High Street Kensington 

Kensington High Street is functional and stylish. On both sides of Kensington High Street you can find branches of all the usual chain stores, but overall there is still a reasonable diversity. Kensington High Street can be less crowded than the West End and both Holland Park and Kensington Gardens are within easy reach. Kensington High Street became fashionable and up market in the seventeenth century when William III built Kensington Palace (1689) and was followed into the area by aristocrats and the well-to-do. Not much has changed: long associated with royalty and the upper classes Kensington's parks, gardens and palaces are surrounded by outstanding array of beautifully maintained period properties which provide elegant homes for the wealthy and the well-established. The central location of Kensington High Street makes it close to all of London's main recreation facilities-theatres, cinemas, galleries and museums- and there is an abundance of well-tended green space: secluded garden squares, the elegant Kensington Gardens, and the grand expanse of Holland Parks 22.5 hectares of gardens, woodland, and childrens play facilities. Kensington High Street Shops are a paradise, High Street Kensington has a number of classy department stores, lots of smaller designer boutiques and a major tourist attraction in the shape of the bustling Kensington market. It also has an excellent collection of restaurants and lots of trendy pubs and wine bars.