Welcome back to The Date Edit, our running series of ready-made dates for queer women and the allies who love them, so nobody has to say “I’m easy, you choose” ever again. One area, a route that works, minimal admin.
This week: Hampstead. Yes, it’s posh. It’s also got wild swimming, free Rembrandts and the best sunset view in London, so we’ll allow it. Pack a swimsuit and a towel.
Vibe: Village lanes, heath air and a wild swim
Area: Hampstead, NW3
Best for: Summer dates, outdoorsy types, anyone who’s romanticised their life at least once
Budget: ££
Length: Late morning until sunset, longer if it’s going well
The Morning Thing
Rose & Rose
Out of Hampstead tube and straight to Rose & Rose on Heath Street for coffee. Small, calm, soft jazz, good pastries. Take it for a wander through the village first – Church Row and Flask Walk are two of the prettiest streets in London and worth the detour – then head for the Heath.
Price: £
The Day Thing
Kenwood Ladies’ Pond
The main event. Cross the Heath to the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond, the women-only (and trans-inclusive, as upheld in court, thank you) swimming pond that’s been a sanctuary for over a century. Lifeguarded, tree-sheltered, ducks in attendance, and genuinely one of the most special places in London. Entry is a few pounds; book ahead for weekend afternoons or arrive early and drop in. Cold water is an excellent shortcut past small talk.
Dry off with the walk up to Kenwood House. The grounds are free, the house is free, and inside there’s a Vermeer and one of Rembrandt’s best self-portraits, casually. The lawn out front is made for lying on and recovering from your swim.
Price: £ (swim) / Free (Kenwood)
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The Afternoon Thing
The Horseshoe
Wander back over Parliament Hill for the skyline view – the classic one, the whole city at your feet – then head up into the village for a drink at The Horseshoe on Heath Street. It’s a big, easy village pub with a better wine list than it needs to have, and if you want to raise the stakes, there’s a low-lit cocktail bar hiding upstairs. Choose your floor based on how the date’s going.
Price: ££
If It Goes Well
28 Church Row
Dinner at 28 Church Row, back up in the village. A small room tucked below street level doing Mediterranean-leaning small plates with a menu that changes with the seasons and a wine list with no wrong answers. Tables are close together in the best way. Book ahead – the room’s tiny and Hampstead knows about it.
Price: ££
Wrap Up / Bonus
Holly Bush
If there’s still light, the Hampstead Pergola and Hill Garden on the west side of the Heath is a free, faded-grand Edwardian walkway that looks like a film set and is criminally underused for end-of-date moments. Otherwise, the Holly Bush – a proper 18th-century pub up a candlelit lane – is the correct nightcap. Hampstead tube gets you home on the Northern line, eventually.
Price: Free (pergola) / £ (pub)
You may also like: The Date Edit archive for the rest of the series.
Nonchalant x
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