Swiss Cottage is a very interesting "intersection" - literally and figuratively. Literally, it's a crazy intersection of Finchley Road coming down from the north, Adelaide Road from the east, Avenue Road heading south and Belsize Road going west....
You should see the traffic - several main routes merge here, some change to one-ways, and it's sort of a triangular intersection. It's nuts. As a pedestrian, it's a nightmare to cross, because there are about 5 sections to cross in order to reach the other side of the road!
Google maps Swiss Cottage
Figuratively, it's also an interesting intersection, with posh St Johns Wood and Primrose Hill just around the corner, Bohemian Belsize Park up the hill, Hamstead just a bit farther on, and massive amounts of subsidized housing to the East and West. This brings a very interesting mix of people together in the streets of Swiss Cottage. Originally we were told that Swiss Cottage is "not very nice". Nevertheless, to its defense, I think it has gone through a bit of a revival in recent years.
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| Fountain outside the Leisure Centre where locals gather on sunny days |
While it certainly doesn't have a village feel like some of its neighbors such as St John's Wood or Belsize Park, it does boast a wide variety of shops and services.
When we were considering our move to London, Swiss Cottage seemed to be smack in the center of several schools in which we were applying, which outlined our housing search area. However, after my husband had someone tell him that Swiss Cottage was "not nice" and it made us wonder a bit. After a bit of internet searching on Swiss Cottage, I became frustrated. I came up with almost nothing! There were few images, few discussions, few ANYTHING regarding Swiss Cottage that I could uncover from google searches. So, hopefully this post will help others to learn just what Swiss Cottage is all about...albeit from my naive, 18 months of experience here in the nearby area. I find I do much of my daily errands and shopping towards Swiss Cottage.
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| Ariel view of the Leisure Centre and Library with fountain and Hamstead Theatre |
To be honest, I like the "intersection" of many walks of life in Swiss Cottage. Diverse, a bit tired-looking perhaps, most definitely NOT posh feeling like St Johns Wood, Swiss Cottage is interesting. There's a much-used library, a great swimming pool nestled inside a community (tad dirty) leisure center/health club, two movie theatres (ODEON and VUE), and indoor shopping center (the 02 at Finchley Road), several grocery stores (Waitrose, M&S Simply Food, Sainsbury's), a nice Virgin Health Club at the 02, a Homebase just beyond the O2, the Hampstead Theatre, great transport options (bus, overground, and tube), and an old pub right smack in the middle of the intersection of the messed up roads I mentioned earlier - "Ye Olde Swiss Cottage" (which feels like you are time-traveling back into the 1970's).
I can't say it's pretty. Finchley Road, as it plows through Swiss Cottage, is not a beautiful place to take a stroll. Several stores are closed, or have broken windows that make you wonder if there was some sort of burglary, you run across folks who appear homeless, and frankly you need to carefully mind your belongings (I've had a mobile phone taken from the leisure centre when I left it for a moment, scooters cannot be left for a second, and even locked bikes magically disappear...but this is all part of London living). It could use a few more interesting restaurants and unique clothing stores. I do wish there were a bit of a village area. Not to be fogotten is a nice open-air market on Wednesdays (Eton Avenue) just outside the tube station and Leisure Centre. There are a variety of gourmet foods, florists, a small amount of produce, cheeses and meats, and sometimes even vintage clothing for sale.
However much it lacks a village feel, it does have a wide variety of people, and finding more affordable housing proves easier as well (compared to Hampstead, Primrose Hill, or St Johns Wood).
The draw here is proximity. You find yourself a short walk from Primrose Hill, Regent's Park, even Hampstead is not far, and yet you've also got just a few miles to reach the center of London itself.
Now, if it only had Swiss chocolates, Swiss mountain air.....
