London is lauded for its landmarks – Wren’s masterpiece St Paul’s Cathedral rising from the ashes of the Great Fire; Buckingham Palace sending out a regal statement at the end of the Mall; the industrial hulk of Tate Modern (and the art within it).
But in many ways, the jewels in the crown of the United Kingdom’s biggest city are its open spaces and leafy corners. London is home to around 3,000 parks, where people come to run, walk and cycle, to amble along shaded pathways, or simply to loll on the grass, on those days when the British weather is prepared to be an affable host.
But which of these great green gems is the finest? Here, 50 of the biggest and best have been weighed and measured according to a variety of different metrics – from facilities such as playgrounds and tennis courts through to their numbers of ancient trees, and the listed status of the historic buildings within their boundaries. As with any such piece of research, there can only be one winner. But should you wish to explore each of the top 10 in turn, you can be sure of a series of pleasant weekends, strolling where so many have happily gone before.
10. Brockwell Park
451 points
If you are only familiar with the sights of central London, the existence of this 51-hectare enclave may, perhaps, have escaped your attention. But Brockwell Park has long been a crucial element of weekends in the southern half of the city. True, it was one of the latecomers to the Victorian park boom (opening in 1892; 25 points in our scoring system), but it has since become embedded in the life of the community around it. Indeed, look at its diary and you will spot the busiest of bees.
It plays hosts to summer music festivals – five in all (40 points), including the reggae party of City Splash. It is part of the Park Run fraternity (25 points), and acts as a backdrop to a food market (Herne Hill; 25 points). It is also accessible by Tube, sitting within a half-mile, 15-minute, walk of the end of the Victoria line at Brixton (10 points).
Best bit
Take your pick between the swimming space of Brockwell Lido (50 points), which has offered a welcome antidote to the hottest days since 1937, or the lovely walled garden (another 25 points), whose pretty paths are another highlight.
9. Kensington Gardens
465 points
One of eight royal parks in the city (a special status which earns a 50-point bonus in each case), and the first of six in this top 10, Kensington Gardens is one of the gorgeous focal points of central London – although its exact contours require a little explanation. A brief glance at the map will show that it is of a piece with Hyde Park – the two join forces to forge a (loosely) grassy rectangle which stretches from west to east for the best part of two miles.
The border between the two is the Serpentine, the man-made water feature (30 points) that was built between 1726 and 1731, when the park was still a private appendix to Kensington Palace. Said regal residence’s listed status and accessibility helps to earn the park 30 points, to go with the 40 it gains for its own Grade I listing. But then, a royal link is never far away in this part of the city. The park’s Diana Memorial Playground is, of course, named to honour the late Princess of Wales.
Best bit
The playground – complete with pirate ship – is such fun for children that it listed as the best such attraction in the whole of London by Tripadvisor (40 more points).
8. Victoria Park
529 points
In spite of its name, Victoria Park is not one of London’s royal eight. Yet it does have a connection with the queen in question. It was carved out in the first decade of her long reign (1837-1901) – opening its gates in the dim mists of 1845 (40 points), following a petition to the monarch requesting a dedicated green space for the people of the East End.
Almost two centuries on, it fulfils the same role. Its yearly footfall of nine million visitors makes it the second most popular park in this top 10. Many of these people pass through in summer, when a slew of music festivals (40 points) – not least the upcoming All Points East (August 15-24 this year) – make for a blur of sound and colour. But it also shines beyond the hottest months. Regularly lauded in the Green Flag People’s Choice Awards (including in 2024; 40 points) – an excellent yardstick as to a park’s tidiness – Victoria Park underwent a £12 million refurbishment in 2011 and 2012, in time for the Olympics, which took place on its east edge. One legacy of this investment – two large adventure playgrounds (20 points) – is unfailingly loved by younger guests.
Best bit
Its two lakes (30 points) – one of which comes with traditional rowing boats.
7. Regent’s Park
542 points
This 166-hectare wonder’s royal status (50 points) is inherent in its official name. “The Regent’s Park” refers to George IV – whose wild lifestyle, even as his mentally troubled father wobbled on the throne, led to his enduring reputation as a playboy. Appropriately, it was George’s idea to turn what had been a regal hunting estate into a pleasure garden – although it would not open to the public until 1835 (40 points), five years after his death.
