What a park! It's huge, it's well maintained, it has dinosaurs, it has sphinxes, it has a hedge maze, it has a farm and petting zoo, it has a sports centre and a café and a museum, it has everything you could want from a park! A day out at this gorgeous park is bound to be fun and exciting. I'd suggest starting with the Dinosaur lake which features huge stone dinos, complete with information panels to tell you more about them. From there you can work your way through the park, visit the hedge maze that's not too big but lots of fun to find your way through, maybe race your friends to see who's faster. Visit the ruins of the old crystal palace and the sphinxes, get a scoop of fresh ice cream at the café, or sprint along all the lovely paths leading through the park. Definitely not to be missed! read more

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Crystal Palace Park is awesome. I don't know anywhere else in London that you'll find giant stone dinosaurs, Sphinx, an outdoor concert space, a farm and a maze all in one place! It's a fine place to go for a run to get in shape, and an even better place to spend summer afternoons eating ice cream. read more

Crystal Palace Park - Parks Near Me - London, XGL

I would love to have seen this site whilst home to The Crystal Palace, I have seen photos and it looks amazing. As it is now, the top end of the park is rather desolate, complete with a less than attractive car park and only a few remaining stone Sphinxes. Heading further into the depths of the park and you can find yourself amongst the dinosaurs, ponds, in a maze, playground or even on the farm. On a summer afternoon, this huge park is a hive of activity, with plenty to do and even more to see. Whilst areas are luscious and beautiful, others are rather more derelict and unkept, so explore and choose your spot wisely. read more

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I had heard about this park for a while, and only been through in passing. I had to come and check out the dinosaur park that I had always been told about. I came here on an amazing summer day, with full on sun and heat, it was amazing! The park has lots of wide open space as well as some nice tree cover. The best thing about this park are the remnants of a much more popular past, one full of grand wonder. The first thing I came across was the bright red model Egyptian sphynx, of which there were many. They were all gated off under refurbishment though, so I guess they are a pretty big deal. I look forward to returning when they are done. The park also has what is called a dinasaur park, but I dare you to find a dinosaur you recognise. It's an interesting look at what people imagined dinasaurs to be at one point in history, a far cry of what we think of them now. There's also a cafe to grab a cold drink, lots of play area for children, and a big area in the centre for sport. The best park of this park in my opinion is the maze. Yes, a true old fashioned and fun hedge maze. I love this sort of thing, and just the entrance sign will fill you with childlike wonder. So, grab a few friends, maybe a picnic and hop on over to Crystal Palace park! read more

I absolutely love Crystal Palace Park. It's a huge park accessible from all sides and within a stones throw of Crystal Palace station. There is lots for everyone to do and the park even has a caravan site. In the far corner is a children's playground with a great sandpit. The cafe is also close by and although expensive for what it is, it has a great selection of food and drinks and offers an eat in or take away service. They also have indoor and outdoor seating. You will also find at least one ice cream van around this area in summer. From there it's a minutes walk to the lake with a variety of ducks and in summer they have pedal boats which you can hire. There is also a huge expanse of grass for picnics, sunbathing and they also allow bbq's. You then have the amazing dinosaurs with an audio tour for those who want to learn more. The dinosaurs are great for children and adults and it's lovely to see how inaccurate the models are as we have learnt so much since they were put there. There is also a lovely farm for the children which has a college and of course Crystal Palace sports stadium which this year has hosting some outdoor cinema showings as well as many major sporting events over the years. At the top of the park you will find the Crystal Palace museum which tells you all about the old Crystal Palace building and you can see the original site which has some amazing statues and stone steps. The park could do with some TLC in places but there is so much to do that you could easily spend the day there. If you walk around and up the park you will also get a very good workout as there are a lot of hills and can reward yourself with an ice cream at the end. read more

Pretty lovely park with lots to explore and discover! Everyone seems to rave about the utterly bananas dinosaur statutes here, and while they aren't maybe what you'd expect it's quite a fun addition to what would be just an average pond. They also have a great play area for kids, peddle boats on one of the ponds, beautiful flower gardens and of course, the remains of the Victorian palace walls. There's so much green space here, that you could easily waste an afternoon wandering around before heading to one of the lovely little pubs near by. read more

Large, huge, magnanimous. Vast green space. You might just get lost in the vastness. There is a leisure center right in the middle of the park. Maybe that is why it is called a 'center'. The public toilets are not the best, but they serve the purpose. You know what I mean. The cafe served a variety of stuff. Nice place to rest after a long walk or run in the park. read more

