Harrow is an outer London borough that most visitors encounter only as a name on the Metropolitan line. But the hilltop village of Harrow on the Hill, clustered around St Mary's Church and the famous Harrow School, has a character quite distinct from the suburban sprawl that surrounds it. The views from the churchyard on a clear day stretch across London to the hills of Surrey and Kent, and the cluster of historic buildings around the school gives the village a feel closer to a Cotswolds market town than to Zone 5.
Harrow School, founded in 1572, has educated a remarkable number of prime ministers, poets, and public figures -- Byron, Churchill, Nehru, and Sheridan among them. The school's buildings are scattered through the village, and while most are not open to casual visitors, the Speech Room and the Old Schools are occasionally accessible during heritage events. The village high street has a handful of decent pubs and restaurants.
Beyond the hill, the borough is a thoroughly multicultural corner of London, with one of the largest South Asian communities in Britain. Kenton Road and Station Road in Harrow proper are packed with Indian restaurants, sweet shops, and sari stores. If you are looking for authentic Indian vegetarian food in London, Harrow is hard to beat. Away from the food strip, Headstone Manor -- a medieval moated manor house now serving as the borough's local history museum -- is an unexpected survivor of the pre-suburban landscape.