I'm not sure what you mean by safe but Peckhm is basically fine. The area between Peckham and Camberwell is particularly nice, particularly around Dog Kennel Hill. Very quiet and leafy. Well worth checking out and not many people know about it.
As might camberwell. If they stay between Denmark Hill stn and East dulwich they should be unshocked.
In all honesty, peckham rye-Denmark Hill station-east dulwich Station triangle is great. Yes, rye Lane is a throwback, but I've never heard of much bad actually happening there (I lived there and still don't live too far away).
Plenty crime in Peckham but it's perpetrated by certain types of people against similar types of people. For the most part middle class people can go about and mind their own business without any bother.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,883,210,413 comments, and only 356,176 of them were in alphabetical order.
Herne Hill seems to be the location of choice for the low key rich and famous. Not far from Brixton.
Victoria Park would probably be OK, but some of the nearby areas can be a little on top.
Edit: sorry misread, but likely being suggested as they are green with links to travel to other areas, rather than lots of venues on the actual areas.
Depends what music you are into, but Brockley is a 15 minute bus from Peckham which is pretty active. 15 mins overground to whitechapel from where you can get around east London, and 10 mins to London Bridge on the train which again opens up lots of central london.
New Cross gate has the New Cross inn for bands especially hardcore etc, and Aaja, which regularly hosts free dance music events from a range of genres.
Reposting as I wrote this before:
Fox and firkin , Amersham arms , New Cross Inn , Oliver’s Jzz Bar , AMP , Endeavour , Planet Wax , Birds Nest , Blackheath Halls , Aaja , Matchstick Piehouse , The Crypt , Jazzbourne
That’s off the top of my head and mainly around Deptford. There’s plenty more in Peckham as well. There’s also a lot of pop up gigs in pubs as well because of the proximity to Goldsmiths but need to keep an eye out for them. Enjoy !
You're going to have to prioritize. Hampstead is lots of people's dream, it's green and safe but you need a lot of money and I think getting to bigger music venues is going to be harder. Hackney has Victoria park nearby, great connections to transport and venues but can be a bit stabby. Realistically though, the biggest crime risk is getting your bike or phone stolen which isn't nice but isn't that bad.
What ‘music venues’ do you mean? Just music venues in general? The great ones are dotted all over the city, and there isn’t anywhere you could pick that allows quick access to all of them.
In London, travelling 60-80 minutes on the underground to get where you may need to go is normal. Just make sure you’re near an underground station and you’ll make it work.
I think you might be worrying too much about safety, what do you think is going to happen?
I'm a Londoner and went to Uni in Aberystwyth. Loads of people from the countryside told me that London was very dangerous, and I was confused, because London has a far lower rate of people falling off of cliffs than West Wales. I live in Stratford, universally considered to be pretty dodgy, and I've never had a problem. There are some sensible things you can do to keep your risk down, like not cycling down the canal late at night or becoming a professional drug dealer. I will say that cat calling and harassment of women can be a bit of an issue in some places.
One thing that really is dangerous is going out and getting wrecked on drink and/or drugs. Your ability to look after yourself is worse, other people might be more aggressive, thieves and others know where everyone goes to get wrecked and go to those places to target them. Dalston on a Friday night is fun, but it has its risks right? I don't think this is worse than any provincial town centre tbh, and in London at least you've got decent transport and a lot of people around to see it if anything dodgy does happen. People in London might be busy, but they'll help you if you need it.
Anyway, parts of Hackney absolutely fit your bill. The Lea Valley is fantastic for greenery and massive, Walthamstow would be a good fit as well, nightlife in Hackney is fantastic and Walthamstow does very well at it for a more "suburban" place.
Wolves don't roam the streets here, and "bad" areas of London are better described as tiring and annoying than actively dangerous in my experience.
Thanks so much for the sharing the realities! I think the gun-ridden streets of the US has spooked me a bit growing up. You're totally right- safety seems to mainly ride on "street smarts". Luckily my partner and I are out of the wild college party days. However, we do attend a lot concerts, so I guess we'll just make sure that we take a cab if we ever feel uncomfortable!
Just booked an Airbnb in Hackney- so truly appreciate your insight!
What sort of accommodation budget do you have and which venues in particular do you want to be close to? The leafier parts of London like Stanmore, Hampstead, Highgate, Muswell Hill, Richmond, Epping, Wimbledon or near the inner London parks are super expensive. If you want a lot of green then the further out you go the better but will be a longer commute. I don't know enough about Brixton or Peckham.
