Other than one might expect in such a large city, London has quite a few green spaces right in the city centre. This starts from small lawns such as the one around St Pauls Cathedral and hidden tiny parks like Postmans Park and ends with the gigantic representatives like Hyde Park.
And in pretty much every single one of them you`ll find some little friends: squirrels! Literally in every green space there are a few of the cute animals waiting to be captured in a photograph, which is not quirt as easy though.
Let`s start with the smaller lawns and green areas around the city. When walking along the Thames from east to west, you`ll see a few of them coming along, like the Middle Temple Gardens, the Victoria Embankment Gardens or Victoria Tower Gardens in Westminster. Away from the water there are some small squares and lawns with benches where you can sit down to relax and which are mostly very crowded during lunch time when all the business men and women look for a place to spend their break. For more to see in a park you should head to one of the large ones.
This time starting in the west, our first one to mention is Battersea park. As the name says, it is in Battersea and hosts a number of playgrounds, a little (much cheaper than the London Zoo)
zoo, a lake and is right at the beautiful southern riverfront. Although it is not right in the city centre and thus most tourists don`t come to visit, it is a beautiful park with lots to do and a
special bridge connecting it with the north bank, Chelsea, that actually makes it worth visiting if you have a little more time in London.
Looking north now and moving a little more east, we`ll find the parks around Buckingham palace. Starting down in Westminster we have St James`s Park with its incredible views on London Eye and Buckingham Palace and the park lake with plenty of ducks to feed. When walking towards Buckingham Palace I absolutely recommend going through here. Often there are some little free exhibitions on the lawn areas about plants of history even.
Almost attached to St James`s Park is Green Park (what a spectacular name, I know). This is separated from the Buckingham Palace`s gardens by a road and when walking through it you`ll end up right at Hyde Park Corner. Green Park is a little more relaxed and quiet than St. James`s Park. There are more simply grass areas, which are perfect for having a picnic or playing football and it is very friendly family in general.
Entering the giant amongst the parks, Hyde Park, we keep on heading north. At the south corner of it lays the Harrods and at the top Oxford Street ends right where Hyde Park begins. Here you will find plenty of lakes, amazing playgrounds, even a horse riding way, rose gardens and plenty of cafes, which you can find in most of the parks. Additionally, Hyde Park is home to several big events, such as a part of the Proms and the entire Winter Wonderland. It is definitely one of the most beautiful parks I have seen in my life!
Now, heading a little more east, we`ll enter Regent`s Park, that is home to the London Zoo and has Primrose Hill at its northern edge. From there you have breath taking views over London which attracts plenty of people on nice long summer evenings. But back to Regent`s Park: this one is similar to Hyde Park, with lakes, cafes and playgrounds. There is also an open air theatre in here which offer relatively cheap tickets and amazing atmosphere for the pieces shown - if the weather is alright! Several times during the year the green spaces of Regent`s Park are also used for art exhibition which allows for fantastic photos to be taken around here, as do the flower gardens on a sunny spring day.