Where to live in London with a toddler pt 5 – Kennington

Kennington is home to MPs, random pop stars and other minor celebrities. It’s also close to the middle of town and bits of it are eye-wateringly expensive. As an area, it doesn’t have a huge amount of centre but there is a lot within easy reach and there are some good playgroups and nurseries around the place.

There’s a nice community feel, with the annual Kennington fete held in the Georgian Cleaver Square and opened by MP Kate Hoey. There are a lot of pubs and a disproportionate number of estate agents (handy when you’re moving there)

So, what is there to do there?

On the doorstep, you’ve got the Imperial War Museum (closed at the moment), Kennington Park, Archbishops Park and Vauxhall Park. There isn’t much in the way of shops, but it’s only a quick hop to Brixton, which has some good shopping and the Ritzy Cinema, or in the other direction you can visit some street called Oxford something-or-other, which is 20 minutes on the bus on a good day (you don’t want to know what a bad day looks like).

What do the locals say?

“I love the commute (or lack thereof), the unpretentious folks, the park, the river, decent restaurants and a very good chippy, really nice friends/neighbours/baby people, life with kid and without car. Oh, and so many pubs!!! Some with dogs and most friendly to babies.”

“I like it because I’m a lazyarse and it’s within easy reach of central London”

Connections to Central London

Northern Line (Oval and Kennington), Victoria Line (Vauxhall) and Bakerloo Line (Lambeth North)

Night buses N3 and N159