Green London: London Parks

~ beetleypete

Although London is a very crowded city, beset by traffic problems, and streets clogged with pedestrians, it has many parks that offer a break from the hustle and bustle.

The following parks are all completely free to enter and enjoy. They are also mostly surprisingly close to the main tourist attractions, though a few require an easy short journey outside the centre.

Green Park.
Just off Piccadilly, and close to The Ritz Hotel, this smaller London Park is a nice break from the nearby traffic.

St James’s Park.

Close to Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Buckingham Palace, this lovely park is home to London’s famous Pelicans.

Parks St James's

Hyde Park.
This large park has its own river, The Serpentine, and offers many ways to relax close to the traffic-clogged thoroughfares of Park Lane, and Bayswater Road.

Kensington Gardens.
A little further west, and you can find the delightful park, close to Kensington Palace.

Regent’s Park.
A little further North, and also home to London Zoo, this lovely park has a boating lake, and rose gardens too.

Holland Park.
Not far from Kensington High Street, this beautiful London park has a Japanese garden, and a famous Orangery.

Greenwich Park.
Take a train, river-boat, or bus from the centre, to visit this wonderful park in south London.
There is also The Maritime Museum, The Cutty Sark, and The Royal Observatory. A full day out, in a lovely setting.

Crystal Palace Park.
Rarely seen by tourists, a short train or bus journey south will take you to this unusual park.
It is famous for its stone sculptures of dinosaurs.

Victoria Park.
Hackney in east London is not a typical tourist destination.
However, this inner-city district boasts a wonderful park.

Richmond Park.
Take a train west to Richmond, on the banks of the River Thames.
There you will discover this huge Royal Park, famous for its herds of deer.
It is hard to believe that you are still in London.
You can combine this with a trip to nearby Hampton Court Palace.

50 thoughts on “Green London: London Parks”

  6. You are doing a great job of promoting London. It’s becoming increasingly more tempting to visit this ASAP. I especially like Holland park for it’s Japanese gardens, and Crystal Palace Park because of the dinosaurs. Thanks for sharing all these Pete. I might have to book a sabbatical to see all the sights lol 😂😂

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      1. Haha…well…would it surprise you when I say I don’t drink? 😅😅 Not because I have some kind of insane moral code or anything like that, but I just don’t like the taste of it 😊But eh..sodas are good as well lol 😂😂

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  7. Pete, I have seen a few of these, but not all, and your tour of “green” London is terrific! I love the park with the deer so nearby – in certain parts of the US, there are so many deer they just wander into yards and eat everyone’s flowers…lots of people complain but I say let them roam! We have them at our house sometimes as well!

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    1. I lived just a hundred yards from Regent’s Park for 12 years, Pippa. I only had to walk across Albany Street, and I was in it. We certainly made the most of that proximity. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  14. When we visited London in the late 90’s I’ll never forget walking along a very busy road with tall fences all along the walkway until there peeped between two fences a narrow open entry. We stopped, looked in and there unfolded a pocket park before our eyes in the midst of this very busy area. At first, we wondered if we were ‘allowed’ to enter; if it was private property…but there was no door or gate, just an open entry – so we walked in and it immediately felt like a different world.
    Thanks for jogging my memory on this.
    Oh and we loved Hyde Park – caught someone on his ‘soap box’!

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  16. I have enjoyed most of these parks. Richmond Park is special as my early years were spent without a garden so Mum and Dad were always taking me out for fresh air and exercise to the river and Richmond. I have a memory, could it be true? Patting a large stag on the nose and when I returned to the adults nobody believed me! They also took me ‘swimming’ in Penn Ponds and one day I found a tiny toy, only to look up and be told off by an irate chap who was fly fishing.

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    1. I will always be a Londoner, Sue, even though I have no desire to go back to live there now.
      These posts are my way of trying to show off the ‘good stuff’. 🙂
      Tomorrow, I am doing ‘Pubs’!
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  20. I remember as a kid staying overnight with my grandmother. She lived about a 5 minute walk from Victoria Park (Vicky Park as it’s known locally). There would be open-air ballroom dancing on Saturday nights, and sometimes a fairground would magically appear. Happy memories of old Vicky.

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