We are a short walk to Balham and Tooting Bec stations 25 mins into the West End of London for theatres, sightseeing and everything else London has to offer. Balham overground takes you directly to Victoria in 17 mins, close to Buckingham Palace and the Mall for other sight seeing opportunities. You can get the tube to the O2, Wembley stadium, the Olympic Stadium and pretty much any attraction in London that takes your fancy. We have a plethora of eateries within easy walking distance, from Michelin starred restaurants to local cafes, breakfast bars, noodle bars and wine bars. We list a couple of our favourite below. Within a 10 minute walk you can eat Indian, Italian, Japanese, Thai, Moroccan, Asian Fusion, European, Burgers, fast food; anything you like. A new German Beer Keller has also just opened recently, but if you prefer to sample a proper British pint there are also lots of more traditional pubs. In terms of activities locally Tooting Bec Lido open air swimming pool is 91m long and 30 m wide, open from May to September with a shallow pool for younger children and a grassy area to picnic on. This is an easy 20 min walk or 10 min cycle/scooter ride from the house. There are tennis courts at the common here, a cafe, and a good (roughly 5k jogging/cycling route) and an adventure playground for kids. For those with really young children, there is an indoor adventure play zone within 500m walk of the house (Bertie and Boo). The local indoor swimming pool has inflatables every Saturday afternoon for kids to play on, and otherwise offers lane swimming. There are 3 commons (parks) within easy walking/cycling distance from our house and of course you have easy access to the gorgeous historic central London green spaces - Hyde Park, Green Park, Regents Park, St James' park. If shopping is your thing, we are not far from the Kings Road (you can get the bus directly from close the house - a nice pace to see London at) or you can hop on the tube and be at Harrods or Harvey Nicholls for Knightsbridge style shopping within half an hour, or Oxford street if that takes your fancy (their christmas lights and the ones on Regent Street are particularly good). It's about 30 mins directly on the tube to Camden Lock if you like mooching round vintage shops and original small scale jewellery and clothes manufacturers. The South Bank with its concert halls, gallery and multiple restaurants is an easy half an hour ride on the tube (very good christmas market there) as is Covent Garden and Leicester Square. Really the possibilities are endless!