A breath of fresh air: London parks

Discover some of London’s best parks and leave the noise and bustle of the city at the gates. Here are just some of London’s major parks for a beautiful escape – somewhere to rest and relax for a while.

Regent's Park

Regent’s Park is the closest Royal Park to UCL and one of the biggest, at 395 acres. In addition to wide open spaces you’ll find plenty of sports pitches if you fancy a game of football. At the centre of the park is the beautiful Queen Mary Rose Garden – it’s perfectly kept, very peaceful, and contains 12,000 roses of 400 varieties. There’s even an Open Air Theatre – bring your waterproofs in case the weather turns sour! Regent’s Park is also home to London Zoo; you can see the camels from the path round the back of the zoo which makes for an interesting highlight to an early morning run. Finally, just to the north of the park is Primrose Hill. If you can muster the effort to walk to the top, you’ll be rewarded with one of the best views of London the city has to offer.

Hyde Park

Hyde Park is my personal favourite of London’s parks. It’s close to Oxford Street and Knightsbridge, so the contrast between the bustle of the streets and the tranquillity of the park is particularly pronounced. Again, there’s plenty of green space, but the park’s most distinctive feature is the Serpentine Lake in the centre. You can hire a pedalo, or if you’re feeling brave, the Serpentine Swimming Club famously take part in an open water swimming race on Christmas Day.

Speaker's Corner, a site for public speeches and debates since the mid-1800s, is located in the north-east corner of the park, while neighbouring Kensington Gardens contains the famous Albert Memorial. You’ll also find Exhibition Road nearby, home of the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum.

St James's Park

St James’s Park runs the length of the Mall, from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace. This gives it arguably the most impressive setting of any of the Royal Parks, and it’s also the oldest. In addition to some glorious flowerbeds, there’s also a beautiful lake which is home to the park’s famous pelicans! You might also like to watch the traditional Changing of the Guard ceremony, which takes place at Buckingham Palace every morning at 11am.

Next to St James’s Park is Green Park. It runs between Buckingham Palace and Piccadilly, and ultimately leads to Hyde Park Corner. This means you can start at Trafalgar Square, walk down through St James’s Park, into Green Park, and onto Hyde Park to experience all three in a single day, should you be so inclined.

Hampstead Heath

If you fancy wandering a little further from central London, Hampstead Heath provides everything you could ask for in a park, offering sports facilities, an open air Lido, and even Golders Hill Park Zoo. Parliament Hill has astonishing views of the city skyline. Hampstead Heath feels a little wilder than the more central parks, and is less perfectly manicured, which makes for a nice alternative – it’s easy to feel as though you’ve left London altogether and are out in the countryside.

Richmond Park

Richmond Park, is home to over 650 free roaming deer, and a visit at sunrise on a misty autumn morning will be richly rewarded. The beautiful landscape is perfect for hiking or cycling, and if you do find yourself in the mood for something that’s been tamed by a team of gardeners, you can always pop over to Kew Gardens which is just round the corner and home to all sorts of exotic plants.