PARKS
PARKS
A ‘green city’, in just 70 square miles Greater London has more than 1,700 parks, all of which are open to the public and free to explore. Whether you want to get away from the chaos and immerse yourself in nature or simply need somewhere to walk your dog, London has a park for everyone. Some, such as Hyde Park and Regent’s Park, in central London, are already well known and much visited by locals and tourists alike, while others like Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens or Southwark Park, in central south-east London, have more of a community vibe. Whether you’re going mainstream or off the beaten track, pack a picnic hamper and some sunnies and get ready to discover some of London’s greenest places.
ALEXANDRA PALACE
A hilltop haven on a hot day, north London’s iconic Alexandra Palace has some of the most spectacular views of the city. More affectionately known today as ‘Ally Pally’, it opened in 1873, a pleasure park for London’s rapidly growing population to let off steam. It follows the traditional Victorian layout for parks tightly. There are ornamental gardens, a boating lake and plenty of green space and woodland to conjure up the illusion that you’re not really in the city at all, just merely observing the busy city below. The original Alexandra Palace burned down in 1873, but was replaced in 1875. Today, it fulfils its original intention of being a ‘People’s Palace’ – as a premier venue, it’s a building used for entertaining the masses. The park also has an ice rink and a conservation area. It’s great for kids to get lost in and for adults just to stretch out and enjoy their surroundings on a lovely sunny day.
—
Alexandra Palace Way, London N22 7AY
Opening times: 24 hours
Getting there: 
Wood Green (Piccadilly), Finsbury Park (Victoria); 
Alexandra Palace
VAUXHALL PLEASURE GARDENS
In its heyday, Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens was so illustrious that Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks was first staged here, celebrating the fireworks display of 1749. In the 1780s, visitors would cross London to view a hot air balloon tethered there take to the skies, and ride the funfair and watch high society at play. Today, the gardens are a much more modest affair. In the autumn, when the trees burn gold, it’s still a glorious place to stroll through on the way to the Black Dog pub, which serves some great craft beers, or have a Bloody Mary and a slice of cake at the cosy Tea House Theatre. Animal lovers will enjoy horse riding in the paddocks developed with nearby Vauxhall City Farm and feeding the goats and alpacas that kick up dust in summer, while the clink of boules adds a slice of gentile civility in summer as London Petanque Club practises curving throws across the grass.
—
Tyers Street, London SE11 5HL
Opening times: 24 hours
Getting there: Vauxhall (Victoria); Vauxhall
MILE END PARK
After the war, a huge clean-up operation was required in east London, and Mile End Park grew out of that destruction. The towers of Canary Wharf are visible from much of the 76-acre park, which is separated by the Hertford Union Canal from the south edge of Victoria Park. It also follows the Regent’s Canal from Victoria Park to Limehouse Basin. Among the many attractions are the Art Pavilion, a beautiful gallery overlooking a pretty duck pond, and the award-winning Green Bridge which has a footpath lined with trees and feels more New York High Line than Stepney. The Children’s Park is fabulously equipped, with climbing walls, an extensive playground, a well-maintained sandpit and rope swing, as well as playground equipment for disabled and able-bodied children.
—
Clinton Rd, London E3 4QY
Opening times: 24 hours
Getting there: Mile End (Central)
HOLLAND PARK
Holland Park, in west London, is the sort of place you visit and just sigh because it’s so lovely. Verges are trimmed and grass is Wimbledon-green. Take your pick from the Dutch Garden – lined with vibrant orange and purple flower beds, perfuming the pavements with lavender and the dahlias that the Earl of Holland’s wife grew first in England – or the Kyoto Gardens, created as a gesture of friendship in 1991 by Kyoto’s Chamber of Commerce. Bonsai trees, neatly trimmed, are reflected in the still koi carp pond and a karesansui, a traditional Japanese rock garden, tumbles down a man-made hill. Where the hard paths fall away and are replaced by soft tracks running through beech and birch trees there’s a sprawl of wilderness. The kids adventure playground is one of the best free play parks in the city, with its giant tyre swing and long zipwire. For adults, the Design Museum to the park’s south-east is worth a browse, if only to gawp at the striking roof and airy atrium.
