Hyde Park & Green Park
Highlights from two of London's Royal Parks
London’s parks are great places for escaping the constant buzz of the high streets and I spent one Saturday exploring two of my favourites, Green Park and Hyde Park. Green Park, located right next to Buckingham Palace, is a natural gem that needs to be explored. On sunny days you can hire a deck chair and enjoy the abundant nature which includes green woodpeckers, jays and if you’re lucky, sparrowhawks. The trees of Green Park are of particular importance as well thanks to the microclimates they provide for animals in the summer. Although it is the smallest of London’s eight Royal Parks, Green Park is nonetheless a popular spot for tourists and locals alike. The long paths are especially good in autumn.
Then there’s Hyde Park, an area best known for hosting legendary gigs, but its credentials as a hub for wildlife are often ignored. Which is a shame as personally, for me, the huge variety of interesting things to see make it one of London’s best green spaces. Check out the Rose Gardens, a slice of tranquillity only a few minutes’ walk into Hyde Park. The various floral installations definitely give it a secret garden vibe. Keep your eyes peeled and you might see London’s population of green parakeets, whose bright colours have attracted birds of prey like the peregrine falcon (there are even a few secretive owls hiding in Hyde Park’s larger trees).
Hyde Park’s most notable landmark is The Serpentine, a recreational lake originally founded in the 18th-century. Walking along the lakeside means dodging the needy requests of the Canadian geese population, although the audacious swans, cormorants and grey herons make it worth it. You can hire a pedal boat if you want to cross the lake; be quick as boating is only available until October 31st
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The monuments of Hyde Park are well worth exploring, with each one a little slice of history. So too is the famous ‘Speakers’ Corner’, a well-worn site for public speeches still in use after its creation in the mid 1800’s. The image of Hyde Park might be known around the world, but its mesh of under-the-surface quirks still makes it one of London’s hidden gems.
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