A neighbourhood guide: canals, Abbey Road and Regent's Park on foot

This corner of North West London is residential, leafy and quiet at night, which is exactly why people stay here — but it is also within walking distance of some of the city's better afternoons.

Follow the water and you reach Little Venice, where narrowboats, cafés and a towpath walk take you all the way to Camden if you feel like it. It is flat, shaded and one of the calmest routes in London.

The famous crossing is a short walk away, along with the studios and a wall that visitors have been signing for decades. Go early if you want the photograph without the traffic.

Regent's Park gives you gardens, sport pitches, an open-air theatre in summer and the zoo. Carry on north and Primrose Hill delivers the best free view of the London skyline.

Supermarkets, pharmacies, bakeries and independent restaurants are all within a few minutes on foot, and the Underground puts central London around fifteen minutes away.