—
Ilchester Pl, London W8 6LU
Opening times: 7:30am to 30 minutes before dusk
Getting there: Holland Park (Central), Kensington High Street (Circle/District)
CRYSTAL PALACE PARK
‘There be dinosaurs here’ is perhaps not something you might expect to hear in south-east London. Yet, in the bowels of Crystal Palace Park, 30 dinosaurs can be found climbing hills, next to ponds and peeking out from behind trees. Even though this feels like a modern art installation, the Grade I-listed dinosaurs date back to 1854 and were built by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins when Crystal Palace was still described as a ‘pleasure ground’. Remnants of the 1851 Great Exhibition can be found scattered across the park – gigantic terraces, stone sphinx statues and fountains. Adults and kids alike can get lost in the 160-foot maze, one of the largest in the country; free to enter, the centre is surprisingly difficult to find. Hunt out the park café for a brew and biscuits, a perfect place to rest if you’re incorporating the park into a longer walk: the park is part of the 50-mile Green Chain walk, but can also be included in a lovely wooded section of the long-distance path between the Horniman Museum and Sydenham Hill Woods.
—
42 Thicket Rd, London SE19 2GA
Opening times: 7:30am–dusk
Getting there: Crystal Palace; Penge West
BATTERSEA PARK
Battersea Park is a great example of Victorian working design – park planners were given a slither of green space and encouraged to fill it with ‘amusements’ that would help local residents relax after the daily grind. Those amusements still exist and are popular with local families, and tourists alike, who enjoy the pedalos on the landscaped boating lake, the Pump House Gallery, a bandstand (hosting live music during summer) and ornamental gardens. There’s also a tremendous view of Albert Bridge, lit at night with 4,000 LED lamps glittering over the river. Kids will love Go Ape, a tree-top high-octane rope course. Add astroturf pitches, acres of parkland and a riverside location and you have a sparkling gem of a park that visitors and locals cherish. The focal point is the 33.5m high peace pagoda, built by monks, nuns and followers of Nipponzan
My-oh-oji Buddhist order. A south London beacon, it is somewhere for people to meet and joggers to run towards as the evening sun casts long shadows on the south-side of the Thames.
—
Queenstown Road, London SW11 4NJ
www.wandsworth.gov.uk/batterseapark
Opening times: 8am–dusk
Getting there: Battersea Park
CLISSOLD PARK
Seven gates mark seven different entrances to Clissold Park, a sprawling 23-hectares between Arsenal to the west, Stoke Newington to the east and Hackney to the north-west. Gifted to the public in 1889, there are enough attractions here to keep the entire family interested. A soft-on-the-knees bark athletics track encircles the park, while kids on scooters tear down paths that criss-cross the large expanse of green grass. Spires and roofs from Stoke Newington’s Church Street peek out over the tops of the park’s beech trees and, in summer, the full foliage makes it feel like you’re in the heart of the Cotswolds rather than Zone 2. It’s big enough to lose yourself in, but small enough to return to city life when you’re ready. Festivals, from craft fairs to races, run throughout the year, while inner-city wildlife spotters are also in for a treat – deer have roamed Clissold Park since the 1890s, while an aviary and local species butterfly dome mean parakeets and other brightly coloured insects flit overhead.
—
Green Lanes, London N16 9HJ
Opening times: 7:30am–9pm
Getting there: Finsbury Park (Victoria);
Stoke Newington
VICTORIA PARK
A behemoth of a park in the heart of east London, Victoria Park is perhaps best-known for its massive capacity gigs and huge multi-day festivals like All Points East. But, ‘Vicky Park’, as it’s known by locals, is packed with so much more than just the odd summer festival. Rowing boats and pedalos can be rented to explore the lake, while those interested in local history can follow the Memoryscape trail. Kids won’t be disappointed with the playgrounds either – the V&A playground has sandboxes, swings and even water pumps to encourage creative play, while The Hub and The Splash have climbing walls and fountains for kids to cool off in during summer. The park’s so big that there are three park walking routes called Tree Walks, which jump from tree species to tree species, taking in boulevards, sailing ponds and ending at the Park Café run by Cyrus Todiwala, which serves a now infamous (and delicious) Indian breakfast.
