Parks & Gardens
London is one of the greenest cities in the world,
with huge expanses of park land and gardens throughout
the city. Check out below what these parks have to
offer.
Links to:
Regent's
Park
Greenwich
Park
St. Jame's
Park
Hyde Park (see immediately below)
Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens
Hyde Park is one of London's green lungs - a huge
expanse of park land that was originally a landholding
of Westminster Abbey, then passed to royal hands
in the time of Henry VIII, and was opened to the public
in the early 1600's.
Incorporating Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park
has played host to innumerable public gatherings,
concerts, and even hangings and duels.
Highlights:
Listening to the orators (and hecklers) at Speaker's
Corner
The Wellington
Arch, commemorating the Duke of Wellington's
victory over Napoleon at Waterloo.
The Serpentine Lake - and the nutters that
swim in it!
Kensington Gardens with its Orangery and sheltered
garden areas (with attendant squirrels).
Kensington
Palace, former home of Princess Diana and
that old gin soak Princess Margaret.
The impressively restored Albert Memorial (pictured
above), with the backdrop of the Royal
Albert Hall.
Marble Arch, marking the spot of the notorious
Tyburn Gallows, where public executions were held.
Princess Diana Memorial - opened in 2004 by
the Queen. Kind of a huge open-air urinal, really.
Feeding those squirrels!
Getting There
Marble Arch, Queensway, Hyde Park Corner, or Lancaster
Gate Tubes.
Opening Times
Dawn to dusk.
More Information
Hyde
Park website.
Kensington
Palace website.
Royal
Albert Hall website.
Other London
Parks.
Walking
in London.
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