Travel bucket list idea:
London, United Kingdom (UK)
Bucket List Experience
Hyde Park
Few capital cities can match London for the number of elegant parks that stretch out alongside the busy streets, great swathes of tree-lined green, spanning over 5,000 acres. There are eight Royal Parks to explore, originally created as hunting and pleasure grounds for the royal family, each one a different experience.
The oldest park, St James, dates back to 1532, when Henry VIII purchased the land for a deer park. Surrounded by palaces on three sides – Westminster, St James’ and Buckingham – this is the heart of royal London, and where Elizabeth I held all manner of pageants and fetes during her reign.
The other main parks in central London are Hyde, Regents, St James and Green Park, while Richmond and Greenwich sit to the west and east respectively. All of the parks are dotted with cafes, and can be a wonderful place to sit with a picnic and watch Londoners slowing the pace for an hour or two.
London, United Kingdom (UK)
Experience
Right on the Thames where the Cutty Sark museum ship is moored, you’ll find this grand royal park, home to 17th-century landscaping, the Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory, the National Maritime Museum and one of London’s oldest deer enclosures.
London, United Kingdom (UK)
Experience
The largest of the four royal parks forming a leafy chain from Kensington Palace to Green Park and Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park is central London’s green lung. Join swimmers in the Serpentine, art lovers in the adjacent gallery or pause at Speaker’s Corner on a Sunday morning to hear all manner of opinions.
London, United Kingdom (UK)
Experience
Founded in the name of Britain’s 18th-century ‘Playboy’ Prince Regent, this is London’s most elegantly manicured park, where public lawns and seasonally planted flower beds encircle ‘secret’ rose-scented gardens, an outdoor theatre, a boating lake, and London Zoo.
London, United Kingdom (UK)
Experience
Charles I’s deer-roamed royal park that remains little changed since the Middle Ages. Woodland, grassland, and cycleways make for a rural treat of a city retreat.
London, United Kingdom (UK)
Experience
Surrounded by Buckingham Palace, Horse Guards Parade, Clarence House and Whitehall, this is the epicentre of London’s eight royal parks, whose formal flowerbeds form a backdrop to such monarchical pageants as Trooping of the Colour.
Good for age: 18+
Finding your way to London’s central parks couldn’t be easier – all of them have their own stop on the underground, and excellent bus links. It is possible to visit several in one afternoon’s walk – St James’, Green Park and Hyde Park are all within easy reach of each other.
The parks change in atmosphere according to the time of the day; in the morning the paths are thick with runners (and horse-riders in Hyde Park), while the afternoons tend to be students, couples and families. Weekends are busy all day.
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London
Viator
Price £20
Min age 0
Rating 4.78 / 5 [460 ratings]
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Destination guides including or relevant to this experience
Greater London, United Kingdom (UK)
Destination guide
World-class culture, fashion, music, food and history – and a mind-boggling array of bucket list experiences – packed into one extraordinary, incomparable destination.