What the Prince Regent (a title he officially held from 1811 to 1820) would have made of his posthumous creation is hard to gauge. He was not given to sporting effort – so neither the 12 tennis courts (32 points) nor the cricket pitch (25 points) would have held his gaze. But the Japanese Garden (25 points) might have thrilled a man whose love of Far Eastern decor bore fruit in Brighton’s Royal Pavilion. He may also have been diverted by the animals of the park’s main attraction, London Zoo.
Best bit
Primrose Hill (the two areas come as a package), and the glorious view from it.
6. Battersea Park
544 points
Although it lacks the royal seal of approval, Battersea Park could never be described as short on history. It opened in 1858 (35 points), in what may be the most spectacular location of any London park; its 81-hectare space directly abuts the south bank of the Thames, on what had been a tranche of fields and marshland. Milestones came quickly. On January 9 1864, the park hosted the first match played under the rules of the freshly formed Football Association; in the same decade, Wanderers FC, the first winners of the FA Cup (in 1872), used it as their on-off home ground. The sporting theme endures. With 19, Battersea has a greater number of tennis courts (39 points) than all but one London park (appropriately, Wimbledon Park has 20); its cricket pitch is worth another 25 points.
Once (relatively) tricky to reach from the other side of the river, the park’s accessibility issue was solved in 2021 with the extension of the Northern Line into Battersea, and the opening of a Tube station (Battersea Power Station; 10 points) on its doorstep. That said, it retains a sense of calm; with “just” two million “guests” a year, it is the second-least-visited of the parks in this top 10 (35 points). Not that you would know it in November, when Battersea is the only park in the same top 10 to host a fireworks display (25 points).
Best bit
The classic Victorian bandstand, which was built in 1858, and earned its place in Britpop history in 1996 – appearing in the video for the Supergrass single Going Out.
5. Richmond Park
555 points
Seven of London’s eight royal parks had some sort of prior life as hunting grounds for the monarch (Green Park is the exception). Richmond Park is perhaps the member of that septet which most resembles its former self. It wears its royal tag (50 points) in colossal fashion – at 955 hectares, it is by far the largest park anywhere in London. And while it is not the oldest of the royal eight (its opening to the public in 1758 – 45 points – leaves it in third place on that particular metric), on quiet days, it still feels attuned to the era of kings on horseback.
The descendants of the red deer once pursued by James I and Charles I still roam across the landscape (earning the park a 25-point bonus) – while Pen Ponds, the ornamental lake at the heart of it all (30 points), was dug in 1746, when the park was still a private estate for George II and his family. In some cases, the story goes back even farther. Richmond Park is home to around 320 trees categorised as “ancient” (60 points). The most venerable of these is the Royal Oak – whose acorn burst into life 750 years ago.
Best bit
London has 13 “protected views” – lines of sight which cannot (by law) be interrupted by modern building work. Richmond Park has one of them (25 points) – the panorama which looks north-east from King Henry VIII’s Mound to St Paul’s Cathedral.
4. Bushy Park
580 points
If, in its name, Bushy Park is perhaps the least recognisable of those affiliated with the crown, other factors make its royal status (50 points) obvious. There are more than 20 listed buildings on or within its boundaries (30 points). Chief among them is Hampton Court, the Grade I-listed 16th century palace which has been in crown hands since it was gifted (under duress) to Henry VIII by his soon-to-be-dismissed chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey, in 1529. Said Tudor marvel (with Baroque flourishes) makes for one of London’s foremost historic day trips – partly because the 445 hectares of grassland which fan out behind it are not much changed from the hunting grounds where Henry liked to gallop.
As with Richmond Park, you can still encounter red and fallow deer here (25 points). And while the six-times-married monarch lost his athleticism in his gluttonous later life, active visitors can swim in Hampton Pool, the lido which was added to the park’s north-west corner in 1922 (50 points).
Best bit
According to the Woodland Trust, Bushy Park has nine ancient trees (40 points) – among them a sweet chestnut tree which, dating to about 1370, is older than the palace.
3. Hyde Park
622 points
Kensington Gardens’ partner in green-and-pleasantness is a metropolitan marvel. Hyde Park’s birth year – it opened to the public in 1637 (50 points) – is only enough to make it the city’s second-oldest royal park (50 points; St James’s Park, having flung wide its gates in 1603, is the oldest). But its heart-of-the-matter location, served by both Marble Arch and Hyde Park Corner Tube stations (10 points), means that it comes out on top of one particular set of statistics: in welcoming 13 million people each year, it is easily the most-visited of London’s eight royal parks. In part, this is down to its use as a venue for music festivals (40 points) – not least the British Summer Time series of concerts (which, this year, holds court until July 13).
