Regent's Park and Hampstead

London becomes noticeably calmer and greener as you head north from Oxford Street. From the civilized shopping streets of Marylebone, through the well-tended parks of Regent's Park and Primrose Hill up to the open spaces of Hampstead Heath and the handsome Georgian streets of Hampstead itself, this area will provide a taste of how laid-back (moneyed) Londoners can be.

The residential areas north of Regent's Park are usually considered "leafy" and therefore highly desirable by the garden-loving British. Hampstead Heath is a huge swath of countryside in the city, offering spectacular views. At the northern end is Kenwood House, a Georgian villa with a remarkable art collection and extensive grounds.To the west of the Heath are the charming streets of Hampstead itself. Here you will find Fenton House,a Georgian town house with a period walled garden, and the Freud Museum,the last home of the founder of psychiatry.

A walk down Haverstock Hill will bring you to Primrose Hill, a manicured green park boasting yet another city panorama. The adjoining "village" of the same name has several fashionable boutiques and restaurants (no chain stores here) popular with the local actors and musicians. To the east of Primrose Hill is lively Camden Market,a magnet for every Goth teenager. The Jewish Museum traces the history of the Jewish community in Britain and at the London Canal Museum, you can take a guided trip through London's slender waterways.

At the bottom of Primrose Hill is the London Zoo, at the northern end of Regent's Park. From here a westward detour will take you to Lord's Cricket Ground & Museum,and continuing south toward Queen Mary's Garden will take you past the Open-Air Theatre. Leaving the park on the southern end is to return to the busy urban center. The southeastern exit is near two of London's traditional tourist destinations, the Sherlock Holmes Museum and Madame Tussauds. The park's southwestern exit takes you onto handsome Portland Place, with its art deco Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). To the west of Portland Place is stylish Marylebone High Street and, just north of Oxford Street, the Wallace Collection,a collection of 17th- and 18th-century art and artifacts housed in an 18th-century mansion.