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.
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.
These are parks. Here some of our official think planting a few flowers will make a park too. Lol You can not explain them which important part of culture it is caring for such things established in the past. Michael
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Thanks, Michael. Those London parks are truly excellent!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thank you for sharing. I live to go to the parks. Warmest regards, Theo
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I used to enjoy living so close to Regent’s Park. It was like my ‘back garden’. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I am so glad you are posting these photos, Pete. They are gorgeous. I’d love to see them in person, but that is not likely.
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Thanks, Lara. I am pleased that you are enjoying these posts. I am in the mood to show the good things about London. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s hard to imagine all these gorgeous parks in London. Who knew? Certainly most Americans don’t know. Thank you, Pete!
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London is full of parks, Jennie. As well as these huge public parks, each borough has its own municipal park too. Here is the park very close to where I grew up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwark_Park
Best wishes, Pete.
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It is lovely. I think most people, like me, only think of a busy city. To have a park in each borough is even better.
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great post, Pete! you’re a Londoner through and through 🙂 brought back wonderful memories of the few parks i’ve been to. thank you 🙂
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Thanks, Wilma. 60 years a Londoner, so I will always be one. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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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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More temptation tomorrow, Michel. I am featuring ‘historical pubs’! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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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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You can have soft drinks or coffee in pubs, Michel. Alcohol is not compulsory. 🙂
Except in my case, as I have to drink red wine by law, apparently…
Best wishes, Pete.
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Haha…by law huh? 😂😂😂 Well, okay sounds good then! Either way, I’m looking forward to that post! 😊
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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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We also have lots of deer in Beetley. But Richmond Park is a London oasis for those herds.
Glad you enjoyed the post, John. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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All look wonderful! I think I visited a couple of the ones nearest the tourist areas though I don’t remember the names.
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At least you got to see them, Susanne. Many Londoners don’t even know the names of all the parks. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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These are gorgeous! I wish I could visit all of them.
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They are all worth your time, Kim. The first six are right in the centre too, close to all the usual tourist sights. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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How far is it from Hyde Park to Jekyll Park? I’ve heard the trip is transformative.
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Nicely done, David. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Your green and pleasant post makes me achingly homesick. XX
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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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Great photos….too bad American cities are not so good at preserving the “Green”….chuq
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London is well served with parks, chuq. Seen from the air, it is apparent just how much open space still exists in that city.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Soe lovely parks. I have been to a couple of them and enjoyed Kensington Gardens with my daughter when she was young.
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Thanks, Darlene. I am pleased that you have good memories of London parks.
Best wishes, Pete.
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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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There are some small ‘residents only’ park squares around, Laura. But as you discovered, many are open to the public too.
Best wishes, Pete.
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We walked through Kensington Park and Hyde during the beautiful weather. I was surprised by how green the city was.
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That’s exactly the point I was trying to make with this post, Cindy. Despite the crowded streets, there is so much green in that city. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete. x
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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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I think you may well have been able to touch a stag, Janet. They have no fear of the people there.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Did you have a stag party in Richmond Park? A friend wants to know.
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You’re unstoppable, as usual. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thankfully eel-less 😀
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There are probably some in the river! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Ahhhh London! And it is sunny!
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It is currently sunny, and very hot too, I am told. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yes, my son’s there and there’s a heat wave! 🥵
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Interested to see how the Londoner in you is still alive, Pete
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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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😊
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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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Thanks, Stevie. It is a wonderful park indeed. Just a shame what has happened to so much of the rest of that area.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I like to keep it in my memory of how it was, and now hardly ever go back.
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