Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south-west London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated 10 miles (16.1 km) south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan.

Kingston has many pubs and restaurants, though several public houses in centre have closed in recent years to become restaurants or bars. The more traditional pubs tend to be in the northern part of the town (Canbury) and include the Park Tavern, Wych Elm and Willoughby Arms.

Further south are found the Druid's Head, the Spring Grove, and several small local pubs around Fairfield. The Druid's Head is notable as one of the first taverns to make the famous dessert syllabub in the 18th century. There are several Chinese, Indian, Thai and Italian restaurants.

The town is served by two railway stations on a line into Waterloo Station via New Malden and Wimbledon or via Richmond upon Thames (the long way round). The local stations are: Kingston and Norbiton. An additional railway station is located on the main line in nearby Surbiton, and has a more frequent service.

The A3 road runs from central London towards Kingston before by-passing the town to the east. The "Kingston bypass road" was one of the first arterial roads to be built in Britain.

Riverboats run regularly between Kingston and Hampton Court as well as Richmond all during the summer season. There are also direct services to Putney and Westminster from Hampton Court.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_upon_Thames