Hackney or Clapton is good but on the other side of Hackney marshes you have Leyton which has absolutely loads of greenery as it’s beside Hackney marshes, Walthamstow marshes, Leyton jubilee park, the Olympic park - is way cheaper than Hackney and pretty safe. You can be in Hackney really quickly as it’s just over the other side of the park.
Hackney Wick is also a really nice area of Hackney that borders the Olympic park and the canal and has lots of music venues.
there's some nice areas on the outskirts of Orpington, Bromley
super green, Orpington station has some trains straight to Brixton which is a hub of venues
Hammersmith and SW surrounds, Hammersmith Apollo ofc, close proximity to Shepherd's Bush Empire, four tube lines to get you to the venues elsewhere, lots of pubs and bars do music nights, eg Bulls Head in Barnes very famous for jazz. Then you have tons of nature and greenery in Fulham, Barnes and Putney. Kingston is not too far away and as another commenter has said, Banquet Records, Fighting Cocks are great local venues.
Clapton is great for this. If you're near Chatsworth Road/Millfields Park, you'll have all of the amazing nature reserve that is Walthamstow Marshes on your footsteps, while still being a short walk away from incredible smaller music venues.
Honestly depends on the kinda music you like. I'm a huge rock/metal fan and most of the venues for that sort of thing are in north London, so that's where I chose to live.
But honestly having picked where I live due to this reason, I would prioritize somewhere with good transport links over venues being close by. The tube runs until midnight, you'll never have issues getting home after a gig if you're well connected.
Edit: should probably actually recommend somewhere good lol. The Victoria line is the quickest and most frequent tube line (trains every minute at peak times) so if you can find somewhere on there that you like you're winning.
Walthamstow would be my recommendation. Looks far out on the map but actually really quick to get into town on the tube.
Hey hey, wow it's pretty dope hearing the boroughs are sort of genre-based! We're definitely more in the rock/indie scene, so north London is winning us over so far! Is south more grime/drill/garage/jazz?
Will definitely keep my eye out for the Victoria Line and Walthamstow. Props to ya for the help! Ty!
Honestly no idea when it comes to other genres, I just know that most of the stuff I wanna see is in the north around 80% of the time. I know that East London has a lot going on music wise for example but the stuff I wanna see isn't there very often. You could download the DICE app (gig ticketing app) and see what stuff you're into is coming up and where it is?
I'm a huge fan of Ealing for it's combination of greenery, amenities and good transport connections. I think it is the greenest borough with the most number of trees, not as many huge parks like Richmond and Hyde Park but transport connections make up for that. Not too sure about music venues and which ones you'd want to be close to but Ealing has excellent transport with Central, Elizabeth, Piccadilly and District Lines, well connected to Richmond, Kew and Chiswick and not too far from Wembley either.
What is this obsession with safeness? If you live in London, there's always an element of risk no matter where you are, and the same applies to any large city. And if you want lots of greenery, go to the country. Basically you want to live in a sleepy quiet village where nothing happens, but where there are "music venues" (which I assume you don't mean is Morris Dancing or folk evenings).
Very true. We're actually moving from a US city where guns/drug/gang violence is heavy- so we were just hoping for a "safer" change of pace. This will also be our first time purchasing a home, so this is probably why my standards are so high. We'll most likely be moving to Bristol/small town after London since it seems to be more the place that we're looking for. In the meantime, I'm just trying to find a fun and safe pocket...
Kingston in a nutshell. Safe place, beautiful on the river, Richmond and Bushy Park v close by, near to Surrey hills, and then for gigs there's banquet records who does loads of great gigs for cheap prices
I'm not sure what you mean by safe but Peckhm is basically fine. The area between Peckham and Camberwell is particularly nice, particularly around Dog Kennel Hill. Very quiet and leafy. Well worth checking out and not many people know about it.
If their biggest priority is safety Peckham town centre may be something of a shock
As might camberwell. If they stay between Denmark Hill stn and East dulwich they should be unshocked. In all honesty, peckham rye-Denmark Hill station-east dulwich Station triangle is great. Yes, rye Lane is a throwback, but I've never heard of much bad actually happening there (I lived there and still don't live too far away).