I found Crystal Palace Park a little frustrating I arrived at the North, near the transmitter. Having got across a very busy road with no crossings in evidence I found my route into the park blocked by a campsite. It was getting late, I wanted to get to the dinosaurs and take some pictures before it got dark but I ended up trekking quite a way along the top past the transmitter before I even made it into the park. And then there were no maps in evidence! Most parks have maps at the entrance, I've sort of got used to it, and it seems a good idea Even by the museum (not open most days it seems) there was no map. In the top section you'll find the terraces, with balustrades, great sweeps of grass and the occasional sphinx. I rather like old ruins, but these are in a little bit of an in-between stage. Grass occasionally mown and little enclosures blocking you off from the interesting bits, like they are going to do some work but haven't got round to it yet. Impressive, but also a little sad. Due to fenced off bits and the National Recreation Centre you can't head south east down the hill, but have to head across the top (back towards where I started for me) and then down the other side. Past the terraces there's a fence with a gate, which seems to mark the end of that part of the park (I believe there are plans, being loudly protested locally, to develop the area of the terraces. A big cinema complex was narrowly avoided. But the area in question is clearly in limbo). Past that gate (which still has no map) you come into parts of the park that are clearly more looked after and rather beautiful. I kept asking the way and kept getting directed onwards and downwards. Each section of the park a new vista opening up. I was very puzzled by a great slab of a metal building sitting in a lake. I thought it might be a café, but there were no windows, only a single door in the back. Finally I worked out it was a stage! There's a maze, bare of leaves at this time of year, but probably great fun for the kids. For runners I guess heading back and forth across the terraces would allow a flatish and reasonably long run without too many repetitions. Heading down the park would bring in some hill work! Finally after what seemed like hours I reached the bottom end of the park, and the lakes where the dinosaurs are. I'll write a separate review for them. But guess what suddenly there were maps everywhere! After seeing the dinosaurs I stopped off at the loos (graffitied, scrawl not art). The café was closed by then (it was dark) and I passed by the information centre, though it looked like there was an exhibition about the park in there. My view what an amazing park, and what an opportunity missed! This could be the best park in London with those fabulous terraces and the dinosaurs lurking at the bottom. Instead, you have got some nice bits, but there also seems to be too much interest in parcelling it off, and too little in making it what it could be. Those signs just typify it: it's like the leafletters who dump a load of leaflets in the hallway of a block of flats and tell themselves the boss will never notice they haven't bothered going door to door. Still well worth a visit, but it's annoying to see it so under appreciated. read more

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Entering the park from the top always used to be a great experience as you are at the footsteps of where a grand palace used to stand, but now its getting a little run down, and most of it is fenced off with no sign of them re-building any of it, they are currently renovating the swimming pool so lots of work going on in the park, but if u carry on to the main park its an lovely place. The dinosaurs are great to take the kids to see and they have really done it up, and its really smart and very accessible now, there is a maze for the kids which even us big kids still have a laugh in, but its a little out the way of the main park. the main green area of the park is not massive and can get a little overcrowded at times. read more

Quite a cool park, and really large. Did a 10k wellness run through the park, and by the 3rd time around I swear the Sphinxes were beginning to purr at me. Really nice view from the park as well, doesn't really show in the photos, but it is quite high up. read more

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I came here for the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs delivered. No other place in London has this many huge stone dinosaurs up for grabs, and it took about an hour to go through all the dinosaurs. Along the dinosaur path, there's a farm as well. Being in the city most of the time doesn't give you a lot of opportunity to interact with animals, so that was an absolute delight checking out the llamas, alpacas and goats. It's pretty out of the way, but it's a great place to hang out if you're into paleontology. Kidding, it's great if you love dinosaurs. They almost look big enough to rear their heads right up and attack you. Scary stuff. read more

Finally made it out here with my guy! The Green Chain walk traverses Crystal Palace park, so if you'd like to make a walking day of it, there are directions through the park and on either side toward pedestrian-friendly paths. The park itself is this bizarre public ruin. The last remaining fragment of the Crystal Palace stands on a hill overlooking a tiered expanse of greens, stone steps, and crumbling statues. We perched atop a worn and ragged sphinx for some sunbathing before going for a wander past the Crystal Palace museum and through the...dinosaur park...where concrete reproductions of megafauna that never existed lounge along man-made waterways. Every single creature represented is based on an outdated understanding of dinosaurs. There's even a giant sloth originally constructed against a tree that has since perished. So incredibly strange! We got crap icecream at one of the park's cafe/rest areas. We'll probably skip that next time, when we come back to explore the maze. read more

Been bought up near this park, loads for children and adults curious about the area and some of the history. Make sure you visit the tiny, lovely museum at the top end to learn more about the origins of the Crystal Palace herself. read more

Took my children to this park the other day and it was such a lovely day. They have reopened the zoo which is free and they have lots to see in there and if you go at certain times the kids get to touch the snakes. After the zoo you can choose from the play park or the dinosaurs. It is such a nice place to have a picnic and it fills up the whole day. read more

it is spring and there are baby geese! as if this park could get any better!

Crystal Palace Park is the ultimate park, shame the on site cafe does not measure up. Avoid it at all cost. I paid 8 pounds for three standard ice creams. I have visited this park many times and over the past months the prices have crept up and up. The service is poor, the food average. I suspect the proprietors are hoping to fund the refurbishment of the cafe with the outlandish prices. Take your own food and enjoy what is, otherwise a great day out. read more