Clapham Area Guide

About the Area

With buzzing bars and more Fresher’s Week nostalgia than you can shake a glowstick at, Clapham is the best postgrad party you’ve ever been to. But there’s loads to like about this dynamic district. Even for longtime Londoners, Clapham’s a guilty pleasure.

Scuzzy, brash and beautiful (at least with beer goggles), Clapham is like catnip for bright young things taking their first steps in the capital. But hold on — there’s way more to it than that. Yes, Clapham is larger than life but it’s also larger than you think. It’s a tale of two Claphams — or four, if we’re counting stations, although Clapham Junction is in Battersea (don’t even get us started)…

In reality, Clapham has a bit of everything. It’s a sprawling area of five postcodes covering everything from classic retail therapy and dancing under the disco ball (hello, Clapham High Street) to peaceful green spaces, kite-flying and designer dogs (hello, Clapham Common). For all the club nights and 3am kebab shops there are loads of charming pubs, parks and restaurants you’d be happy to take your granny to. Clapham Picturehouse is a cute little haunt for cinema lovers, and ye olde world is well represented by the period pubs of Clapham North — The Landor and The Falcon to name but two.

So if you’re nostalgic for the sticky floors of a student club, Clapham is an amazing intro to London. But even if you want a more slow-roasted (and WiFi-enabled) pace of life, there’s way more to Clapham than you think.