London Parks & Gardens

London Tour

London Events

If you’re interested in seeing all that London has to offer, check out our London events and festivals directory and see what it can offer you. London, Ontario has a strong community spirit with arts, music and food, and sports-related events almost every week in the summer, big charity drives throughout the year, and a host of tourist spots.

There are many parks in London with each borough council having responsibility for their upkeep.However in central London there are also the Royal Parks, these were originally owned by the monarchy and were used mostly for hunting. They are managed by the Royal Parks Agency and still belong to the Crown. Although there may be public rights of way across the parks the public are only allowed recreational use of the parks by grace and favour of the Crown.

Of all the parks in London probably the best known are Regents Park, Hyde Park and St. James Park. These can be found in central London, together with Green Park and Kensington gardens, whilst in the suburbs are Greenwich Park, Richmond Park and Bushy Park.

Regents Park is home to London Zoo and has a famous open air theatre where you can attend performances from the end of May until early September as well as a bandstand where both lunchtime and evening concerts are performed. Scenes from films like Brief Encounter and more recently Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone have been filmed in the park.

Kensington Gardens - Nearest tube: High St. Kensington
Kensington Gardens is an extension of Hyde Park and covers an area of 275 acres. One of the main attractions of the garden is the Boating Pond where locals try out there model boats. Kensington Gardens is an ideal place to escape from it all as it is relatively quiet and you can watch the thriving wildlife on a summers evening.

Chelsea Physic Gardens - Nearest tube: Sloane Square
Open form April until late October, the gardens which were founded in 1673 were set up to research apothecary and the medical values of plants. Today the research still continues, this means that the garden has a wealth of plants, flowers and rare trees. This garden is well worth a visit just for the rock garden which was the first ever constructed in England.

Green Park - Nearest Tube: Green Park
This park is a haven from all the hussle and bussle of Piccadilly and covers over 53 acres. Used in the 17th century for hunting and duels this park still has some of its old world charm. Green Park leads on to St. James Park, Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace so it is often quiet, as people choose to visit one of the larger parks or the Palace.

Primrose Hill - Nearest tube: Chalk Farm/Camden Town
Primrose Hill is open 24 hours a day and as the name suggests is based on a large hill, with over 61 acres it offers some of the best views of London. Open all year round, Primrose Hill lies between Camden Town and London Zoo and is often used as a cut through between the two.

Greenwich Park - Nearest tube: North Greenwich
Greenwich Park has been enclosed since 1433 and is London's oldest royal park. The park covers 183 acres and has something for all the family including red and fallow deer in the deer park, a flower garden and a children's play ground. The park also has concerts on Sunday afternoons at the bandstand and Shakespeare performances in August.

Hampstead Heath - Nearest tube: Hampstead/Golders Green
Hampstead Heath has some of the best views of London, it is worth a visit just for these alone. The park also has a 17th century stately home; Kenwood House which is home to a fine art collection of English and Dutch masters. In the summer there is a program of free entertainment including concerts, talks and walks.

Museum of Garden History - Nearest tube: Lambeth North, Westminster or Waterloo
The Museum of Garden History provides an insight into the history and development of gardens and gardening in the UK, an important facet in our social history. The Museum houses one of the finest public displays of garden tools and garden related artefacts and curiosities in the country.