Primrose Hill: the view, the hill and Regent’s Park Road

Primrose Hill is free, it is open round the clock on weekdays, and the view from the top is one of the six protected views in London. Go at sunset, take a coat, and when the light has gone walk down to Regent’s Park Road for dinner. That is the whole plan, and it is a good one.

The hill and the view

The summit is almost 63 metres above sea level, and the Royal Parks keeps the trees low so nothing gets in the way. You are looking south over the City and the West End; in winter, with the leaves down, you can see Hampstead to the north-east. Around the top runs a York stone edging carved with a line from William Blake: “I have conversed with the spiritual sun. I saw him on Primrose Hill.” Find it and read it, then find a patch of grass that is not yet taken.

The hill has history. It was part of the great hunting chase Henry VIII took for himself, and it was bought from Eton College in 1841 to give the poor of north London somewhere for open-air recreation. Before that it was a place for duels and prize-fights. On the slope is an oak known as Shakespeare’s Tree, first planted in 1864 for the 300th anniversary of his birth, when a crowd of workmen marched across London to watch; the current tree was replanted in 1964.

Prince Albert Road and ZSL London Zoo separate the hill from The Regent’s Park to the south, so you can make a day of both.

When it is open

This is the bit people get wrong. Primrose Hill stays open 24 hours on weekdays. Through the summer season the Royal Parks locks it from 22:00 to 06:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and around Bonfire Night it locks every night at 22:00. It also closes on odd days for bad weather. Fireworks and paper lanterns are banned in all the Royal Parks, and the hill is not an approved site for gatherings, so do not plan your party there. Check the Royal Parks page before a late visit.

The café

The Primrose Hill Café sits between the open-air gym and the children’s playground, with hot and cold drinks, baguettes, sandwiches, wraps and cakes to take out on to the grass. It opens at 08:00 and closes at 20:00 in summer, 16:00 in winter. It takes cards only, the entrance is step-free with accessible toilets, and dogs are welcome on a short lead. Seats are limited, so think of it as a takeaway.

Regent’s Park Road

Below the hill runs Regent’s Park Road, the village high street of Primrose Hill. It is short, it is pretty, and it has three places we would send anyone.

Lemonia, 89 Regent’s Park Road

Lemonia is a family-run Greek restaurant that has been on this street since 1979, and it is still the room everyone ends up in. The Infatuation calls it a Primrose Hill classic that works for groups and for solo lunches alike, and that is right. The restaurant’s own site lists a three-course set dinner at £29.75, Monday to Thursday from 17:30, and a special lunch menu that changes daily on weekdays. Dinner runs to 22:00 last orders, 22:30 on Friday and Saturday. Book by phone on 020 7586 7454.

Greenberry Cafe, 101 Regent’s Park Road

Greenberry opened in 2012 and does brunch by day and a seasonal à la carte at night, with a short wine list chosen by the owner, many of them organic or biodynamic. It is open 09:00 to 22:00 Tuesday to Saturday, and 09:00 to 15:00 on Sunday and Monday. Well-behaved dogs are allowed in, which on Primrose Hill matters.

Primrose Hill Books

An independent bookshop in a Victorian terrace two minutes from the hill, run as a family business for more than thirty years. There is a second-hand section worth a rummage, and they will order anything in print. Open 10:00 to 18:00 Monday to Saturday and 11:00 to 18:00 on Sunday.

Chalcot Square and the poets

Round the corner from Greenberry, the pastel terraces of Chalcot Square are the postcard version of Primrose Hill. At number 3 is an English Heritage blue plaque to Sylvia Plath, who lived there with Ted Hughes from January 1960 to August 1961. Her second Primrose Hill address was 23 Fitzroy Road, which she chose partly because it already carried a blue plaque marking the boyhood home of W. B. Yeats.

A pint and a song

For a drink, The Engineer on Gloucester Avenue is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel and reopened after a revamp with a garden, a central bar and Sunday roasts that locals talk about. Cecil Sharp House at 2 Regent’s Park Road is the home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, with gigs, dances, classes and the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Check its listings for a barn dance; it is the most fun you can have on this postcode on a Saturday night.

How to do it

• Time it. Arrive half an hour before sunset and stay until the City lights come on.
• Weekend late? Remember the 22:00 lock on summer weekends.
• Eat after. Book Lemonia or Greenberry for dinner rather than taking your chances.
• Make it a loop. Zoo or Regent’s Park in the day, the hill at sunset, Regent’s Park Road for dinner.