West London Walking

Although I’m already a West London girl, I’m about to become even more of one in about 4 weeks when we move to our new place in Chiswick. Such a beautiful part of London, it seemed rude to not explore my new neighbourhood on foot as we walked the 3 miles along the riverside into Richmond.

These feet were definitely made for walking, a favourite, mind clearing past time of mine, I do love a good walk, especially in the last days of summer we seem to be enjoying. We started from Kew Bridge and walked along the dusty, narrow pathway towards Kew Gardens.

: West London Walking

Ok so I’ve never actually set foot in Kew Gardens (don’t worry it’s on the ever growing to-do list!) but I hear they have a fantastic Christmas festival / market which I will be sure to check out. Although you can’t actually see the exotic jungle from the footpath you do get a cheeky glimpse of the palace.

Not the only building of outstanding beauty visible on our walk, you will also come across part of Syon Park too on the opposite side of the river as well as the traditional period pubs and riverside homes in Isleworth.

Along the way there are little clearing spots, perfect for the odd selfie and group photo!

As we come into Richmond, we pass the Richmond Lock and Weir which was built in 1894 to stop water draining away when the tide goes out.

We quickly rushed through the town of Richmond, as beautiful as it is, the riverside restaurants and pubs are overflowing on hot sunny weekends, not only attracting the masses but the wasps too! So we head further along the river and up to The Petersham Hotel which has some of the most amazing views of the river bend (Pocahontas movie flashback right now!) Although unlike Pocohontas we were less crazy racoon companion in hand and more gin and tonic in hand!

We then climbed even further up the hill, ascending into the streets that are called home by the likes of Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, Ronnie Wood and my favourite hotel, The Richmond Hill Hotel. We lapped up the sun and some more alcoholic beverages on the terrace before tucking into a pizza, followed by a scone!

It’s safe to say we were feeling a little lethargic after all the consumption of naughty treats that instead of battling the 3 miles back to Kew we decided to take the ferry. The ferry actually runs all the way from Westminster to Hampton Court, a great day out when you have the time, but great to hop on and off if you’re travelling up / down stream. Just £7 for an adult.