Hammersmith

Brook Green sits at the quieter end of Hammersmith, a leafy stretch of garden squares and Victorian terraces that gives way to the busier arteries around Hammersmith Broadway. This is west London doing what it does well: a proper transport hub with the Thames close by, good hotels, and enough restaurants to eat somewhere different every night of a long stay. It never quite feels like a destination in its own right, but that is part of the appeal, it is a base with the rest of London a short journey away.

Most visitors stay near the main road network or the river. The Brook Green Hotel and Hand and Flower offer something with more character, while chains like the ibis London Shepherds Bush Hammersmith, Novotel London West, and Seraphine Hammersmith Hotel cover the practical end of things. There are three Premier Inns alone, at Ravenscourt Park, Shepherds Bush Road, and Talgarth Road, which says something about how reliably people pass through here on their way to somewhere else, or use it as a comfortable, well-priced base for the whole city.

Down towards the water, Bishops Park is the obvious escape, a proper stretch of green along the Thames with views across to Putney and space to walk off a heavy meal. Back among the shops and cinemas of the Broadway, DNA VR Hammersmith gives the area an unexpected dose of virtual reality gaming, good for an afternoon that has nothing to do with sightseeing.

With 59 restaurants listed in the area, Hammersmith rewards anyone happy to wander a few streets off the main road rather than settle for the first place they see. Combined with its hotel choice and river access, it works well as a base for a London stay that still wants some green space and a slower pace once the day's sightseeing is done.