Highgate and Crouch End

Published 20 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

Highgate is a village on top of one of north London's highest hills, with a famous overgrown cemetery, two ancient woods and a Georgian high street. Crouch End is the quieter suburb below it to the east, reached by a downhill walk through the woods and along a disused railway line. Highgate has a Tube station; Crouch End has none.

The pairing works because the walk between them is the best part. You can start at Highgate station on the Northern line, see the cemetery and Waterlow Park, cross Highgate Wood, drop down the Parkland Walk and come out on Crouch End Broadway about two hours later, having spent nothing except the cemetery ticket.

This is north London at its most comfortable: expensive houses, good bakeries, a lot of trees. It is not dramatic, and there is no single sight that justifies a special trip on a wet Tuesday. On a clear day in spring or autumn it is one of the most pleasant half-days in the city. For the neighbouring hill village, see Hampstead.

Getting up the hill

Highgate station sits at the bottom of Archway Road, and the village itself is a steep five to ten minutes above it. That catches people out: the station is in a cutting in the hillside, and Highgate High Street is a genuine climb from the exit. If you would rather not walk it, the 143, 210 and 271 buses run up from Archway station to Highgate Village for £1.75, rising to £1.85 on 1 November 2026.

The Northern line's High Barnet branch serves Highgate, so check the front of the train: Edgware-branch trains do not stop here. A journey from the West End takes about 25 minutes. Our guide to the Underground for visitors explains the branches and how to read the platform indicators.

Crouch End has no Underground station at all, which is the standing local joke and the reason its high street has kept its independent shops. Crouch Hill station, on the Suffragette line of the Overground between Gospel Oak and Barking Riverside, is a 10-minute walk away. Otherwise it is buses: the W7 from Finsbury Park runs every few minutes and takes about 10 minutes.

Highgate Cemetery: what the ticket covers

Highgate Cemetery opened in 1839, one of seven large commercial cemeteries built around London when the churchyards could no longer cope. It is split by Swain's Lane into two halves, and one ticket now covers both.

The East side holds the graves people come looking for, including Karl Marx's monument with its large bronze head, and George Eliot. The West side is the atmospheric one: the Egyptian Avenue, a sunken passage lined with tombs, and the Circle of Lebanon, a ring of vaults built around a cedar tree that predates the cemetery.

Two practical points. You no longer need a guided tour to see the West side, though the cemetery recommends one for a first visit, and tours last about 75 minutes and go ahead in the rain. And the opening hours change with the light: 10:00 to 17:00 daily until November, then 10:00 to 16:00, closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Book on the cemetery's own site, where the current admission and tour prices are listed. Our separate article on Highgate Cemetery goes into the monuments in detail.

The paths are steep, uneven and sometimes muddy, and much of the West side is not accessible to wheelchairs. Tripods are not allowed on tours, and commercial photography needs a permit applied for at least two weeks ahead.

Waterlow Park and Lauderdale House

Immediately next to the cemetery's east gate is Waterlow Park, 10 hectares of terraced lawns and ponds given to the public in 1889 by Sydney Waterlow as "a garden for the gardenless". It is free, it has one of the best southward views in north London, and it is where locals go after visiting the cemetery.

At the top of the park, Lauderdale House is a much-altered 16th-century house, now an arts centre with a café and a terrace. Entry to the house and its exhibitions is free, and it puts on concerts and family shows. It is the obvious place for lunch if you are doing the whole walk, and the only indoor stop on this route that does not require a ticket.

Highgate Village and the pubs

The village is a short, curving high street of Georgian shopfronts around Pond Square, with The Grove running west: a terrace of 17th-century houses where Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived and died. Blue plaques are thick on the ground here; our page on London's blue plaques explains how the scheme works.

The pubs are the reason many Londoners come. The Flask, off Highgate West Hill, dates from the 18th century and has low beams and a courtyard; the Gatehouse, at the top of the High Street, has a theatre above the bar; the Prince of Wales and the Duke's Head are both ordinary in the best sense. Our round-up of historic pubs in London puts them in context with the older City pubs.

Highgate School and a row of almshouses occupy the north end of the village. Past them, Hampstead Lane runs west towards Kenwood House and Hampstead Heath, which is 15 minutes away on foot and free to enter.

