Boxing Day: Burn-off those Holiday Indulgences with a Walk from Highgate to Hampstead

Boxing Day: Highgate to Hampstead t=swc.257

Meet:  11:30 AM Highgate Underground Station (Turn left past the ticket barriers to meet by the Priory Gardens exit) 

For those interested in the walk's pre-amble along the Parkland Walk, meet at 10:30 AM outside the main entrance to the Finsbury Park Underground Station which should get you to Highgate in time to meet the Highgate starters

The walk finishes at the Hampstead Underground Station.

Distance:  9.5 miles (15.3 km) for the main walk; 11.8 miles (19 km) if adding the Finsbury park pre-amble

Difficulty: 4 out of 10 for the main walk; 5 out of 10 for the longer version

This walk is mainly an urban outing exploring the "leafy" (doubt any will still be on the trees) Northern Heights of London, including the Hampstead Garden Suburb. In the afternoon the walk explores Hampstead Heath and the the village of Hampstead. For those wishing for a longer route, they can start an hour earlier at Finsbury Park and explore the Parkland Walk along a disused railway line. For those wishing a shorter walk, plenty of opportunities abound to abandon the adventure.

The recommended lunch pub is the Old Bull & Bush (7km into the main walk and 11 km into the longer walk). There are plenty of tea and post walk refreshment stops in Hampstead.

More information and the walk instruction and map can be found here.

Enjoy the walk and Happy Boxing Day!