The Most Beautiful Mews and Iconic Streets in London
FACT: London is expensive.
ALSO FACT: There are a lot of free things to do in London!
One such thing is to grab your camera or phone and spend a day discovering the city’s beautiful mews and picturesque streets. The internet tells me that there are over 8,000 mews and 60,000 streets in London, but as with most things in life, some are a lot prettier than others.
If you’re not British, you might be wondering what a mews is:
Whether you’re in need of some fresh photo content or just some fresh air, here are 14 spots I recommend hitting up for a picture-perfect day out in London. Consult the map at the end to find each location!
Kynance Mews
Probably my favorite stop on the whole London Mews tour, Kynance Mews features this gorgeous arch covered in long tendrils of draping greenery. It’s stunning in the spring and summer and arguably even more beautiful in the fall when the leaves turn a bright red-orange color.
2. Ennismore Mews
This cobbled, L-shaped mews can be found in Knightsbridge and formerly accommodated the horses and coaches for those that lived at Ennismore Gardens. Funny how stables have transformed into upscale residences!
3. Conduit Mews
Another one of my favorites, mostly because of the colorful facades! Conduit Mews can be found a short walk from Paddington Station, and has quite an interesting history where its name is concerned. I won’t regurgitate it here, but if you are fascinated by history and the way London finagled things like water supply many centuries ago, check out this article.
4. Reece Mews & Kendrick Mews
These two South Kensington mews run parallel to one another. The cobbled roads, quirky street art, and abundance of greenery make them noteworthy and worth a stop!
5. Radnor Mews
This mews near Hyde Park is another quiet, cobbled street. Apparently it’s a good example of an original mews because you can still see features like first floor hayloft doors and stable doors on the ground.
6. Bathurst Mews
Bathurst Mews is particularly unique because it’s the only mews that still functions as a working stables for Hyde Park Stables. I was pretty enamored with the house where the road turns the corner. The brickwork and light blue accents are just gorgeous!
7. Sussex Mews West
Sussex Mews West is another Hyde Park-area mews. Nothing remarkable, just another cobbled cul-de-sac with beautiful homes and greenery that beg to be photographed!
8. Pottery Lane
Home of the famous pink house! This gem is part of one of London’s most expensive neighborhoods- Notting Hill. The street takes its name from the brick fields at the northern end of the street.
9. Holland Park Mews
This Kensington-area mews features a grand archway at the entrance and a small hill that leads down into it, setting it apart from the rest. It was a bit hard to capture its true beauty on a rainy day, but I loved this particular set of residences with their steep staircases leading up to the second story.
10. Warren Mews
The moodiest and broodiest of the bunch! Warren Mews is another one of my favorites, and looks nothing like any of the others. The pops of color from the flowers contrast nicely with the dark facade, making this a very photogenic location.
11. Wimpole Mews
Located in Marylebone, Wimpole Mews is famous for being a key location in the Profumo affair in the early 1960s. I knew nothing of this political scandal prior to being enlightened by an English friend. You can read about it here!
12. Bywater Street
If a row of gorgeous homes representing every color of the rainbow excites you as much as it did me, head over to this gorgeous street in Chelsea. With an average selling price of 3 million- most of us can only dream of living in this postcard-worthy scene.
13. Chalcot Crescent
This meandering street in the center of Primrose Hill is well-known for its expensive homes and perfect pastel hues. Chalcot Crescent is also home to Paddington Bear, so there’s that.
14. Hillgate Place & Farm Place
Hillgate Place and Farm Place are two Notting Hill streets that merge into one another to create the most Instagrammable L-shape of colorful homes you’ve ever seen. Definitely don’t miss this one!
So what do you think? Ready to go on this tour around London? Just pop into the custom map I created below to get directions. The icon in the top right corner will open the map in Google Maps, where you can view the list of locations and also see the corresponding photo from this post for each.
If I missed any other great locations, feel free to leave them in the comments!