Hotel in Winchmore Hill, London

Leafy, sleepy Winchmore Hill in north-east London is a world away from the bustling urbanity of nearby Wood Green and Palmers Green – locals don’t call it ‘the village’ for nothing.

Set around a very English village green with an antique jewellers, afternoon tea shop and some upmarket fashion boutiques, Winchmore Hill is a quiet oasis mainly characterised by upmarket properties and peaceful green spaces. And all this only two hundred yards from Green Lanes, the chaotic major road connecting Winchmore Hill to Wood Green, Finsbury Park and Stoke Newington, the capital’s longest thoroughfare and a magnet for Greek, Turkish and Cypriot communities - especially around the distinctly Aegean flavoured Manor House district.

This well-to-do Zone 4 residential area is served by an overground rail station, with trains leaving to Moorgate/Kings Cross via Finsbury Park and local stations every 20 minutes or so – it’s a twenty minute journey to Finsbury Park. The 329 and N29 bus also calls into Winchmore Hill en route from Trafalgar Square to Enfield, and the nearest tube is Southgate on the Piccadilly Line, a 20 minute walk away.

There’s some good, though reasonably expensive restaurants: newcomer Samdan (32-34 The Green, 020 8882 2660) offers outstanding Turkish food with the scent of shish kebabs and shisha pipes wafting temptingly over the green.

There’s no less than three gastropubs: The King’s Head has the best food, the Salisbury has the coolest clientele and quirkiest decor, and the Queen’s Head by the station offers a country pub vibe.

The oldest pub is the Green Dragon located on Green Lanes. It is reputed to have opened in 1726 on the junction of Green Lanes and Green Dragon Lane 

Grovelands Park is well worth a visit: replete with woods, a gorgeous duck lake, nine hole pitch and putt course and beautiful sunsets, it’s a deservedly well-kept secret by the relaxed dwellers of Winchmore Hill.

Winchmore Hill: Tube (underground)

Winchmore Hill: Rail (overground)