property, homes and houses for sale in Paddington

 

Barbican	Clerkenwell	Hyde Park	Pimlico
Bayswater	Covent Garden	Kensington	Soho
Belgravia	Earls Court	Kings Cross	South Kensington
Bloomsbury	Farringdon	Knightsbridge	St James
Brompton	Finsbury	Marylebone	Victoria
Charing Cross	Fitzrovia	Mayfair	Westminster
Charterhouse Square	Holborn	Notting Hill
Chelsea	Holland Park	Piccadilly

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Urban, cosmopolitan and multi-cultural - Paddington continues to be a Mecca for new arrivals to London.

Living in Paddington

Paddington offers city life that is raw and vibrant, enhanced by its close proximity to the more genteel streets of Bayswater and Westbourne Grove, and the affluent squares and gardens of residential Hyde Park, which lies to the south of Sussex Gardens.

It is more than twenty years since gambling and vice were cleared out of Paddington's Praed Street area to make way for the offices, bars, cafes, clubs and shops that reflect the residents' strong Middle Eastern culture.

To the north-east of Paddington Station are its former shunting yards, with the waterway of Paddington Basin nearby. Currently, the area is undergoing massive redevelopment and will eventually provide the local community with homes, offices, retail units and leisure facilities.

The terraced Georgian and Victorian stucco-fronted houses that line Paddington's streets and squares are truly majestic. Over the years, many have been converted into flats that overlook pretty, private gardens. Prices are mixed but can be high, especially to the south and west of Paddington.

Despite the eclectic mix of housing and people, or maybe because of it, Paddington has always been a fascinating and popular haunt. Immortalised by great literary figures of fiction such as Doctor Watson in the Sherlock Holmes stories, and more recently by the arrival from Peru of Paddington Bear, the streets around the magnificent station are alive with 21st century enterprise and ambition.

Transport

The great, elevated, arterial route of the A40 Westway marks Paddington's northern border.

Paddington railway station is the main terminus for trains to Oxford, Reading, Bristol and the southwest, and for services to Cardiff and Swansea. The Heathrow Express has proved to be a great success and provides a high speed link to and from the airport.

Paddington tube station is on the District and Circle lines, the Bakerloo line, and the Hammersmith & City line. Numerous bus routes serve the streets around the station, including night buses.

Tube stations in the vicinity are Edgware Road, Royal Oak, Bayswater and Lancaster Gate.

For information regarding all aspects of transport, please visit: www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/

History and culture

Paddington is truly urban, with hotels and boarding houses complemented by colonnades and porticoes. Within walking distance is Hyde Park which, for four centuries, has been one of London's great green lungs.

The western third of the park is taken up by Kensington Gardens, and cutting a swathe through the middle is the Serpentine, a boating lake that was created by damming the River Westbourne.

Every Sunday, artists display their works on Hyde Park's northern railings along Bayswater Road, competing with souvenir and ice cream sellers. Beyond Marble Arch to the east lies Oxford Street, boasting famous stores such as Selfridges, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, and up to 300 shops and outlets.

For further information regarding Paddington and the surrounding areas please visit http://www.westminster.gov.uk