When Daniel Woolfson greeted us outside of the Kentish Town tube stop on a sunny Monday afternoon in North London, we had no idea what was in store. All we knew is that Daniel, an architect originally from East London, would guide us through the boroughs of Kentish Town, Hampstead Heath and Highgate-all of which are areas less known to tourists.

As we shuffled out of the tube stop and made our way down the ruggedly urbanized area of Kentish Town Road, it was hard to miss the many shops and restaurants that filled the streets.  “It’s not a celebrity town, but it is getting there,” Daniel said about the up-and-coming working-class neighborhood. Continuing down the main road, Highgate Street, on the left hand side was Chicken Shop, which according to Daniel,  “sells the best chicken you can eat. For just £ 4, you can enjoy some great chicken.”  Kentish Town has become a food hotspot in the past several years, with all different kinds of foreign foods, whether it be Italian, Indian or even French cuisines.

Kentish Town is not only popular for its food, but also for its speakeasies. Specific to the area, there are three speakeasies, one of which is called Right Here Buddy. Way back in history, the town was occupied with public bathrooms, or “toilets,” as the Londoners say, but when the toilets were no longer needed, they were transformed into speakeasies. One can call it a speakeasy, as it is underground and hidden from the town, but it is not like a speakeasy during the time of the prohibition. These hidden hot spots are 100 percent legal and are a place for a younger crowd to spend the night out and enjoy a few drinks with friends.

As we left Kentish Town, we headed towards Hampstead, which according to Daniel “is a very posh town.”  On our journey, we stumbled upon Little Green Street, one of the oldest streets in London. As we turned the corner towards Hampstead Heath Park, we noticed a quaint French school, La Sainte Union Catholic School, which overlooks the park across the street. La Sainte Union is a highly ranked school for students in the surrounding areas to attend. Afterwards, we entered Hampstead Heath Park, which is used heavily by the locals. “Tourists only come to the park for the views,” Daniel informed us.

However, since we were in fact tourists, we headed up Parliament Hill to what are supposed to be some of the most amazing views in London.  We struggled to keep our breath while strutting up the hill. But when we finally got to rest once we arrived at the scenic top, the view took our breath away. It was a gorgeous view overlooking north and south London. The London Eye, The Shard and the dome of Saint Paul’s were all visible in the distance.

We continued our journey walking (and rolling) down Parliament Hill and through the rest of the park, passing gender segregated ponds; the Ladies Pond and the Men’s Pond in which Nude bathing is common. The ponds are also unique to the United Kingdom because they are the only life guarded, open water swimming areas available to the public 365 days a year.

We then made our way into High Gate, “the nice bit,” as Daniel described it. It was a noticeably wealthy area, occupied with beautiful private homes that most people can only dream about living in.  There we saw the famous Highgate Cemetery, which was established in 1839, and consists of about 55,000 graves and attracts 170,000 people annualy. It only cost £4 to enter and is the resting place for Karl Marx, but unfortunately, we did not get the chance to enter. Instead we made our way through Waterlow Park, which is located at the top of Swain’s Lane.

Waterlow Park, another scenic park less explored by tourists, led us into the heart of Highgate. The area was busy with local shops and restaurants, as we made our way to The Flask Pub. The pub, which is well-known to many authors and writers, is also a favorite of Daniel’s. There, we enjoyed interesting, yet delicious scampi fries and padron peppers with sea salt and its serene outside setting.

Kentish town, Hampstead, and Highgate are lesser known places to the everyday tourist. They are however a great place to visit to feel like a local Londoner and to step away from the crazy tourists you see everywhere throughout the city.