London area of Kennington guide

What to do and where to stay in London's Kennington neighbourhood

Nowadays Kennington is best known for The Oval cricket ground, where Surrey and often England play their games. The writer and poet Geoffrey Chaucer used to work in this region of Lambeth as a clerk in the 14th century, while more recently Kennington has been home to Charlie Chaplin and Edith Nesbit, the author of The Railway Children. In the 19th Century, Kennington was the site of the Royal Surrey Zoological Gardens, a 15-acre enclosure which boasted lions, tigers, giraffes and a rhinoceros. Kennington Common was used for public executions until 1800 and in 1848 it held the Chartist rally, the first topical event in the world to be photographed. Today, the distillery of Beefeater London Dry Gin - the only premium gin still distilled in London - is situated in Montford Place, while locals in the area descend on the quaint Cleaver Square to play boule and petanque in the summer.

See our recommended nearby Kennington Hotels, Entertainment, Sights and Attractions, Shopping, Restaurants, Pubs, Nightlife, Leisure, Education, and Meeting Venues.

Comfort Inn Vauxhall Hotel
London > Hotels > Budget Chain Hotel
87 South Lambeth Road, SW8
Recently redeveloped in a contemporary style, the Comfort Inn Vauxhall is a budget hotel located just south of the river Thames. Offering quality yet affordable accommodation, ... More

 

 

H10 London Waterloo
London > Hotels > Budget Chain Hotel
284 - 302 Waterloo Road, SE1
The H10 London Waterloo is a recently-built hotel providing comfortable and well-lit rooms and an ideally-located base from which to get around central London. The hotel ... More

 

 

Best Western Corona
London > Hotels > Luxury Chain Hotel
85-89 Belgrave Road Victoria, SW1V
... More

 

 

Hotels in Kennington

 

White Bear Theatre
London > Entertainment > Theatres
138 Kennington Park Road, London, Kennington, London SE11
It's easy to spot who's at the White Bear for the pints and who's there for the Pinter but somehow the two aspects unite comfortably under ... More

 

 

Entertainment in Kennington

 

Gasworks
London > Attractions > Art Galleries
155 Vauxhall Street, London, Kennington, London SE11
Gasworks serves a dual purpose: as a location for 12 artists' studios and as host to up to six exhibitions a year. Emphasis is placed on ... More

 

 

Sights and Attractions in Kennington

 

Shopping in Kennington

 

Pizza Express
London > Restaurants > Italian restaurants
316 Kennington Road, London, Kennington, London SE11
... More

 

 

Kennington Tandoori
London > Restaurants > Indian/South Asian restaurants
313 Kennington Road, London, Kennington, London SE11
... More

 

 

The Fentiman Arms
London > Restaurants > Gastropub
64 Fentiman Road, London, Kennington, London SW8
The Fentiman Arms is a special pub in Lambeth a cricket ball's throw way from The Oval. They have a lovely wild garden out the back, ... More

 

 

Restaurants in Kennington

 

The Greyhound, Oval
London > Nightlife > Pubs
336 Kennington Park Road, London, Kennington, London SE11
Utterly immersed in the local community, this long, thin old-school boozer is a cosy little Celtic cave. Irish ex-pats prop up the bar, drinking the black ... More

 

 

The Fentiman Arms
London > Restaurants > Gastropub
64 Fentiman Road, London, Kennington, London SW8
The Fentiman Arms is a special pub in Lambeth a cricket ball's throw way from The Oval. They have a lovely wild garden out the back, ... More

 

 

The Tommyfield
London > Restaurants > Gastropub
185 Kennington Lane, London, Kennington, London SE11
Mains of pumpkin and ricotta ravioloni and rib eye steak are supplemented by very affordable pub grub staples like beefburgers and chicken breast burgers. ... More

 

 

Pubs in Kennington

 

South London Pacific
London > Nightlife > Bars
340 Kennington Road, London, Kennington, London SE11
Ten minutes from the nearest tube, in a drab and ugly corner of Oval, sits one of the most surreal nightlife experiences you can have in ... More

 

 

Royal Vauxhall Tavern
London > Nightlife > 372 Kennington Lane, London, Kennington, London SE11
The Royal Vauxhall Tavern has been a gay venue since the Second World War, surviving both oppression and the great mainstreaming of Gay culture that saw ... More

 

 

Nightlife in Kennington

 

Surrey County Cricket Club
London > Leisure > Spectator Sport
The Brit Insurance Oval, Kennington, London, Kennington, London SE11
While Lords is the spiritual home of English cricket, it is The Oval (offically The Brit Insurance Oval), home of Surrey County Cricket Club, that fills ... More

 

 

The Kia Oval Cricket Ground
London > Leisure > Spectator Sport
Kennington, London, Kennington, London SE11
Though it does not have quite the same kudos as Lord's, The Kia Oval (known so because of a sponsorship deal, but usually referred to simply ... More

 

 

Leisure in Kennington

 

Education in Kennington

 

Meeting Venues in Kennington