Holiday apartment in Barnet: trails, nature and history

In Barnet, the Dollis Valley Greenwalk connects green spaces from Moat Mount in Mill Hill through Barnet to Hampstead Heath. The 10-mile walking route is mostly flat and has firm surfaces, making it suitable for walkers, runners and wheelchair users. Cycling is possible on some sections; these areas are signposted.

Walking and trails

Another route is the Barnet and Hadley Walk. The trail is approximately 5.5 kilometres long and includes ten stops in and around High Barnet and Hadley. Totteridge Fields can also be accessed via the London Outer Orbital Path, which runs along the northern boundary of the area.

Nature and open spaces

Darlands Nature Reserve lies in Totteridge Valley between Totteridge and Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet. Across its 32 hectares, woodland, wetlands and grassland alternate. The area also includes woodland, grassland, scrubland, wet woodland and open water; these different habitats provide food and shelter for a diverse range of wildlife. Darlands offers walks in a rural setting and opportunities for wildlife watching.

Totteridge Fields is a piece of traditional English landscape in Barnet that comes alive with diverse wildlife every spring and summer. Oak Hill Wood consists of hornbeam, oak and ash; a tributary of Pymmes Brook flows through the area. Barnet’s parks and open spaces include formal parks and gardens, natural landscapes, extensive green belts and green river valleys. They offer opportunities for recreational sports, park cafés, playgrounds and dog walking.

Woodridge Nature Reserve is a 2.47-hectare local nature reserve in Barnet. It contains numerous oak trees as well as wooded and grassy areas.

History and culture

Barnet Museum is housed in an attractive early Georgian building in the Wood Street conservation area, in the heart of Chipping Barnet. Run by volunteers, the museum presents the history of the area from the Bronze Age to the present day. Its collection includes hundreds of artefacts from this period, as well as a local history archive and resources for family history research.

Barnet Physic Well is a mineral spring historically believed to have healing properties and visited by Samuel Pepys. The site includes a subterranean 17th-century well chamber beneath a Tudor-style building erected in 1937. Volunteers from Barnet Museum look after the well, offer regular public openings and provide free access.

The RAF Museum London displays historic aircraft, family-friendly exhibitions and interactive presentations, with free museum admission. Six aircraft hangars are dedicated to the history of the Royal Air Force.

The church of St Mary the Virgin stands in Monken Hadley and is a Grade II listed church. It was rebuilt in 1494 on a site where religious buildings had already stood since the 12th century. Stephens House & Gardens is a Grade II listed house with extensive landscaped gardens. Henry Charles “Inky” Stephens donated the house and gardens for the use and enjoyment of the public.

A stone obelisk erected at Hadley Highstone in 1740 commemorates the Battle of Barnet. High Barnet Market also dates back a long way: it has existed in various forms and at different locations since at least the 12th century. By the late Tudor period, the market controlled the sale of almost all of London’s meat.

For further location options, Barnet and Golders Green are also available.

For the higher-level travel overview: Greater London.

More destinations

More places within the same destination:

Tower Hamlets, Sutton, Kensington And Chelsea, Lewisham, Newham, Croydon.