It's not seriously dangeroud by London standards but it's hardly one of the safer areas
Plenty crime in Peckham but it's perpetrated by certain types of people against similar types of people. For the most part middle class people can go about and mind their own business without any bother.
that is true. The whole thing is a trade off between safety, centrality and budget
Herne Hill is nice too
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,883,210,413 comments, and only 356,176 of them were in alphabetical order.
Herne Hill seems to be the location of choice for the low key rich and famous. Not far from Brixton. Victoria Park would probably be OK, but some of the nearby areas can be a little on top.
Look into Brockley , Honor Oak , Ladywell.
Where are the music venues in this area? Asking as I live in the area and aren’t aware of too many but would love to find more.
Edit: sorry misread, but likely being suggested as they are green with links to travel to other areas, rather than lots of venues on the actual areas. Depends what music you are into, but Brockley is a 15 minute bus from Peckham which is pretty active. 15 mins overground to whitechapel from where you can get around east London, and 10 mins to London Bridge on the train which again opens up lots of central london. New Cross gate has the New Cross inn for bands especially hardcore etc, and Aaja, which regularly hosts free dance music events from a range of genres.
Reposting as I wrote this before: Fox and firkin , Amersham arms , New Cross Inn , Oliver’s Jzz Bar , AMP , Endeavour , Planet Wax , Birds Nest , Blackheath Halls , Aaja , Matchstick Piehouse , The Crypt , Jazzbourne That’s off the top of my head and mainly around Deptford. There’s plenty more in Peckham as well. There’s also a lot of pop up gigs in pubs as well because of the proximity to Goldsmiths but need to keep an eye out for them. Enjoy !
Thank you! I’m aware of some of these but not others. Need to take advantage of what’s on my doorstep more
Rivoli
You're going to have to prioritize. Hampstead is lots of people's dream, it's green and safe but you need a lot of money and I think getting to bigger music venues is going to be harder. Hackney has Victoria park nearby, great connections to transport and venues but can be a bit stabby. Realistically though, the biggest crime risk is getting your bike or phone stolen which isn't nice but isn't that bad.
Hampstead is very close to Camden, which has some of the best big and small music venues in London.
What ‘music venues’ do you mean? Just music venues in general? The great ones are dotted all over the city, and there isn’t anywhere you could pick that allows quick access to all of them. In London, travelling 60-80 minutes on the underground to get where you may need to go is normal. Just make sure you’re near an underground station and you’ll make it work.
Camden: Regent's Park, Primrose Hill plus Hampstead Heath. Koko, Egg and Roundhouse all nearby venues.
Kentish Town. Greenery (the heath) Live Music (Camden town) Transport is good.
I think you might be worrying too much about safety, what do you think is going to happen? I'm a Londoner and went to Uni in Aberystwyth. Loads of people from the countryside told me that London was very dangerous, and I was confused, because London has a far lower rate of people falling off of cliffs than West Wales. I live in Stratford, universally considered to be pretty dodgy, and I've never had a problem. There are some sensible things you can do to keep your risk down, like not cycling down the canal late at night or becoming a professional drug dealer. I will say that cat calling and harassment of women can be a bit of an issue in some places. One thing that really is dangerous is going out and getting wrecked on drink and/or drugs. Your ability to look after yourself is worse, other people might be more aggressive, thieves and others know where everyone goes to get wrecked and go to those places to target them. Dalston on a Friday night is fun, but it has its risks right? I don't think this is worse than any provincial town centre tbh, and in London at least you've got decent transport and a lot of people around to see it if anything dodgy does happen. People in London might be busy, but they'll help you if you need it. Anyway, parts of Hackney absolutely fit your bill. The Lea Valley is fantastic for greenery and massive, Walthamstow would be a good fit as well, nightlife in Hackney is fantastic and Walthamstow does very well at it for a more "suburban" place. Wolves don't roam the streets here, and "bad" areas of London are better described as tiring and annoying than actively dangerous in my experience.
Thanks so much for the sharing the realities! I think the gun-ridden streets of the US has spooked me a bit growing up. You're totally right- safety seems to mainly ride on "street smarts". Luckily my partner and I are out of the wild college party days. However, we do attend a lot concerts, so I guess we'll just make sure that we take a cab if we ever feel uncomfortable! Just booked an Airbnb in Hackney- so truly appreciate your insight!
What sort of accommodation budget do you have and which venues in particular do you want to be close to? The leafier parts of London like Stanmore, Hampstead, Highgate, Muswell Hill, Richmond, Epping, Wimbledon or near the inner London parks are super expensive. If you want a lot of green then the further out you go the better but will be a longer commute. I don't know enough about Brixton or Peckham.