Highgate Wood, Queen's Wood and the Parkland Walk

Highgate Wood is 28 hectares of genuine ancient woodland, owned and run by the City of London Corporation and free to enter. There is a café, a playground, a cricket field and a network of paths, and the wood is managed for wildlife rather than tidiness. It is an unusually good place to take children who have had enough of museums.

Queen's Wood, across Muswell Hill Road, is smaller, darker and wilder, with steep paths and a wooden café hut. The two woods together were once part of the Forest of Middlesex, and the boundary bank between them is still visible.

From the bottom of Queen's Wood you can join the Parkland Walk, a footpath and cycle route laid along the trackbed of the old railway from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace, closed to passengers in 1954. It runs in a green cutting below street level for about 4.5 kilometres, past brick bridges, platform remains and a much-photographed sculpture of a spriggan climbing out of the wall. It is a Local Nature Reserve, it is free, and it is flat.

The walk passes directly under Crouch End, where steps bring you up on to the Broadway. Our page on walking in London covers the longer routes this connects to.

Crouch End

Crouch End is built around a five-way junction called the Broadway, with a clock tower of 1895 in the middle of it. The dominant building is Hornsey Town Hall, a 1935 building in a restrained Dutch modern style that was one of the first modernist public buildings in Britain; after years empty it has been restored and now houses an arts centre, a café and event spaces.

The Broadway has bookshops, a cinema, delicatessens, and an unusually large number of cafés with pushchairs parked outside. Weekend mornings are busy and pleasant. There is no famous sight, and that is the point: it is a place to have lunch at the end of a walk rather than a destination on its own.

North-east of Crouch End, on its own hill, stands Alexandra Palace, the 1873 exhibition hall with a park, an ice rink and wide views over the city. Its Fireworks and Drone Festival runs on 7 and 8 November 2026, with gates at 16:00 and tickets from £11.50. Our guide to Bonfire Night in London explains why the big displays are not on 5 November this year.

A suggested route, downhill all the way

Do it in that order and you walk downhill for most of the day. In reverse it is a long climb. If it rains, the cemetery tours still run but the woods and the Parkland Walk turn to mud, so our list of what to do in London when it rains may be more use.

Staying and connecting onwards

Very few visitors stay in Highgate or Crouch End, and there are not many rooms. It is a half-day from a central base rather than a place to sleep. Our page on staying in Camden and north London covers the nearest practical options.

From Highgate, Camden Town is five stops down the Northern line. From Crouch End, buses run in a few minutes to Finsbury Park, from where the Victoria line reaches Walthamstow in 10 minutes and the centre in 15. Dalston and Stoke Newington are a short bus ride east, and Islington lies directly south. If you want the theatrical version of the cemetery, our page on ghost tours in London covers the evening walks that trade on Highgate's Victorian reputation.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a guided tour to see Highgate Cemetery's West side?

No. Both sides have been open to self-guided visitors since 2020, and one admission ticket covers both. The cemetery still recommends a tour on a first visit; tours last about 75 minutes, run in the rain, and are released four weeks ahead.

How do I get to Crouch End without a Tube station?

Take the Victoria or Piccadilly line to Finsbury Park and then the W7 bus, which takes about 10 minutes. Crouch Hill station on the Suffragette line of the Overground is a 10-minute walk from the Broadway. A single bus fare is £1.75, rising to £1.85 on 1 November 2026.

Is the Parkland Walk suitable for a pushchair?

Most of it is a flat, firm gravel path and is fine with a sturdy pushchair, but the access points involve steps in several places. The ramped entrances are at Holmesdale Road and near Finsbury Park, so plan which end you join and leave from.

Is Highgate Wood free?

Yes. Highgate Wood and Queen's Wood are both free public woodland with no entry charge. Highgate Wood is managed by the City of London Corporation and has a café, toilets, a playground and a sports field.

How long does the Highgate to Crouch End walk take?

About two hours of walking, or four to five hours with a cemetery visit and lunch. It is downhill in that direction and largely traffic-free once you are past the village. Wear shoes you do not mind getting muddy.

Sources

• Highgate Cemetery - Visiting, opening hours and tours (checked September 2026)
• City of London Corporation - Highgate Wood (checked September 2026)
• Alexandra Palace - Fireworks and Drone Festival 2026 (checked September 2026)
• Transport for London - Bus and tram fares (checked September 2026)
• London Borough of Haringey - Parks and open spaces (checked September 2026)