What's a good part of London to base myself in for a visit?

[GreenBeanMcGee]

I'm going to be visiting a friend in London in early Spring. He only has a few days off and I'd like to spend 5-7 days there. He lives in Herne Hill(which I know nothing about)

I don't want to do the usual touristy stuff.(Nothing wrong with it, I just don't want to do it this time) I'd like to have somewhere where I can just potter about the streets and markets, visit some bookshops and go for a nice lunch and dinner. Just somewhere that's safe to stroll around and has a decent amount of shops and such.

Last time I did similar I was in Camden which was perfect but I've never been South of the river. Any suggestions would be very welcome.

TIA

Apologies. Title should say South London.

Bermondsey, East Dulwich, Peckham, Crystal Palace all possibilities. Have fun

Herne Hill has a nice market and a bookshop but not multiple of each to explore, you can walk to Dulwich, Horniman at Forest Hill, Brixton/ Clapham etc but it might make more sense to be central where you can walk to more places if thats what you want to do?

Kennington is sort of between central & South

Wimbledon Village

Stay in Borough/London Bridge. Close to the river, markets, amazing restaurants and bars, great transport links and you can pretty much walk everywhere.

Battersea is nice and you can walk the river, into chelsea and Fulham across the bridge, down into Northcote Rd/Clapham, Abbeville, Balham areas. Close to Herne Hill. Easy access to Wimbledon, Kew etc from Clapham Junction. Into Victoria in 7 minutes.

Sorry - should say why!

Lovely common for great walks
Lots of places to eat (posh, independents as well as chain restaurants)
Several great pubs
An independent bookshop
Good mix of other shops
Up the hill from the rest of Wimbledon, for other, more ordinary shops

Do not stay in Wimbledon! It’s barely in London!!

I'd recommend Dulwich or Brixton but depends whether you're wanting to go into central London at all or just stay local. If you need to be in central pick somewhere with a direct train line into Victoria or London Bridge stations for ease.

@Bonnealle

Do not stay in Wimbledon! It’s barely in London!!

Of course it is! What a daft thing to say!

You could stay in Herne Hill? Walking distance / bus distance to Brixton which is on the Victoria Line if you wanted to go into central. Peckham has some really great places to eat / drink. East Dulwich has Lordship Lane which has lots of independent coffee shops / restaurants. There are a couple of art galleries too. Most of Zone 2 SE London has easy access to the city either via the overground or tube. Plus it isn't unusual to catch a bus to somewhere that has a tube / overground.

Greenwich? Or as mentioned London Bridge/Borough is nice.

I’ve always been a norf London girl so don’t know Sarf that well so can’t really pass judgement on other parts.

You could stay in The Windmill on Clapham Common. Easy to get to lots of places from there

Northcote Road and Webbs Road for smaller shops and a street market. Clapham Old Town for oodles of places to eat and an independent bookshop. Clapham, Wandsworth and Tooting Commons for walking (and Tooting has markets too). The Thames Path, Battersea Park and Kings Road very close (easy bus ride away), near Northern Line Tube if you want to go up to Borough for the market and eateries. Also easy to get to Brixton. And not far from Clapham Junction station from which you can get to oodles of places

Pretty sure you can also catch a train from Herne Hill to Victoria. East Dulwich, Peckham etc also go to London Bridge.

I live in SE London and personally find very little about SW London - particularly Battersea / Clapham etc interesting and wouldn't spend a day out there but obviously lots of people do!

There's quite a few good hotels close to the South Bank. I'd recommend staying somewhere in the St Paul's Cathedral area. That would give you a good base for wandering along the South Bank towards Tower Bridge one way and Waterloo/ St James's Park the other.

You'll also have good access for heading North of the river as well.

Enjoy your stay!

Also by buses to Herne Hill, some interesting shops, Brockwell Park (lido, if you fancy an open air swim) and near Dulwich Village (shops, Park and Picture Gallery)

www.southlondonclub.co.uk/blog/13-independent-bookshops-in-south-london-delivering-incredible-reads

If you are based in Clapham it is really easy to go anywhere in London due to the train station, it's 3 tube stations and loads of buses too.

Greenwich or Dulwich

@BIWI
And technically so is Croydon, but I wouldn’t recommend there either!

Wimbledon absolutely is London. But I wouldn't recommend staying in the Village as a base to explore more of London. If in Wimbledon, stay in South Wimbledon near the Tube station. A very different vibe to the village, but better transport links into Clapham and indeed the centre (I could be in Leicester Square 25 minutes after leaving home).

Alternatively I would suggest staying in Fulham or Parson's Green. Great places to explore, easy to get into Chelsea and Kensington.

And Croydon and Wimbledon aren't even in the same league. Croydon has a CR postcode for a start. NOT a London one. Wimbledon is SW19 (this is a hill I'll die on, Wimbledon is my home town).

Well it’s called the London Borough of Croydon for a reason! I’ve no problem with either of the two places, but I think that if you don’t live in London then it would be much easier to stay closer to town. Especially given where the OP’s friend lives. Borough and London Bridge have everting, close to her friend and lots of great restaurants, bars, and markets. If you’re travelling to London, you might as well feel like you’re in London.

Also, I didn’t say Wimbledon wasn’t in London, I just said it was barely in London - like Croydon!

Greenwich , taking in Blackheath .