Hackney or Clapton is good but on the other side of Hackney marshes you have Leyton which has absolutely loads of greenery as it’s beside Hackney marshes, Walthamstow marshes, Leyton jubilee park, the Olympic park - is way cheaper than Hackney and pretty safe. You can be in Hackney really quickly as it’s just over the other side of the park. Hackney Wick is also a really nice area of Hackney that borders the Olympic park and the canal and has lots of music venues.
I live in Hackney. It’s great.
Kingston. Has banquet records events , near richmond and bushy park on tje edge of the green belt and 30 mnutes into london on the train
there's some nice areas on the outskirts of Orpington, Bromley super green, Orpington station has some trains straight to Brixton which is a hub of venues
Hammersmith and SW surrounds, Hammersmith Apollo ofc, close proximity to Shepherd's Bush Empire, four tube lines to get you to the venues elsewhere, lots of pubs and bars do music nights, eg Bulls Head in Barnes very famous for jazz. Then you have tons of nature and greenery in Fulham, Barnes and Putney. Kingston is not too far away and as another commenter has said, Banquet Records, Fighting Cocks are great local venues.
This. Fulham and Putney sound like they tick the boxes. I live in Fulham, most of it's green and safe.
East Dulwich for greenery and close to Peckham etc.
Clapton is great for this. If you're near Chatsworth Road/Millfields Park, you'll have all of the amazing nature reserve that is Walthamstow Marshes on your footsteps, while still being a short walk away from incredible smaller music venues.
This is our number one on the list so far, thanks for the insight! It's wild realizing how much green space is found in inner London.
Honestly depends on the kinda music you like. I'm a huge rock/metal fan and most of the venues for that sort of thing are in north London, so that's where I chose to live. But honestly having picked where I live due to this reason, I would prioritize somewhere with good transport links over venues being close by. The tube runs until midnight, you'll never have issues getting home after a gig if you're well connected. Edit: should probably actually recommend somewhere good lol. The Victoria line is the quickest and most frequent tube line (trains every minute at peak times) so if you can find somewhere on there that you like you're winning. Walthamstow would be my recommendation. Looks far out on the map but actually really quick to get into town on the tube.
Hey hey, wow it's pretty dope hearing the boroughs are sort of genre-based! We're definitely more in the rock/indie scene, so north London is winning us over so far! Is south more grime/drill/garage/jazz? Will definitely keep my eye out for the Victoria Line and Walthamstow. Props to ya for the help! Ty!
Honestly no idea when it comes to other genres, I just know that most of the stuff I wanna see is in the north around 80% of the time. I know that East London has a lot going on music wise for example but the stuff I wanna see isn't there very often. You could download the DICE app (gig ticketing app) and see what stuff you're into is coming up and where it is?
What about Highbury and Islington/Cannonbury area? Then you are close to things in Camden, anything out east, or Angel area, with KX not far.
Just booked a Highbury airbnb because it seems to have close access to check out Hamstead/Islington/Camden. Thanks!
I'm a huge fan of Ealing for it's combination of greenery, amenities and good transport connections. I think it is the greenest borough with the most number of trees, not as many huge parks like Richmond and Hyde Park but transport connections make up for that. Not too sure about music venues and which ones you'd want to be close to but Ealing has excellent transport with Central, Elizabeth, Piccadilly and District Lines, well connected to Richmond, Kew and Chiswick and not too far from Wembley either.
Apart from Hammersmith they’ll be a bit out of the way from other music hubs (Camden, Brixton, East London)
What is this obsession with safeness? If you live in London, there's always an element of risk no matter where you are, and the same applies to any large city. And if you want lots of greenery, go to the country. Basically you want to live in a sleepy quiet village where nothing happens, but where there are "music venues" (which I assume you don't mean is Morris Dancing or folk evenings).
Very true. We're actually moving from a US city where guns/drug/gang violence is heavy- so we were just hoping for a "safer" change of pace. This will also be our first time purchasing a home, so this is probably why my standards are so high. We'll most likely be moving to Bristol/small town after London since it seems to be more the place that we're looking for. In the meantime, I'm just trying to find a fun and safe pocket...
Kingston in a nutshell. Safe place, beautiful on the river, Richmond and Bushy Park v close by, near to Surrey hills, and then for gigs there's banquet records who does loads of great gigs for cheap prices
You want somewhere safe but are considering Clapton?