—
Grove Rd, London E3 5TB
Opening times: 7am–dusk
Getting there: Mile End (Central);
Cambridge Heath/Hackney Wick
RICHMOND PARK
One of the eight Royal Parks, Richmond Park is vast and beautiful. At three times the size of New York’s Central Park, this 2,500-acre park wears a lot of different badges, from National Nature Reserve to Site of Special Scientific Interest. The 40-acre woodland Isabella Plantation garden features beautiful azaleas and rare trees and plants. Get there on an early autumn morning to see magnificent stags rutting in the mist, fighting for the attention of females. Richmond Park is well-equipped for bike rides and there’s a 7.5-mile loop (Tamsin Trail) that runs around the entire park, for hikers and cyclists alike. Hunt down King Henry’s Mound (Henry VIII allegedly stood here, waiting for the sign that Anne Boleyn had been beheaded), where you can peer through a telescope and see all the way to St Paul’s Cathedral, 12 miles away, through a gap in the trees. No building is allowed to impede it – the view is officially protected for eternity.
—
Richmond
www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond-park
Opening times: Pedestrian gates open 24 hours; vehicle gates open 7am until dusk
Getting there: Richmond (District); Richmond
THAMES BARRIER PARK
To celebrate the creation of the largest riverside park built in London in 50 years, landscape architects cultivated well-manicured hedges that undulate towards the water, as if creating a meeting point between ground and river.
The park, with its 130-foot long sunken garden, 32 fountains, wide walkways and post-modern design is a gorgeous sunspot to relax in by the water. A pavilion of remembrance, celebrating the lives of those who died in the Second World War, stands next to the river, but it’s the Thames Barrier itself that dwarfs the park. Originally built to protect the city from North Sea storm surges and high tides, it can be opened and closed depending on how high the tide is. This magnificent feat of engineering is complemented by the park’s 14 acres of straight edges, rainbow flower borders and magnificent concrete trench.
—
Barrier Point Road, London E16 2HP
www.gardenvisit.com/gardens/thames_barrier_park
Opening times: 7am; closing times vary by month
Getting there: Pontoon Dock DLR
GUNNERSBURY PARK
In 1925, Mrs de Rothschild sold west London-located Gunnersbury Park to the nation, on the condition that its 200 hectares only be used for leisure. The park is dominated by a listed Georgian Palladian mansion and follies and historic ruins abound – an eighteenth-century folly overlooks the Potomac boating pond, while the Orangery and remnants of an eighteenth-century bathhouse built by Princess Amelia, George II’s daughter, are keen reminders of the park’s illustrious heritage. Today it’s a large, attractive space for festivals, such as Lovebox and Citadel, making the most of the flat, green space. There’s also a pitch and putt, football pitches and a promise that the park will receive millions of pounds of funds for sports-related regeneration.
—
Gunnersbury Park, Popes Lane, London W3 8LQ
Opening times: 8am–dusk
Getting there: Acton Town (Piccadilly/District), South Ealing (Piccadilly); Kew Bridge
LONDON FIELDS
Hackney’s London Fields used to be a public common and a place where farmers and their sheep could rest as they walked to London’s markets. Now bordered by the ever-popular Broadway Market to the south, it’s usually packed with young people making the most of the nearby food stalls. Within the 31 acres or so of green space, the park is home to one of London’s only heated outdoor lidos, a cricket pitch at its centre, play areas for kids with energy to burn, and wildflower meadows that are home to local honeybee hives. For foodie offerings away from the market, there is the laid-back Pub on the Park, which has a chilled beer garden in summer, and open fires come winter. Uniquely, London Fields is one of the only parks in London where barbecues are permitted, with a designated grilling spot.
—
London Fields West Side, Hackney, London E8 3EU
www.hackney.gov.uk/london-fields
Opening times: 24 hours
Getting there: London Fields
BURGESS PARK
This wedge of park sitting between Camberwell and Old Kent Road is one of south London’s largest parks at 56 hectares. Created from old bomb-sites after the Second World War, it’s cut through by The Surrey Canal Tree Walk, which follows the old canal and highlights edible plants and trees, including crab apples, damsons and sweet chestnuts, along the route for budding foragers. Come summer, wisps of smoke from barbecues trail above the hillocks, as families decamp with friends on the grass. Home to park runs, bike paths and the odd moorhen, this is a welcome relief from some of south London’s more congested spaces.
