Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea: the back story

About Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea: the back story

By the ULTIMATE London Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

West of Hyde Park, Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea are elegant, leafy and full of museums, shops and fine restaurants.

Albertopolis

After the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, its profits bought land in South Kensington for museums and colleges, nicknamed Albertopolis after Prince Albert. The V&A, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum stand side by side on Exhibition Road and Cromwell Road.

Kensington and Knightsbridge

Kensington Palace, in Kensington Gardens, has been a royal home since the 17th century. Knightsbridge, to the east, is home to Harrods, Harvey Nichols and grand hotels such as the Mandarin Oriental and The Berkeley.

South Kensington’s museums were built on the success of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Chelsea and Notting Hill

Chelsea, along the river, is known for its garden squares, the King’s Road and the Royal Hospital. To the north-west, Notting Hill has pastel houses, Portobello Road Market and some of London’s best restaurants.

Our advice: pick one museum in South Kensington for the morning, lunch in Chelsea or Knightsbridge, and walk through Kensington Gardens to the palace in the afternoon.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea: the back story before you go.