London: My Favorite Parks...
 

I just love London's mind-boggling number of parks - usually well-manicured and tamed unlike our more wild natural parks. And of all European towns i find London to have the most parks (except for Berlin).

In this thread i'm going to detail my favorite London parks (and would like to hear from others about theirs)

HYDE PARK
This sprawling park in the heart of London is so so great - in size and in attractions - from its lakes with boats to rent on them to its long straight walks and ancient trees. And the teahouses that have cafeterias and outdoor tables.

On a nice day Hyde Park can be so mobbed by London's colorful multi-ethnic citizens - bright saris flowing in the wind - turbans - bright African native dress, etc. And even some limey Brits mixed in.

Other park attractions are Speakers' Corner - mainly on Sundays but sporadic on other days too - where anyone can get on a soapbox and pontificate to an oft jeering crowd. Religious nutters seem to have taken over from the usual militant political types and SC seems to have lost its zest. (Blogging perhaps the cause?)
And Princess Di's fountain - a real let down if this cement trough snaking around a patch of grass is supposed to be a work of art.
And Kensington Palace on the park's far west edge.

My favorite Hyde Park memory was sitting by the Serpentine (?) and watching the folks rent boats to paddle around it - and watching the cop-like guy in a motorboat constantly chasing down scofflaws who had rented the boat and then sneeked some other folks on - avoiding the per person fee i guess.

NEXT - GREENWICH PARK

I like Holland Park. And Regent's, but I've only seen it in February - probably not at it's best.

PQ: If you change your heading to HYDE PARK & KENSINGTON GARDENS, then most of your info is correct.

We live across from Clapham Common and there are always things going on!

<i>Princess Di's fountain - a real let down if this cement trough snaking around a patch of grass is supposed to be a work of art.
And Kensington Palace on the park's far west edge.</i>

These 2 technically are in Kensington Gardens, which is West of the Serpentine.

My favorite is still St James's Park.

I absolutely adore St. James Park and my second favorite is Regent's Park.

I could go to London and do nothing else but visit those two parks!

I had nice strolls through St. James Park and Hyde Park including speakers corner. Will have to visit Regents Park next time per bettyk's recommendation.

thereyet

Janis - thanks for the nit-picking - i know that but for practical purposes it's all one park.

Janis - do you think 4 days is enough to see only the Hyde Park portion? I thought perhaps a whole day to admire the Albert Memorial from all angles of sunlight? I suppose you will find my 4-day plan too hectic, as you usually do with folks who hurry too much.

BTW - I see some kind of Lodge on Hyde Park map - do you think this is a good location for lodging - tell me about the rooms, etc. It's a good enough location, right?

I await Fodor's consensus London and British expert's sage advice on the above questions.

thanking you in advance. Your Pal.

All right, you guys.

Bettyk, if you're a fiction-reader, Ruth Rendell has a novel set in/around Regent's Park that is very evocative of the area.

Thanks, lennyba.

thereyet, this might whet your appetite a bit(it is a very large park):

http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/r...lora_fauna.cfm

http://www.urban75.org/vista/regentspark.html

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/114/2...fe59f539_o.jpg

http://www.the-london-map.co.uk

will also give you panoramic views of a number of London parks.

We live across from Clapham Common and there are always things going on!&gt;&gt;&gt;

Fnar Fnar!

Oh do leave Ron alone, CW. He was only looking for badgers, wasn't he?

Not on Clapham Common he wasn't. That was where he decided to invite a complete stranger to his home, and by a series of unfortunate accidents ended up with a part of his anatomy inside him.

He went looking for badgers in wales.

Thanks for the links bettyk, is most of Regents Park full of gardens as pictured?

Love strolling gardens.

thereyet

Not sure, thereyet, as we've never seen the entire park. We usually run out of time or energy.

But you can see quite a bit of it using the website PatrickLondon posted.