Page 54 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - London

52  INTRODUCING L ONDON

London’s Best: Parks and Gardens

Since medieval times, London has had large expanses of green. Some of
these, such as Hampstead Heath, were originally common land, where
smallholders could graze their animals. Others, such as Richmond Park
and Holland Park, were royal hunting grounds or the gardens of large
houses; several still have formal features dating from those times. Today
you can cross much of central London by walking from St James’s Park
in central London to Kensington Gardens in the west. Purpose-built Hampstead
parks, like Battersea, and the botanic garden at Kew appeared later. and Highgate
Hampstead Heath
Hyde Park This breezy, vast, open
The Serpentine space is located in north
is one of the London. Nearby Parliament
highlights of a park Hill offers views of St Paul’s,
which also boasts the City and the West End.
restaurants, an
art gallery and
Speakers’ Corner.

Regent’s
Park and
Marylebone

Piccadilly,
Kensington Mayfair and
and Holland South St James’s
Park Kensington and
Knightsbridge
Kensington Gardens
This plaque is from the
Kew Gardens Italian Garden, one of the
The world’s premier features of this elegant park. Chelsea
botanic garden is a
must for anyone with
an interest in plants, Holland Park
exotic or mundane. The former grounds of one of
London’s grandest homes are
now its most romantic park.

0 km 1
Richmond Park
0 miles 0.5
The biggest royal park in London remains largely unspoiled, with
magnificent river views and a thriving deer population.

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