Westminster

WESTMINSTER

Westminster is globally recognised as one of the most historic areas in London.  Situated at the heart of British politics and home to the iconic Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey, its brimming with the most beautiful streets, leafy green squares, hidden courtyards, pretty houses and historic buildings, attracting a range of affluent professionals. Adjacent to St James’s Park, Belgravia and Pimlico, Westminster boasts the prestigious SW1 postcode too and has direct access to the River Thames.

Home to a wide range of superb period and contemporary architecture with some properties dateline back to the 1700s, plenty of state-of-the-art new luxury developments is fast changing  to the residential hot-spot.  Despite the borough’s central location, it boasts some of London’s most admired green spaces such as Regent’s Park, St James’s Park and Hyde Park for peace and tranquility. Yet the streets surrounding Westminster offer on-trend bars, delis, swanky hotels, award-winning restaurants and hip nightclubs – a staggering 228 restaurants and cafes per square mile and 443 shops per square mile. Not to mention you’re a short skip away from London’s West End. A vibrant and diverse area, is hard to beat when it comes to being in the centre of it all.

The back streets around Westminster are super quaint, and once off the main streets you’ll find a village-like warren of picturesque side streets – Dean’s Yard, Great College Street, Barton Street Cowley Street and the truly impressive St John’s Smith Square. Westminster is awash with great eateries, anything from illustrious pubs to fine dining. Strutting Ground off Victoria Street is a favourite for weekday lunchtime street food and Iris & June in Hawick Place, a popular café for locals.

The world-famous, The Cinnamon Club in Great Smith Street, a gourmet Indian restaurant draws in the Westminster elite. With so much investment into the Victoria Street shopping area, there’s now a Curzon cinema, more chi chi restaurants and high-end shops, and even its own theatre – St James’s Theatre. There’s also plenty of high-end culture within Westminster boundaries from The Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace, home to the Queen’s royal collection to Tate Britain, near the river for British art and sculpture, or the Institute of Contemporary Art.

With Sloane Street, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly Circus, Jermyn Street and Oxford Street nearby, you don’t have to travel too far to sample all of London’s West End. It’s easy to see why families raise their children in the borough and with the wide range of outstanding OFSTED rated state and private schools, such as the Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral choir schools and the high-achieving world-renowned Westminster School, everything is all within walking distance.

What makes this district so all-round attractive, is its transport network hub: major train station, multiple tube stations and bus lines, tons of taxis, and Boris Bikes to boot. Three underground stations serve the area – Westminster, Embankment and St James’s Park, are all on the District and Circle lines, with the borough additionally on the Jubilee line, and Embankment on the Northern and Bakerloo lines. Yet walking around on foot, is also easy and unbeatably enjoyable.