest report.
- Distance: just under 7km, around one hour 42 minutes of moving time, excluding lunch.
- Terrain: mostly flat, with one steep section near the beginning.
- Pub stop: the Spaniards Inn, recommended by GO Outdoors. Booking may be wise for a Sunday roast.
Sources: Ham & High, Islington Gazette
