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In terms of variety of attractions and quality of landscape, London boasts some of the best parks in the country. With flower mazes and Japanese gardens, sheltered woodlands, lakes, wildlife and historical monuments, London parks can be places to visit for a relaxing sun-bathe, stroll and day out animal-watching or site-seeing. Here are three of London's top spots, popular for the buzz and beauty of their park life.
Hyde Park
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Situated between Buckingham Palace, Kensington, Marble Arch and Oxford Street, Hyde Park is the largest and most famous of the royal parks in the city. Touted for its creative scene, at the Northern boundary of the park artists decorate the railings with pictures they've drawn and painted, and there are some excellent summer music festivals on the Marble Arch side. Scattering the park are also numerous historical monuments, from the Royal Albert Memorial to the Princess Diana memorial playground and Kensington Palace. |
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| The meandering paths throughout the grounds offer some pleasant walks with pretty views of the water-ways, grass-lands and round pond, and the Orangery is an especially peaceful spot to stop for tea when you get tired. Be sure to ride across the Serpentine Lake by row-boat or pedallo at low cost and, for the more adventurous, you can also go horse-back riding for hours at a time. |
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Kew Gardens
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Kew Gardens in Richmond is not only attractive for its multiplicity of beautiful gardens, fountains and lakes, it also notable for its wildlife and greenhouses filled with exotic flowers. The Temperate House (picture left) for example, a two-storey Victorian original building, contains plants which are categorised according to the continent from which they originate. Here, you can see the small gum tree from Australia or the rubber plant from South America. |
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| There are also lots of well-signposted walks and a comfortable, if basic, tea-room for refreshments. Although Kew Gardens is pricey (£13 for an adult ticket), it really does offer a stimulating and unique day out; be sure you don't forget to stop and admire the gorgeous Tree-Top Walkway on first entering. |
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Holland Park
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Just adjacent to Holland Park Avenue and sheltered by houses, this is one of the city's hidden treasures. The smallest park in London, it is its size that that adds to its charm. Historically significant, the park lies in the former grounds of the seventeenth-century magnate, Sir Henry, Earl of Holland, and it was thereafter occupied by Cromwell's army during the Civil War. |
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| Particularly notable is the outdoor opera house (picture right) in the centre of the park, where you can watch some of the most canonised operatic pieces with nuts and wine on balmy summer nights, and the Kyoto Japanese garden, a calming ecology and rose garden built for the London Festival of Japan in 1991. Other facilities in the park include an adventure playground and cafeteria. Don't miss out on the spaghetti bolognese, Holland Park café's most delicious and popular dish. |
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