3 London winter walks

Winter after Christmas: what are your thoughts? Cold, glum, sparse maybe. It seems like January is not really the obvious time to go walking, urban or wild. Everything feels just a little too… grey.

But as we were meant to spend most of January this year in London, we were determined to go out exploring anyway. We knew all about Christmas places to go, but where was still pretty after?

So we combed the capital to find some outdoor places to walk that still brim with interest and colour even in winter.

And we actually found quite a few. But we’ve picked only three: not long, not particularly prescribed, just little places to wander and feel happy. Here are our three favourite London winter walks:

Little Venice

Nearest tube stop: Paddington
Time to take: 90 minutes

We’re not sure that we even knew about this area when we lived here. The criss-crossing network of interconnecting canals that run into London from all over the place has sprung a beautiful little area all of its own in West London. It’s a floating world of houseboats, cafeboats, hire-for-your-private-event-boats, all beautifully painted and styled. It’s called Little Venice, but it’s shabby-chic London all over.

As soon as we arrived at the waterside, we liked it immediately. We walked the narrow towpaths and over the little blue bridges to watch the play of the water everywhere, and the barges chugging slowly by. You can board a few if you like: there’s an artisan coffee boat right near the tube.

Hyde Park Mews

Nearest tube stop: Paddington and/or Marble Arch
Time to take: 90 minutes
Little map here…

Mews: a peculiarly British type of street. Built behind posher houses, these tiny cobbled streets would be where servants of said houses would live and stable the horses, ready for their masters. Now impossibly pretty (and expensive) neighbourhoods filled with flowers and greenery all year round, each has a tucked away feel that really borders on the magical.

Mews are everywhere in London, but the most charming examples we found all clustered around Hyde Park. And you can walk between them in an afternoon, ducking and diving down alleyways and hidden entrances quite happily.

Like this one, Conduit Mews, for all the pretty colours:

Nearby Bathurst Mews too as it’s not only beautiful but still amazingly has working stables. Yes, a string of ponies and horses can be seen clip-clopping down the Mews to the Park on the regular. It’s really quite surreal, in an entirely wonderful way.

You can carry on walking down Hyde Park Garden Mews, another nice one with whitewashed cottages, to eventually lead you to Albion Mews, our personal favourite. Small, with a single blink-and-you’ll-miss-it entrance, this one has Serious Atmosphere.

Impossibly green for January, the whole lane is thick with distinctly tropical-looking foliage. The quiet is almost a hush, and walking its lush pathway past the row of old bay window cottages feels like walking into a storybook. There could be an ivy-clad door to a secret garden or flower fairies in the trees for all we know. Never mind it being a microclimate for palm trees, we think they might be worlds of their own.

Hillgate Village

Nearest tube stop: Notting Hill Gate
Time to take: 1 hour

If you are grey-phobic, then Hillgate Village is the place to go. Really a suburban area off busy Notting Hill, each terraced house on the interlaced streets is painted its own bright colour, giving the whole place a candy cane, seaside feel. Beloved of Instagram, it’s a bit irresistible to anyone who likes a colourful photo any time of the year. Two pubs in the middle and it really does feel like a village in the city.

London in January, eh? You never know what you might find down the next little street.

What do you think of our 3 London winter walks? Let us know if you’ve visited these areas, and what you think, we all need a bit of colour to get us through the winter!