Right amidst the noise and activity between Victoria Station and near Buckingham Palace are two…read moreislands of green. Not much tranquility, but lots of peace. The Gardens (there are two) are a public space open during daylight hours. Generally filled with office workers eating lunch, you'll also find people just lounging about. Sitting on the grass or the benches. Take a moment out of your busy day and vege here!

I doubt that many of the hundreds of thousands of people who flow in and out of Victoria each…read moreweek-day are aware of these two small public gardens, right next to the station. Although bounded by busy roads, they are oases of green - especially the more secluded Upper Grosvenor Gardens. The Grosvenor Gardens estate dates back to the 1860s, when the Victoria area was being developed. Two triangular gardens were enclosed by four grand terraces in the French Renaissance style, designed by Thomas Candy. Although Lower Grosvenor Gardens have always been open to the public, Upper Grosvenor Gardens were only opened to the public in 2000. An unusual, life-sized sculpture of a Lioness chasing a Lesser Kudu was commissioned by the Duke of Westminster for the centre of the Upper Gardens, by the sculptor Jonathan Kenworthy. Lower Grosvenor Gardens also has an equestrian statue of the First World War French Military Commander, Marshal Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929). Unveiled in 1930, it is the work of the French sculptor, Georges Malissard, and is a replica of that erected at Cassel in France. The site was chosen so that it could be seen French visitors arriving at Victoria! At the time, there was much debate as to whether an English sculptor should have been employed, but Malissard won out in the end. Later, in 1952, the gardens were redesigned in the formal French style.

Hyde Park is a lush park that we strolled through on our way to Buckingham palace. My American…read morecousin and I remarked how green the trees and grass were. Such a culture shock to us since we are from Phoenix, Arizona (the desert). I'd definitely return and hope for better weather next time, though the trees did shield some rain.

On our last full day in London, we spent the day at Hyde Park, one of London's most famous public…read moreparks. We purchased sandwiches at Harrods Food Hall, and ate our lunch in the park (we also purchased some beer and wine at a cafe in the park). It was a beautiful spring day, not too hot, not too cold -- just perfect. While we didn't see the entire park (at 350 acres, that would be impossible), we had a great day -- Hyde Park was one of the highlights of my time in London. We spent the majority of our time in Hyde Park watching the birds at the waterfront. I'm not a bird expert, but I saw at least nine different kinds of birds: swans, geese, Canadian Geese, ducks, seagulls, herons, pigeons, starlings, and crows. And further in the park, we saw parakeets. The diversity was amazing! If you're in London, Hyde Park is a MUST MUST MUST SEE! It also makes for an inexpensive day. Other things to note: you must pay to use the toilet, but it's only 20p. However, you can't pay by cash, only by credit card (which was fine by me, as I hate cash), and unlike Amsterdam, which charged €1, the washroom was CLEAN (there was an attendant). While I'm not a fan of paying to use the washroom, at least it was cheap (unlike Amsterdam), clean (unlike in my city or Amsterdam), and hassle free (unlike Amsterdam). [Yelp collections: Europe 2024; London, England; Parks and Gardens]

A few weeks ago I joined my friends for a walk in Waterlow Park with their dalmatian whippet mix…read morepup, MoMo. Fall was quickly turning to winter and autumn hued leaves were all around. While it was too cold for a picnic on this visit, I definitely want to come back for one in the spring. Located near on a hillside near the posh Highgate Village, views of London from this park are very pretty. An ideal place to bring a kid, a dog or a person you fancy.

As a passionate and dutiful dog owner, a trip to Waterlow Park is on my daily to-do list. It's such…read morea lovely park, with loads of old trees, spacious meadows...and best of all, it's all so well-maintained. In fact, the other day we had visitors from South London and they were in awe by how luscious and well-kept this park was...apparently quite a difference to some of the more plain commons. What's also nice about this park is the fact that you have amazing views over the City (on clear days, that is). A good time to come here is around lunch-time, sit on one if the many benches and soak in the beauties surrounding you... The only thing that I would like to change, is the rubbish bins. The thing with them is...they don't have a lid or a cover, which invites the non-human inhabitants of this lovely park (aka squirrels, foxes & crows) to rummage through the bins in the search for edible left-overs. While doing that, they have no shame in littering the floor with tissues, coffee cups and wrapping paper. My concern is not so much the appeal of this, but I'm more concerned about my dog, who namely thinks that this rubbish is the most tasty thing in the world!