Beyond this, Hyde Park is a space for leisure, exercise, and engagement, where you can swim in the main water feature (the Serpentine; 30 points), test your speed on an official Park Run (25 points), or offer a hot take at Speakers’ Corner – which, squished into the park’s north-east limits, has acted as an ad-hoc soap box and a bastion of free speech since 1872.
Best bit
The granite oval of the Memorial Fountain which celebrates Princess Diana. Somewhat mocked when unveiled in 2004, it has become a splash-happy joy for children.
2. Hampstead Heath
640 points
If there is one characteristic that central London’s parks lack, it is an air of wilderness. This absence does not apply to Hampstead Heath. True, its 320 hectares are eclipsed by bigger spaces (notably Bushy and Richmond), but this vast slab of ancient heathland (the clue is in the name) feels somehow removed from the city around it. Although elusive, muntjac deer roam freely (25 points). And humans have a similar right to wander. Should you wish, the heath is accessible at all hours (20 points) – a boon to those who like an early-morning splash in swimming spaces such as the fabled Kenwood Ladies’ Pond (50 points; those who prefer a chlorinated dip can aim instead for Parliament Hill Lido).
There are pleasantries too. The heath’s most feted structure – 17th century pile Kenwood House – is one of more than 20 listed buildings on park land (30 points), and is open to the public. A walk to see it might easily take in the Southampton Arms, a pub, opposite the lido, that is ranked by this paper as one of Britain’s 500 best (25 points).
Best bit
Parliament Hill. The high-point for three of London’s 13 protected views (25 points), and host to a weekly food market (25 points).
1. Greenwich Park
641 points
Almost every royal park in London has a connection with Henry VIII, but Greenwich Park’s royal status (50 points) is particularly wrapped up in the tale of “Bluff King Hal”. He was born, in 1491, in the Thames-side palace whose modern descendent, the Old Royal Naval College, is one of 18 listed buildings (25 points) in or around the space. It is also a key element of the “Maritime Greenwich” Unesco rubberstamp which makes this easterly corner of the city so special (50 points). In fact, heritage abounds at nearly every turn.
Greenwich Park opened to the public in 1830 (45 points), but some of its “residents” have been around for rather longer than 195 years. Its line-up of ancient trees – more than 20 (60 points) – includes Queen Elizabeth’s Oak, a relic (it died in the 19th century) whose fallen remains may date back to 1292. The young Henry would have cantered past it. And while he would not not recognise the protected view (25 points) across to St Paul’s Cathedral (which rose a century after his death) – nor the rather more modern sight of the Canary Wharf skyscrapers on the opposite side of the river – these twin panoramas ensure that Greenwich Park is never less than a visual feast.
Best bit
The Royal Observatory, whose hilltop location also marks the precise path of the foremost line of longitude – the Greenwich Meridian.
Borough: Greenwich
Details: royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/greenwich-park
The case for London’s ‘worst’ park
As the saying goes, there are lies, damned lies and statistics. One of London’s parks was always going to end up at the bottom of our list – but Finsbury Circus Gardens, a little pocket of east London tranquillity, might feel somewhat aggrieved at its 50th position in our table.
For one thing, it is, by some definitions, the city’s oldest park. Its low score – 195 points – can be attributed to both its small size (a mere two hectares), and a paucity of facilities. Set within the borders of the City of London, it lacks the space for a lido, a playground or tennis courts. But it does have a weight of history to its name: it is all that remains of the former Moor Fields, the grassy expanse which, dating to 1607, is considered to have been London’s first park. That Moorgate is the nearest Tube station reinforces this connection.
And its low score does not mean that it is unloved. Finsbury Circus is widely appreciated by the workers in the surrounding offices – not least in summer, when its lawn and benches fill up with a lunchtime crowd. Its popularity can also be attributed to its return from behind high fences and security cordons: the park was inaccessible from 2010 to 2020 (for the building of the Elizabeth line), and from November 2023 until the May of this year (for a 19-month bout of restoration work which has left it looking in fine fettle).