Kensington Gardens
The quieter, prettier half of Hyde Park, free, with the Italian Gardens, the Albert Memorial, the Peter Pan statue and Kensington Palace gardens all in one royal sweep.
The lowdown
Kensington Gardens was once the private grounds of Kensington Palace, and it still feels more formal and genteel than the Hyde Park it joins onto. The two run together with no fence, but the gardens are the calmer, prettier half, all avenues, fountains and statues, and all free.
There is a lot packed in. The ornate Italian Gardens sit at the top by Lancaster Gate, the soaring gold Albert Memorial faces the Royal Albert Hall, and the bronze Peter Pan statue hides by the Long Water where J M Barrie used to walk. The Diana Memorial Playground is one of the best free play spaces in London.
Kensington Palace stands in the middle, and while the staterooms are ticketed, the gardens around it, including the sunken garden Princess Diana loved, are free to wander. A whole genteel morning for nothing, a world away from the Oxford Street crush.
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