Kensington is an area to the west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Notable places in Kensington (or South Kensington) include: Kensington Gardens and Holland Park, the Royal Albert Hall, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Imperial College, London. The Olympia exhibition hall is also in Kensington.

At the heart of Kensington is Kensington High Street, recently declared London's second best shopping street for its diversity of shops. In contrast to the winner (Deptford High Street), this is a rather upmarket and often expensive commercial centre.

The administrative centre of Kensington - Kensington Town Hall - is just off the High Street. Kensington is administered as part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and lies within the Kensington & Chelsea parliamentary constituency.

Kensington is, in general, an extremely affluent area - a trait it shares with its neighbour to the south, Chelsea. Other affluent neighbours include Knightsbridge to the east and Notting Hill to the north. To the west are the less affluent (but far from poverty-stricken) areas of Earl's Court, Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush.

Prior to 1965 Kensington formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Kensington.