Historical version 6 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.