Perhaps you'll miss out on some over-stimulation while visiting The Regent's Park. You won't see…read moremany dancers, won't ride any rides, can't see any guards changing. But come for the scenery and relaxation to see why this Royal Park rivals all others on the list. You'll see roses most of the year, with an explosion of scent and color during high spring. Ask you symmetry fans won't leave disappointed either, with plenty of geometric shapes to satisfy the harshest shape critics. If you bike, even though you'll walk through much of the park. you'll have several roads to explore, including going around the Queen Mary's Garden loop x infinity. After that catch some match game ball sport activity or grab a degree or two from Regent's University on-site. Why not?!? Later in the morning the zoo calls, and if you're not local, you have plenty of hotel choices nearby. Or do like us locals and stroll over from a nearby tube stop. You'll find Baker Street, Regent's, or Camden Townamong others within 15 mins or so, and of course pass plenty of food stops along the way. If you go into too much tourism-withdrawal, you remain close to the London city-center scene, all the while knowing you can escape back to serenity like the royalty did here before it was open to all us plebes. Remember they close those big golden gates at dusk, which is way too early in winter, and look out for me there next time because I'll be returning again and again and again.

Large public area, no charge to experience. Many access points…read more Several sections of the Park, are well marked on maps located throughout the property. There are coffee nooks and small eateries in the property as well. Great for playing football, reading a book, strolling , or a light jog.

A tiny little green space along the Thames in Pimlico which I didn't know was there until recently…read morewalking past. Definitely the sort of park that is great for a picnic or a relaxing pause on a bench, as opposed to the sort of park that's great for frisbee or chasing a dog around. There's a boating club abutting the one side and a nifty statue at the other end. Views across the river to Nine Elms and Vauxhall.

Queens Wood is like the raucous sister of nearby Highgate Wood: its terrain is much more uneven and…read morehilly and nature just simply seems to go crazy here. Queens Wood has a few really nice amenities, such as the Queen's Wood Café with its miniature adventure playground and the organic community garden. But it's actually the more hidden features, that I like best about this North London green oasis: the swings. There are in fact two or three make-shift swings here, none of which seem to have officially been hung here. I love sitting on these swings and pretending I was 5 years old again. My only little pet-peeve about Queens Wood (and the reason I only give it four stars) is that it has a relatively busy street going right through it (Wood Lane/Causton Road), which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is not fenced off and so I have to pay closer attention to my dog when I'm walking her in this are. In Highgate Wood, for example, I can just let her roam around and because it is all fenced in, I don't have to worry about her running onto the streets.

Set in a quiet spot not far inside the wood, this is fairly basic with a bit of a 'rustic'/scruffy…read morefeel. You can sit inside or in an attached covered area overlooking woodland. Rather poor tables and chairs, everything in need of updating. Marvellous, varied, menu with a large range of mostly vegetarian meals and snacks. You go inside to order at the till and the food is brought to your table. All well and good until I discovered that the food was much more expensive than I'd expected - the chick pea curry was nearly £7. They don't take credit or debit cards either so you'll need plenty of cash. They do themed children's parties too.

I've been fortunate enough to stroll through this beautifully maintained landscape on multiple…read moreoccasions. There are lots of paths and historical monuments and statues to check out (including the Prince Albert memorial). The Peter Pan statue, Italian Gardens, and Princess Di playground are just some of many attractions worth seeing here. Lovely place to unwind from a day of touristy activities, the hustle and bustle of London, or for taking a lunch work break. The Round Pond is worth seeing as well.

Kensington Gardens is one of London's eight Royal Parks, covering 265 acres just to the west of…read moreHyde Park. We visited a week or so ago after a lunch in Kensington. We walked over to see the exterior of Kensington Palace. Then we took a picture of the Queen Victoria Statue, explored the Diana Princess of Wales Sunken Garden, wandered around the Round Pond, visited the Serpentine South Gallery, and then walked past the Albert Memorial on our way out of the park. And that was just scratching the surface of what the park has to offer! The Sunken Garden was the highlight for me. It was much less crowded than the rest of the park, and it's a beautiful tribute to Diana from her sons. It was also the lushest part of the park we saw - the park was a little brown and beige after the heat of summer when we visited the first week of September. It was a great place to stretch our legs after a wonderful but heavy lunch!

What a beautiful park…read more I went for the enchanted woodland walk, and it was just lovely. The 2 mile walk takes in some of the highlights of the ground, all decorated with beautiful lights. It was just gorgeous. I did think they should have limited the number of people walking around, perhaps to hourly slots, as it was so busy it kind of changed the atmosphere a little bit. All of the lights and scenes created were so creative and well thought out. Magical for both adults and children. The cutest things were seeing little fairies and pixies dotted around, and little doors at the bottom of trees where little elves must live. I loved it and would highly recommend you visit next winter. I'd really like to go back to the park in the day time for a nice sunny walk!

A lovely park, one of those where you forget you're in London. It's a bit built up and a bit out of…read morethe way, but once you get there, it's really nice. There's a garden centre and a Hilton hotel, as well as lots of park land, grazing cattle, and a fly fishing pond, just to name a few things. Oh, and Syon House, of course! It is, unfortunately, in the flight path - which might be good if you like to look at big planes! It's also near to Kew so while it might not be a place to go for your final destination, it's worth passing through.