London's Royal Parks

Oliver O'Brien

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The walk starts at Trafalgar Square, then heads west through Admiralty Arch and into St James' Park. It encircles the park's lake before crossing into Green Park by the gates of Buckingham Palace. The route leaves Green Park at Hyde Park Corner, using two subways and passing the Wellington Arch to come into Hyde Park itself. Rotten Row is followed to Kensington Gardens.

Next, passing by the spectacular Albert Memorial, newly restored, the route follows the South Flower Walk and leads up to the palace itself and the Round Pond, before swinging back to the Italian Gardens at the head of the Long Water. The Water is followed back to the Serpentine and Hyde Park again, then the route heads across the broad expanse of the park itself, to Marble Arch. The parks are left behind temporarily as the route follows two of London's most bustling shopping streets – Oxford Street and Marylebone High Street.

After the bustle of the streets, the route enters The Regent's Park via York Gate. The boating lake is crossed by Long Bridge and the route heads beside London Zoo before crossing Regent's Canal and into the final Royal Park for this walk – Primrose Hill. The only major climb of the day, onto the hill itself, is rewarded with spectacular views southwards over the whole of Central London. The walk ends with a short road section to Chalk Farm Tube Station, where the Northern Line takes you back to the start.

England - South England - London - Town or city

Features

Birds, Castle, Flowers, Great Views, Lake/Loch, Museum, Pub, River, Stately Home, Toilets

1/1/2022 - John Calver

Fantastic walk, well described, clear to follow instructions. A lovely mix of gorgeous park scenery and some lovely streets through London too.

8/9/2017 - Ian Mapp

A great introduction into walking through London, offering a good way to get around the sights. I used it as inspiration to show a London Newbie the City. We started at Kings Cross and followed the Regents Canal to get to the Start. Primrose Hill offers a spectacular view - and you can use it to point out where you will be heading later on the walk. Thanks for the route - some photos loaded up at my blog - http://mappiman.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/050817-londons-royal-parks.html

5/31/2009 - Stephen Harris

This was a fantastic walk and well worth it. Be wary at present, the directions are old and out of date as quite a bit of it has changed (there are some new bits and bits missing, ww advised 01.06.2009). Once the walk has been updated with the directions it will again be probably one of the best walks in London! It's worth extending into Camden Town as there is a plethora of shops, stalls, restaurants, pubs, clubs in this fantastic part of London. 9/10.