Finsbury Park area guide

Although less well-known than its trendy North London neighbours, Finsbury Park has the kind of potential that is becoming a rarity in Zone 2. The traditional red-brick Victorian houses overlooking the Grade II listed park are examples of the same period architecture and enlightened town-planning that makes nearby Highbury so irresistible. The 150-year-old park has undergone a comprehensive facelift and is home to tennis courts, a theatre and an annual urban music festival. When local Premiership football club, Arsenal, relocated to another nearby site, it kickstarted something of a regeneration boom that is still having positive effects today.

The site around Finsbury Park Station (now called City North) has been vigorously redeveloped and is attracting massive interest. Shops, restaurants and gastropubs along Stroud Green Road and Blackstock Road continue to flourish. The main Seven Sisters thoroughfare intersects with Green Lanes which is where another major regeneration push is taking place. The Woodberry Down development scheme is one of London’s largest and overlooks the East and West Reservoirs which have been restored as a nature reserve and a water sports centre.

With a revamped transport hub, Finsbury Park continues to be one of London’s best-connected Zone 2 districts. Just two Victoria Line stops away from the Eurostar terminus at Kings Cross St Pancras, it is also a major stop on the Great Northern Mainline route to Moorgate (City), Stanstead Airport and Cambridge University. The Piccadilly Line provides a direct service to the West End, Knightsbridge (Harrod’s) and Heathrow Airport.