The Royal Parks of London

Saturday 17th February 2024

I had an idea, at least four years ago, of going for a walk through the Royal Parks of London, but Covid intervened and my plan was shelved until eventually I decided I would now do my long anticipated walk, so despite poor weather I caught a train to London. When I left the railway station I started to follow a route that I’d found on the OS Maps app and also on the YHA website described as a sightseeing dash. There are two tours and I was taking the one through West London, which was initially rather dull as I passed through enclosed streets with high buildings either side, but eventually I reached my first Royal Park: Regent’s Park, entering through the English Gardens. Even though I came to London many times as a child, I don’t remember being in Regent’s Park before as my family was focused on the usual tourist attractions and the Royal Parks were not a priority. Despite being February there were many daffodils in bloom thanks to the mild weather and there were even some snowdrops clinging on despite the mild weather. It was also noticeable how many runners there were in the park at this early hour, but I was happy to just walk as I made my way into Queen Mary’s Gardens where I turned left passing a wonderful display of daffodils and out of the gardens.

After passing Regent’s University and the boating lake I left Regent’s Park and turned right onto Marylebone Road, past Madame Tussauds waxworks museum to reach Baker Street tube station where a stature of Sherlock Holmes stands looking at the entrance. From there I turned down Baker Street for a spell of tedious road walking that brought to mind a comment I made a couple of months ago that I love walking so much I even love walking along streets and at this moment I was really testing that claim. I suppose what I found enjoyable about walking along a street in the Lake District was the trees lining the road and the lack of people, which I certainly didn’t have on Oxford Street, but fortunately I soon reached Marble Arch where I turned off the road and entered Hyde Park. The misty weather that had accompanied me so far now tried to rain, though it was never very heavy and soon stopped. Hyde Park was a maze of paths and finding the right one was often a game of trial and error until eventually I found my way to the Serpentine where I turned right to walk beside the lake past the many ducks that were quacking loudly to encourage the tourists to feed them.

Following the side of the lake I passed Serpentine Bridge to follow the lake now known as the Long Water to the northern tip and the fountains of the Italian Gardens which are part of Kensington Gardens and Budge’s Walk brought me to the Round Pond in front of Kensington Palace. After a wander around the Princess Diana Memorial Garden I set off along Mount Walk, before branching off to visit the enormously opulent Albert Memorial with the Royal Albert Hall beyond. At this point the prescribed trail headed past the concert hall into Knightsbridge where there are many large museums and then through Belgrave past Harrods, but I wanted to linger in the Royal Parks so I turned back into Hyde Park passing beds of crocuses to return to the Serpentine. I was now following the route of the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk and I realised that it had originally been my intention for the walk to follow this trail across the Royal Parks before I decided to follow the YHA walk instead. I lingered at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and paused again beside a bed of snowdrops near the memorial to Queen Caroline for whom the Long Water and Serpentine were created.

Eventually I emerged through Hyde Park Corner to pass the military memorials beside the Wellington Arch and enter Green Park which was wonderfully decorated with daffodils and crocuses. I was now reunited with the YHA walk and followed that across Green Park to the tube station and past the Ritz before turning down St James’s Street to reach St James’s Palace. The crowds of tourists now increased significantly as I turned onto the Mall with the iconic Buckingham Palace ahead of me and it was interesting for me to note many small groups clustered around someone describing the scene in a foreign language. While walking past the gates of Buckingham Palace I realised that I hadn’t been here since I was a child, but I wasn’t enjoyed the crowds, which continued as I passed into St James’s Park and while walking beside the lake. On the far side of the park I crossed Horse Guards Parade and under the arch into Whitehall where the crowds continued as I passed by many government buildings including Downing Street and past the Cenotaph. While Big Ben struck twelve o’clock I squeezed through the crowds over Westminster Bridge and then turned left to walk beside the Thames and below the London Eye.

After crossing the Golden Jubilee Bridge I was completely fed up with the crowds and by the time I reached Trafalgar Square I had lost interest in following the trail, which was now almost complete except for a traverse of Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circle. So I abandoned the trail, if only because I had plenty of time left before my train was due, and wandered back to the Thames to visit Cleopatra’s Needle, an ancient Egyptian obelisk erected beside the river. After returning to Trafalgar Square through Victoria Embankment Gardens my mind was now more decisive about where to go next as I made my way back onto the Mall and into St James’s Park to rejoin the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk, which I followed along the southern side of the lake. Plaques set into the ground guided my route through St James’s Park, past the front of Buckingham Palace again and into Green Park. Protestors at Hyde Park Corner blocked my onward progress, but I was able to use a subway under the road to get past them and back into Hyde Park. The memorial walk took me through Hyde Park and into Kensington Gardens until finally I reached the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground.

I was now at the extreme north western corner of the circular trail having started at the eastern end while most of the rest of the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk had been covered earlier so I decided that I would now head back to the railway station. There was some appeal in taking the tube but since I still had plenty of time I decided to walk which was my purpose in coming to London. I kept inside Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park until I reached Marble Arch and then less appealingly I walked along Oxford Street until I rejoined the YHA walk for the final stretch past BBC Broadcasting House and beneath the BT Tower. This was a surprisingly strenuous walk that left me aching for several days afterwards, but despite the large crowds I really enjoyed it and was soon wondering when I would next be in London.