About Hyde Park

As you walk through the magnificent Grand Entrance to Hyde Park in Central London, you notice immediately the shade and comfort it affords to Londoners who can escape and find relief from the built up areas surrounding it. It provides instantaneously a feeling of the countryside in the midst of the bustle of the city. Pigeons flock around benches where people eat sandwiches, couples lie in the sun (when it's not raining), kids play a variety of sports ranging from football and baseball to cricket and frisbee. Occasionally horse-riders canter along the bridle ways as Ice-cream vendors sell their wares and cornets.

Its ornate gate is spectacularly decorated and is ranging from a military theme to a more subtle combination of various Greek and Victorian affectations. This is only befitting, considering that it was once one of Henry VIII's hunting Gardens, and it was also the site of The Great Exhibition in 1851 which hosted the Crystal Palace.

The park is halved by the “Serpentine” a river than runs through it, which then runs into the “Long Water” which flows through Kensington Gardens, on the other side of a bridge, closest to the Diana Fountain which acts as a memorial to the Late Princess of Wales. After Easter till October boat hires are available to traverse the Serpentine and there are plenty of restaurants and cafes dotting its banks.

Symbolically the Park has been a haven for mass demonstrations, reformations and peace movements. On the Far Eastern corner of Hyde Park, stand's 52 startling solitary white columns that were erected in memory of the 52 people who were killed during the London Bombings in 2005.

However it is most renowned for its “Speaker's Corners”,  where the public can engage in speeches, mainly in the North East corner, on issues they feel is necessary as long as it is within the law of the land.

Now, the park has become a prime location for recreation in London and mainly caters for events, and performances by prominent artists, such as “The Red Hot Chillie Peppers”, “Bon Jovi”, and even “Pavarotti.” Yet it still retains its charm as a sanctuary for Londoners; be they weary, reflective, in search for solitude, or company, Hyde Park provides just that.

Location

Tube:
Lancaster Gate & Marble Arch - Central Line
Hyde Park Corner & Knightsbridge - Piccadilly line

Buses from:
North London: 6, 7, 10, 16, 52, 73, 82, 390, 414
South London: 2, 36, 137, 436
West London: 9, 10, 14, 19, 22, 52, 74, 148, 414
East London: 8, 15, 30, 38, 274