There is an elegant and peaceful atmosphere in this park, which was formerly the grounds of Kensington Palace. It was actually a nice walk from our hotel, but to get there from elsewhere in town you would use the Lancaster Gate/Queensway tube stop. It is adjacent to Hyde Park, to the east, and a very pleasant place to just stroll along the straight, wide, tree-lined paths. Scenes in the movie, "Finding Neverland" were shot in this park. Since the flowers had barely begun to expose their shoots in March, we didn’t get to appreciate the South Flower Walk, but I’m sure it is beautiful in its season. There are direction signs (which are sometimes just a little bit confusing) and some lovely statues, most notably the golden Prince Albert Memorial (facing Kensington Road) and the enchanting bronze Peter Pan Statue. Both of these are well worth seeing and photographing.

We briefly crossed over to Hyde Park to see the memorial fountain for Princess Diana, but it was disappointingly nondescript, I didn’t even wish to try photographing it.

Right across from our hotel, The Metropolitan, was the entrance to Hyde Park. Hyde Park reminds me of Central Park in NYC. Here, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of busy London, sits this oasis of peace and tranquility. Once you walk through these gates, your cares leave you, and you can just relax and take in all of the beauty.

Henry VIII acquired the park from the monks of Westminster Abby in 1536. At that time, it was private property of the king. James I opened it to limited public use. But it was Charles I who opened it to the public to enjoy in 1637. He added the ring section at that time. Today, the park is run by the Royal Park Service.

Once inside, you can roam the 350 areas at your leisure. There are walking paths all over the place. We were here in the fall, and the beauty of the autumn trees abounded in this place of beauty. I can just imagine how this places bursts from the dozens of colors in the flowers found all over in the spring. There are a number of beautiful statutes and fountains all over the place. There is a beautiful lake not too far from the entrance. Here, you get a wonderful view of London, and you will find an abundance of waterfowl that make this their home. There is an incredible marbled, arched entrance. There are plenty of places to sit and reflect. Or just stretch out in the grass and let your mind wonder for a while.

Here you can try rollerblading, rowing, bird-watching, bike riding, and horseback riding. They offer a playground and educational center for children, they do offer restrooms, and there are several places to grab a bite on the grounds. In the summer, there are a number of concerts on the green.

The memory of the late Princess Diana still lingers on here. There is a Princess Diana memorial walkway and a memorial fountain. This park was one of her favorite places to visit. When she was taken too soon from us in 1997, many people gathered here in her honor. This place was seen countless times in the weeks that followed, filled with many mourners remembering their princess.

When in London, you should take the time to visit. It is truly a beautiful place, and a place to escape and unwind for a while. There is no entrance fee to get in. The park is open from 5am to midnight year-round. There are several Tube stops, but the closest is Hyde Park. You can visit them on the web for more information at www.royalparks.gov.uk.

A beautiful walk in the middle of the city - you feel like you are in the British countryside, but you are right in the middle of London. The Diana memorial was strange - not what I was expecting at all, but interesting just the same. I can't even explain it - it has to be seen. Kensington Gardens are beautiful (as all British gardens are).

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens run into one another, are side by side without a boundary, but are different both in history and in content. Between them, they occupy a large area (637 acres) of west central London, and are a delightful place to spend time during pleasant weather.

Hyde Park is mostly an open green area – gently rolling, well-kept and pleasant grass and tree space. It’s great for picnics, impromptu football or Frisbee games, or just lying on the grass and watching people wander round and play. It was originally one of Henry VIII’s hunting parks, before becoming a public park. Lord Byron said that "here the fashionable fair can form a slight acquaintance with the open air." The wonderful early Victorian gates at the southeast corner of the Park, at the end of very fashionable Park Lane, lead you into the park. If you walk along the inside of the park, parallel to Park Lane (where there are some seriously swanky houses and a lot of Rolls Royces) you reach the opposite corner of Hyde Park – Marble Arch. This Arch, now marooned at one end of Oxford Street in the middle of a large roundabout, was once the very impressive entry gate to Buckingham Palace, but was moved from there as Queen Victoria thought it obstructed her way in and out of the Palace.

The side of Hyde Park nearest Marble Arch is Speakers’ Corner. From here, anyone may mount a soapbox and harangue the crowds on a topic of his choice. It’s great fun to go at a weekend and hear the current pre-occupations – there’s always a Marxist / Socialist worker type preaching imminent revolution by the Proletariat, an end-of-the-world-we-are-all-in-sin type, and a selection of others, sometimes on current political issues, sometimes on very odd things hard to understand. Anyone who speaks there has to be quite tough, the heckling can be fierce!

Kensington Gardens is much more of a garden than a park – lots of flower beds, the long winding pond called the Serpentine – a mile long, fed by an underground river, the Westbourne. There’s also the Round Pond (which isn’t quite round) and children feed ducks and sail model boats on both of these stretches of water.

Kensington Gardens was also associated with Diana, Princess of Wales, who lived nearby in Kensington Palace. A memorial to her is constructed in the park, much bickering over it has ensued.

To get to the parks, there are several tube stations – for the south-east corner of Hyde Park, take the 3rd exit from Hyde Park corner tube station. For the Speakers’ Corner end, Marble Arch tube. Kensington High Street is the best option for the west part of Kensington Gardens.

Regent's Park has awsome views!, lots of flowers, lakes and planty of places to run!

Hyde Park - you can loop the outer part of the park which is 4 miles long and add more if you wish, it's awesome!