Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens together form the great green lung of central London, two adjoining Royal Parks covering about six hundred acres between Mayfair, Bayswater, Knightsbridge and Kensington. Henry VIII took Hyde Park from the monks of Westminster Abbey in the sixteenth century as a royal hunting ground, and Charles I opened it to the public in the seventeenth; Kensington Gardens was carved from it as the formal grounds of Kensington Palace. In the 1730s Queen Caroline had the Serpentine created by damming a stream, giving the parks the long lake that still defines them. The two parks have different moods. Hyde Park is open, lively and public: rowing boats and pedalos on the Serpentine in season, the Serpentine Lido, home of what is described as the oldest swimming club in Britain, horse riders on Rotten Row, and Speakers' Corner near Marble Arch, where anyone may stand up and speak and where radicals from Karl Marx to George Orwell have held forth. The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, an oval stream of granite, is on the south bank of the lake. Kensington Gardens, across the Long Water, is quieter and more ornamental: the Italian Gardens with their fountains, the bronze statue of Peter Pan placed by J. M. Barrie, the Round Pond in front of Kensington Palace, the glittering Albert Memorial facing the Royal Albert Hall, the Serpentine Galleries showing contemporary art, and the Diana Memorial Playground, built around a pirate ship. Entry is free, and the parks are open from early morning until late evening.

A good walk links the highlights in about two hours. Start at Marble Arch and Speakers' Corner, best on a Sunday morning when the speakers gather, then cross the park to the Serpentine and follow its north shore past the boathouses. Cross the bridge, where the Serpentine becomes the Long Water, and you are in Kensington Gardens; walk up to the Italian Gardens, back down the west bank to the Peter Pan statue, and on to the Round Pond and Kensington Palace. Finish at the Albert Memorial and cross to the Royal Albert Hall, or drop south to the museums of Exhibition Road. Cafes and kiosks are dotted throughout, and the lakeside cafes are pleasant spots for lunch on a fine day.

The seasons change the parks. Spring brings crocuses and blossom, summer the deckchairs, swimming in the Lido and the big outdoor concerts that take over part of Hyde Park, autumn some of the best colour in central London, and winter the large Christmas fair, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, which runs from late November into early January and transforms the eastern side of the park with rides, markets and shows. Its entry policies and charges vary, so check the event's own site. Year-round, the parks are home to plenty of wildlife, including herons, swans, parakeets and the occasional fox at dusk.

For families, the Diana Memorial Playground is one of the best free playgrounds in London, though it is aimed at younger children and has entry rules for adults without children. For couples, an early-evening walk around the Serpentine is one of the most romantic free things to do in the city. The parks are easy to reach from Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge, Marble Arch, Lancaster Gate, Queensway and High Street Kensington stations, and they make a natural link between Kensington Palace, the South Kensington museums and the shopping streets of Knightsbridge and Oxford Street. Cycle hire docking stations sit around the edges, and cycling is permitted on designated routes, which is a fun way to cover the ground quickly.