Historical version 5 of Gloucester Road (view current version)
Gloucester Road in Kensington runs from Palace Gate of Hyde Park in a north-south direction to [Old Brompton Road]? at its southern end. It crosses the A4 Cromwell Road and Harrington Gardens en route.
This is a very popular area for tourists with both expensive (Rydges, Citadines) and cheap hotels along its length. It is close to the museums in South Kensington and to the shops in [Kensington [High Street]], with Central London just 15-20 minutes away by tube or bus.
There are some small shops at the northern end including Boots (a chemist), a couple of sandwich shops, a large luxury grocers (Partridges), some cafes, some small restaurants, a hardware shop, a pub (the Black Widow) and a hairdresser.
The central section from Cromwell Road to Harrington Gardens has a variety of shops and also includes Gloucester Road Station on the Piccadilly, Circle and District lines. There is a supermarket (Waitrose) in the Gloucester Arcade along with another Boots, a cheap hairdresser and two restaurants. Outside, there are various [banks]?, a KFC, Burger King, Starbucks, various restaurants and cafes, another hardware shop and two pubs.
The southern end of Gloucester Road is tree-lined and residential with some expensive houses - well worth a walk down.
Note for drivers: there is no right turn from Gloucester Road onto the A4 Cromwell Road. You'll need to make a right, right, left once you've crossed it. Not to finish with a gloomy note though: parking at the northern end is a piece of cake.
Bus route 49 (Clapham Junction - Kensington High Street - Shepherd's Bush) runs up Gloucester Road from the station to the Hyde Park end. See Locale South Kensington for other routes in the local area.