Serviced Apartments in Barnet

Discover the best activities and attractions Barnet has to offer, and find out what makes this city a vibrant and exciting place to live or visit.

Royal Air Force Museum London (Colindale)
The RAF Museum is a major free-entry attraction housing an extensive collection of aircraft, engines and exhibits charting Britain’s aviation and military history, including displays on Bomber Command and the Battle of Britain. Its impact on the local community and economy includes steady visitor footfall that supports nearby cafes, shops and transport links, educational programmes for schools and youth groups, and local employment (museum staff, guides, event contractors). It’s popular because of hands-on displays, rare historic aircraft, family-friendly activities and special events (air-themed exhibitions, STEM workshops) that draw London-wide and tourist audiences.

Scratchwood & Moat Mount Nature Reserves
These adjoining green spaces in north Barnet offer ancient woodland, chalk grassland, streams and a network of trails for walking, cycling and wildlife watching. They provide vital ecosystem services and recreational space that improve residents’ health and quality of life, encourage local volunteerism (conservation groups), and support small-scale local spending (cafes, gear shops). They’re special for their biodiversity (native flora and birds), accessible wild landscapes close to London, seasonal events and guided walks that connect people with nature without leaving the city.

Oak Hill Park
Oak Hill Park is a large public park in East Barnet featuring sports pitches, children’s play areas, ornamental gardens and woodland. It functions as a community hub—hosting sports clubs, weekend family activities and local gatherings—contributing to social cohesion and helping sustain grassroots sporting economies (club fees, coaching). The park is popular for accessible green space, well-maintained facilities, community-led events (fetes, charity runs) and its balance of formal gardens and wilder areas that suit families, dog-walkers and fitness groups.

High Barnet (Chipping Barnet) — Market, High Street shops and restaurants
Chipping Barnet’s historic high street, its regular market and independent retail scene form the borough’s commercial and social centre. This area supports local entrepreneurs—independent shops, specialist grocers, cafes, gastropubs and long-standing pubs—and generates employment and daytime/evening trade that sustains the local economy. It’s prized for its characterful architecture, a mix of national and independent retailers, lively market stalls, varied dining options and community events (seasonal markets, late-night shopping), making it a focal point for both residents and visitors.

Barnet Museum & Battle of Barnet commemorations (Hadley Green)
Barnet Museum preserves and interprets local history—from medieval Barnet through Victorian eras to modern suburban life—via collections, archives and school outreach. Together with the public commemorations and occasional living-history events marking the 1471 Battle of Barnet (held near Hadley Green), these cultural offerings strengthen local identity, attract history enthusiasts, and encourage heritage tourism that benefits small museums, guides and nearby businesses. They’re distinctive for celebrating a nationally significant historical event on the actual landscape where it occurred, offering reenactments, talks and walks that engage community volunteers and local schools.

Explore the diverse transport options available in Barnet, from efficient public transportation systems to convenient road networks. Whether you're commuting to work or exploring the city, this section will give you an overall look at the available transportation systems.

Public Transit System
- London Underground - Northern line provides the main tube coverage in Barnet, with the High Barnet and Edgware branches and the Mill Hill East spur linking residential centres to central London. Services are frequent on the main branches and provide interchange options into the rest of the Tube network.
- National Rail (Great Northern & Thameslink) - Suburban rail services connect parts of Barnet into central London (King’s Cross/Moorgate) and out to Hertfordshire; Thameslink services at key stations improve north–south cross-London connectivity and frequency.
- TfL Bus Network - Extensive daytime and night bus routes serve town centres and residential areas across the borough and provide links into neighbouring boroughs and central London; local hubs and bus interchanges support orbital and radial journeys.
- London Overground (limited direct coverage) - There is limited direct Overground coverage inside the borough; nearest Overground stations are reached by interchange and can be useful for journeys that avoid central London.
- Night buses and coach services - Night bus routes operate on major corridors; coach services and rail replacement/long-distance coaches are available from nearby coach interchanges and major road junctions.
- Community transport & Dial‑a‑Ride - Specialist services for older and disabled residents, plus local voluntary/community transport schemes, supplement mainstream public transport for accessible door‑to‑door or low‑demand journeys.

Major Highways
- M25 - London orbital motorway providing rapid access to the national motorway network and airports; reachable from the borough’s northern edges.
- M1 - Major radial motorway north from London; easily accessible from western parts of Barnet for journeys to north London and beyond.
- A406 (North Circular) - Important orbital arterial road along the southern boundary of the borough, linking to other London radial routes and the wider motorway network.
- A1 / A1000 (Great North Road) - Historic northbound route running through parts of the borough, providing direct surface-road access toward central London and to the A1 corridor north.
- A41 - Major A-road providing an alternative west–east route out of London and connecting to the motorway network.
- A5 (Edgware Road) - Important arterial route on the western side of the borough connecting to central and north-west London corridors.

Cycling Infrastructure
- Bike lanes and cycle routes - A mixture of on‑carriageway cycle lanes, advisory lanes, quieter residential cycle routes and marked local cycle corridors connect key town centres and rail/tube stations; cycle parking is provided at many stations but fully segregated continuous cycleways are limited and route quality/continuity varies across the borough (Santander Cycles/hire docking is not borough‑wide).

Recent and Upcoming Improvements
- Thameslink and rail service upgrades - Recent timetable and capacity improvements in the Thameslink/GTR programmes have boosted frequencies and reliability at several local stations, improving cross‑London rail journeys.
- Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration (transport elements) - Large-scale mixed‑use redevelopment planned in north‑west Barnet includes new and upgraded road links, public transport improvements and measures to support bus, walking and cycling improvements as part of the wider scheme.
- Local Implementation Plan (LIP) & Active Travel schemes - Ongoing borough initiatives and TfL-funded projects are delivering targeted junction improvements, bus reliability works, pedestrian upgrades and local cycling schemes to encourage active travel.
- Station accessibility and modernisation projects - Step‑free access, improved ticketing, waiting shelters and other station upgrades have been implemented or planned at various stations to improve accessibility and passenger experience.
- Highway and junction works / local capacity upgrades - Targeted highway maintenance, junction redesigns and traffic‑management schemes aim to reduce congestion at local bottlenecks and improve safety on key corridors.
- EV charging and low‑emission measures - Roll‑out of on‑street electric vehicle chargers and low‑emission initiatives to support uptake of cleaner vehicles and complement local air‑quality strategies.