—
150 Albany Rd, London SE5 0AL
Opening times: 24 hours
Getting there: Elephant and Castle (Bakerloo)
BROCKWELL PARK
Packed with parents and prams, running fanatics and more outdoor yoga classes than you can shake a stick at, Brockwell Park sits between fashionable Brixton and family-oriented Herne Hill. There’s a bandstand, a large duck pond and even a miniature steam train run by toy railway enthusiasts. One of the park’s biggest draws is the lido; built in 1937, it’s a 50m unheated outside pool on the southern edge of the park. As well as swimming, you can do yoga, tai chi and pilates classes. It’s so popular that queues can wend for hundreds of metres in the summer. The Lido Café is well worth visiting, the brunches sublime. The park is becoming a hotspot for summer music festivals. The Lambeth Country Show is held here each year, so you can weigh animals and hang out with cows even in London’s Zone 2.
—
Norwood Rd, London SE24 9BJ
Opening times: 7:30am–dusk
Getting there: Brixton (Victoria line); Herne Hill
VAUXHALL PARK
This tiny park packs a big punch. From the outside it looks like a standard neighbourhood dog-walking park – and mostly, it is – but a few things set it apart from all the other squares of green scattered around the city. One is that one of the park’s founders was the great Suffragist Millicent Fawcett; another is that to the south of the park is a lavender field, rivalling those in Provence for colour and smell. Fat bees hum over the plants all summer and, at harvest, volunteers meet and press thousands of flowers to create the litres of lavender oil sold by the Friends of Vauxhall Park at Italo, in Bonnington Square. The strands of lavender grow so high and smell so sweet that it’s the perfect place for nestling down with a paperback. There’s also a charming model village, two tennis courts and a small playground for kids, all making it a lovely spot to while away a few hours. The park has also won the prestigious Green Flag Award, which is given to the best green spaces in the country.
—
12 Lawn Lane, London SW8 1UA
Opening times: 8:30am–6pm weekdays; 10am–6pm weekends
Getting there: Vauxhall (Victoria)
MORDEN HALL PARK
In winter, a mist softens the rays of sun trying to penetrate through the oak trees in Morden Hall Park which creates a yellow, otherworldly hue. There are over 50 hectares of parkland to explore in this National Trust property, including the rose garden, home to some 2,000 varieties of roses. The secluded garden bursts with surprises, from the statues of Venus and Neptune in the rose garden to the flowing stream of the River Wandle, where it surfaces on its journey north towards the Thames. The garden used to be the site of an old tobacco factory, and today an old snuff mill stands in the gardens, complete with a millstone that powered the mill. The Park is a cracking space, feeling more like countryside than south London. For snacks and other facilities try the Potting Shed Café, which does a mean cream tea on the banks of the River Wandle.
—
Morden Hall Park, Morden, Surrey, SM4 5JD
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/morden-hall-park
Opening times: 8am–6pm
Getting there: Morden (Northern); tram to Phipps Bridge
HAGGERSTON PARK
Located between Haggerston, Bethnal Green and Broadway Market, Haggerston Park, in south-west Hackney, is one of those places where, on each visit, there’s something new to find. You might stumble across wild scrubland, perfect for rambling and dog walks. There’s the hidden duck pond surrounded by reeds and then there’s a huge lawned section of the park, hidden behind an 8-feet high brick wall. In true east London style, the park is littered with quirky statues, and an ancient vine twists its way along a concrete pergola. In summer, this Green Flag-awarded park is packed with sun-seeking locals. As well as wild space, there are BMX tracks, football pitches and basketball courts, while the children’s play area is fine for weekend adventures. A community orchard and raised food beds also point to a local food-growing movement. There are plenty of pockets of woodland to explore and get lost in around the park.
—
Yorkton St, London E2 8NH
www.hackney.gov.uk/haggerston-park
Opening times: 7:30am–dusk
Getting there: Bethnal Green (Central);
Haggerston Overland
