Rediscovering London’s Parks and Green Spaces
There’s a version of London that has nothing to do with shopping streets or famous landmarks, and it’s the one made up of parks, commons and quiet green corners. This year in particular, a lot of people rediscovered how much space the city actually has once you start looking past the crowded centre. It turns out London is one of the greener capital cities around, you just have to know where to look, and once you start noticing the green spaces they seem to appear everywhere.
The big royal parks
Hyde Park and Regent’s Park get most of the attention, and rightly so, but Richmond Park is the one that genuinely surprises people. It’s home to wild deer that wander freely, and on a quiet morning it feels closer to open countryside than anything you’d expect inside a city boundary. Bushy Park, a little further out, offers the same feeling with far fewer visitors. Both are large enough that you can walk for an hour without crossing the same path twice, which is a strange and rather wonderful thing to experience inside a capital city.
Smaller commons worth seeking out
Hampstead Heath is well known, but Wimbledon Common and Clapham Common each have their own character, less manicured, more about long walks and open skies. These spaces are where a lot of local life actually happens, dog walkers, joggers, families with picnic blankets, and spending an afternoon there tells you more about ordinary London than any guidebook chapter could. Hampstead Heath in particular rewards an early visit, since the ponds and the view from Parliament Hill feel completely different once the crowds arrive later in the day. A common mistake is assuming a common is basically a smaller version of a royal park, when actually each has its own distinct feel, Clapham Common leans social with sports pitches and a lively cafe scene at the edges, while Wimbledon Common feels genuinely wild in places, with woodland paths that make you forget you’re still within city limits at all.
Making green space part of your visit
Packing a simple picnic and finding a bench somewhere quiet costs nothing and gives you a completely different pace of day compared to rushing between attractions. Bring a book, sit by a pond, watch people go about their weekend. It sounds like an odd thing to recommend in a city famous for its landmarks, but slowing down in a park is often the memory that sticks longest after a trip. Even a short twenty minute sit on a bench, phone away, can reset an otherwise busy day, and it costs nothing beyond the time itself.
Still deciding where to go next? Our guide to Autumn Nights Out in London might help.
Planning a wider trip? Our guide to Massage in London: A Guide to the City’s Best Treatments covers another great option.
