Greek cafe in London is the only way some of us will agree to a long walk in October, so this guide pairs five autumn walks with a Greek bakery, cafe or kitchen run by a Greek List member near the park gate. The famous spots are well covered, and Londonist has a good list of the classic places for red and orange leaves. We went local instead: East Barnet, Palmers Green, Crystal Palace, South Norwood and Stratford, where the parks are quieter and the coffee comes with a koulouri.
Mid October to mid November is when London turns: plane trees go yellow, maples and cherries go red, and after a wet night the paths smell of leaves. It is also when the Greek instinct kicks in: walk first, then sit somewhere warm with a double Greek coffee or a freddo, a slice of spanakopita and a conversation that outlasts the walk. Every stop below is a Greek List member, with the address taken from its listing, and every park is free. Half term runs from 24 October to 1 November for most London schools, so these also work as a cheap morning out with the kids.
Oak Hill Park is the kind of place North Londoners keep to themselves. The Pymmes Brook runs along the valley floor, the grass slopes up on both sides, and at the top sits Oak Hill Wood, ancient woodland that turns deep gold in late October. Follow the brook from the Church Hill Road end, climb into the wood and come back down the far side for a loop of about an hour.
Getting there: Cockfosters on the Piccadilly line, or Oakleigh Park and New Barnet on Great Northern trains from Moorgate and King’s Cross, then a short walk or the 184 and 307 buses along East Barnet Road.
Greek stop nearby: Source of Life Bakehouse on East Barnet Road (258 East Barnet Road, EN4 8TD), a few minutes from the park in East Barnet village. The ovens are on from 6am, so the pies, koulouria and tsoureki are still warm when you arrive after an early loop, and there is plenty to take home for the week.
Broomfield Park has everything a Victorian park should: ornamental lakes with ducks and herons, a bandstand, a walled garden, a small conservatory and the shell of Broomfield House, lost to fire in the 1980s. The trees around the lakes are at their best from the second half of October. Do the lakes first, then the garden, and finish on the Aldermans Hill side where the afternoon light drops low and gold.
Getting there: Palmers Green station (Great Northern from Moorgate and Finsbury Park) is five minutes away. Buses 121, 329 and W6 stop on Green Lanes and Aldermans Hill.
Greek stop nearby: Borneo Cafe Bakery on Green Lanes (29 Green Lanes, N13 4TN), on the Palmers Green high street that the park sits beside. It opens at 6am (7am on Sundays), and this is where local Greeks and Cypriots pick up bread, pastries and a freddo cappuccino. A proper Greek cafe in London, with Saturday morning queues to prove it.
Crystal Palace Park is the most fun of the five. The Victorian dinosaurs from 1854 sit on islands in the lower lake, the terraces of the old palace survive at the top with their sphinxes and staircases, and the transmitter mast is your landmark from every corner. In autumn the trees around the dinosaur lake frame the sculptures in rust and amber. Allow 90 minutes for the lake, the maze and the terraces, longer with children who want to name every dinosaur.
Getting there: Crystal Palace station (Overground and Southern) opens onto the park. Penge West is on the other side. Buses 3, 122, 157, 249 and 358 stop on Crystal Palace Parade at the top.
Greek stop nearby: Kamari on Westow Street (SE19 3RY) in the Crystal Palace Triangle, at the top of the hill above the park. It opens at 6:30am every day for coffee, pies and pastries, and by lunch the grill is on for gyros and souvlaki. It is the stop that makes the climb up Anerley Hill worth it.
South Norwood Lake started life as a reservoir for the Croydon Canal two centuries ago and is now one of the biggest stretches of open water in the borough. There is a flat path all the way round, a sailing club on the water, woodland on the northern edge and the Crystal Palace mast on the skyline. It is a 30 minute loop at an easy pace, and it combines well with Crystal Palace Park for a longer afternoon.
Getting there: Norwood Junction (Overground, Southern and Thameslink) is about ten minutes on foot from the Woodvale Avenue entrance.
Greek stop nearby: Grand Cafe 241 on Selhurst Road (241 Selhurst Road, SE25), between Selhurst and Norwood Junction stations, about 20 minutes on foot from the lake. Expect Greek coffee, bougatsa, cheese pies and a friendly South London Greek crowd, exactly what you want after a windy circuit of the water.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the newest landscape on the list and the best for autumn planting. The wetlands and meadows along the River Lea were designed to peak late in the year, with grasses and seed heads that go copper and purple in October, all with the Orbit and the London Stadium behind. Start at the Aquatics Centre, follow the river north past the wetlands to the Velodrome and come back on the opposite bank. Flat, buggy friendly and about 5km.
Getting there: Stratford station (Central, Jubilee, Elizabeth line, DLR, Overground and national rail) and Stratford International are both at the park entrance, through Westfield.
Greek stop nearby: EPIC, Legendary Greek Streetfood in the Food Hall at Westfield Stratford City (lower ground floor), right at the park gates. Less a Greek cafe in London than a Greek kitchen, open from 10am most days, it does gyros, souvlaki and loaded pittas at speed, so it works as a lunch stop mid walk or a reward at the end.
For the big names, Richmond Park is in rutting season and the Isabella Plantation is the best spot in London for red acers, Hampstead Heath gives you Parliament Hill and the paths to Kenwood, and Regent’s Park has the Broad Walk plus the free Frieze Sculpture trail until 1 November. Kew runs its Halloween light trail until 1 November if you want colour after dark. For Greek stops near those, our guides to Greek restaurants near Hyde Park and Greek restaurants in Marylebone have you covered, and for more options the Greek bakeries guide and the freddo guide list dozens of places for a Greek cafe in London afterwards.
A walk in the morning, something Greek in the evening. The Greek List events page is the most complete list of Greek events in the UK, and listing your own event is free. Here is what is on over the next ten days:
Two exhibitions at the Hellenic Centre on Paddington Street, Fernweh, or Nostalgia for Unknown Lands and A Different Kind of Pop: Giorgos Ioannou, run into November, and the Greek List Halloween Party at the Elysée rooftop is on Saturday 31 October.
Every bakery, cafe and kitchen featured above is a Greek List member. More than 100,000 Greeks and Cypriots in the UK read Greek List every month on the site, through the newsletter and in the Ellines sto Londino Facebook group, and Greek List listings rank first on Google. If you want your business in the next guide, this is where it starts.
Which park is your autumn favourite, and which Greek cafe in London do you head to afterwards? Tell us in the Facebook group Ellines sto Londino.
