London's parks are the most advanced system of "green lungs" in any large city on the globe. Although not as rigidly maintained as those of Paris (Britons traditionally prefer a more natural look), they're cared for with a loving and lavishly artistic hand that puts their American counterparts to shame.
The largest of the central London parks is Hyde Park (Tube: Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner, or Lancaster Gate), once a favorite deer-hunting ground of Henry VIII. With the adjoining Kensington Gardens , it covers 246 hectares (615 acres) of central London with velvety lawns interspersed with ponds, flowerbeds, and trees. Running through its width is a 16.5-hectare (41-acre) lake known as the Serpentine, where you can row, sail model boats, or swim (provided you don't mind sub-Florida water temperatures). Rotten Row, a 2.5km (1 1/2-mile) sand riding track, attracts some skilled equestrians on Sunday. You can rent a paddleboat or a rowboat from the boathouse (open Mar-Oct) on the north side of Hyde Park's Serpentine (tel. 020/7262-1330).
At the northeastern tip, near Marble Arch, is Speakers Corner (www.speakerscorner.net). Since 1855 (before the legal right to assembly was guaranteed), people have been getting on their soapboxes about any and every subject under the sky. In the past you might have heard Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, or Lenin, certainly William Morris and George Orwell. The corpse of Oliver Cromwell was hung here in a cage for the public to gape at or throw rotten eggs at. The king wanted to warn others against what might happen to them if they wished to abolish the monarchy. Hecklers, often aggressive, are part of the fun. Anyone can speak; just don't blaspheme, use obscene language, or start a riot.
Blending with Hyde Park and bordering the grounds of Kensington Palace, well-manicured Kensington Gardens (Tube: High Street Kensington or Queensway) contains the famous statue of Peter Pan, with bronze rabbits that toddlers are always trying to kidnap. The park is also home to that Victorian extravaganza, the Albert Memorial. The Orangery is an ideal place to take afternoon tea .
East of Hyde Park, across Piccadilly, stretch Green Park (Tube: Green Park) and St. James's Park (Tube: St. James's Park), forming an almost unbroken chain of landscaped beauty. These parks are ideal for picnics; you'll find it hard to believe that this was once a festering swamp near a leper hospital. There's a romantic lake stocked with ducks and some surprising pelicans, descendants of the pair that the Russian ambassador presented to Charles II in 1662.
Regent's Park (Tube: Regent's Park or Baker Street) covers most of the district of that name, north of Baker Street and Marylebone Road. Designed by the 18th-century genius John Nash to surround a palace for the prince regent (the palace never materialized), this is the most classically beautiful of London's parks. Its core is a rose garden planted around a small lake alive with waterfowl and spanned by Japanese bridges; in early summer, the rose perfume in the air is as heady as wine. The park is home to the Open-Air Theatre and the London Zoo. As at all the local parks, hundreds of chairs are scattered around the lawns, waiting for sunbathers. The deck-chair attendants, who rent the chairs for a small fee, are mostly college students on break. Rowboats and sailing dinghies are available in Regent's Park (tel. 020/7486-4759). Sailing and canoeing cost around £6 ($9.60) for 1 1/2 hours.
Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Rd., SW3 (tel. 020/7352-5646; www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk; Tube: Sloane Sq.), founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, is the second-oldest surviving botanical garden in England. Sir Hans Sloane, doctor to George II, required the apothecaries of the empire to develop 50 plant species a year for presentation to the Royal Society. The objective was to grow plants for medicinal study. Plant specimens and even trees arrived at the gardens by barge, many to grow in English soil for the first time. Cottonseed from this garden launched an industry in the new colony of Georgia. Some 7,000 plants still grow here, everything from the pomegranate to the willow pattern tree; there's even exotic cork oak, as well as England's earliest rock garden. The garden is open April through October, Wednesday from noon to 5pm and Sunday from 2 to 6pm. Admission is £4 ($6.40) for adults, £2 ($3.20) for children 5 to 15 and students. The garden is a perfect setting for a well-recommended afternoon tea -- you can carry your cuppa on promenades through the garden.
Battersea Park, SW11 (tel. 020/8871-7530; Tube: Sloane Sq.), is a vast patch of woodland, lakes, and lawns on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Chelsea Embankment, between Albert Bridge and Chelsea Bridge. Formerly known as Battersea Fields, the park was laid out between 1852 and 1858 on an old dueling ground. (The most famous duel was between Lord Winchelsea and the Duke of Wellington in 1829.) There's a lake for boating, a deer field with fenced-in deer and wild birds, and tennis and soccer areas. There's also a children's zoo, open from Easter to late September, daily from 10am to 5pm and weekends only in winter, from 1 to 3pm. The park's architectural highlight is the Peace Pagoda, built by Japanese craftspeople in cooperation with British architects. The stone-and-wood pagoda was dedicated in 1986 to the now-defunct Council of Greater London by an order of Japanese monks. The park is open from dawn to dusk. From the Sloane Square Tube stop, it's a brisk 15-minute walk to the park, or you can pick up bus no. 137 (get off at the first stop after the bus crosses the Thames).
The hub of England's -- and perhaps the world's -- horticulture is in Surrey, at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (also known as Kew Gardens).
Where to In-Line Skate -- London's parks are great places to skate. Rental skates are available at Slick Willies, 41 Kensington High St., W8 (tel. 020/7937-3824; Tube: High Street Kensington), costing £10 ($15) for skates and wrist guards. A £100 ($150) deposit is required, which can be imprinted on a credit card. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm, Sunday from noon to 5pm.
