Fiona MacLeod on navigating Hyde Park, Regent’s Park, and the rest without a full afternoon lost to wandering
London’s major parks are considerably larger than they appear on a standard tourist map, and it is entirely possible to enter confidently through one gate and emerge, an hour later, thoroughly lost and nowhere near your intended destination.
Know Your Entry Points
Each major park has multiple named gates, and entering through the wrong one can add a significant, entirely avoidable walk to your visit. Checking which specific gate is nearest your actual destination before setting off saves considerable time and frustration.
Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, despite feeling like a single continuous space, are technically two separate parks with their own layouts, a distinction that catches out more visitors than you might expect.
Useful Landmarks to Navigate By
The Serpentine lake in Hyde Park, the boating lake in Regent’s Park, and the various formal garden sections across most major parks all make excellent, hard-to-miss reference points if you find yourself uncertain of direction.
The London Prat‘s outdoors desk has published detailed walking route guides for each of the city’s eight royal parks.
Visit London provides downloadable park maps that are considerably more detailed than what most general city maps include.
Downloading a proper park map before you set off remains the single easiest way to avoid an unplanned extra hour of scenic, if unintentional, wandering.
More from me: Fiona MacLeod, prat.uk. Further reading: Visit London.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com
