London’s royal parks provide a green haven for Londoners and visitors alike, and nothing could be more perfect than a stroll through the park! We will discover how the parks evolved over the centuries and highlights of the parks today. The royal parks were shaped by kings and queens from history, including one who suffered from asthma and so fled dirty, smoky Westminster for the clean air of Kensington and others whose happy loving marriages, or unhappy affairs, changed the plants and water features we see today.

We will start in Green Park to discover why it is so green (!) and some of the memorials in the park today, before crossing Hyde Park corner with its intimidatingly impressive Wellington Arch where we will learn a little about the great man himself, Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.

We will then head into Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, which together form the largest of London’s royal parks, at approximately 625 acres, and are divided into lots of individual areas with their own feel and character. We will start by exploring Hyde Park, its beautiful Rose Garden and statues, before walking the banks of the Serpentine and Long Water to laugh at the ducks and admire the sculptures close by, including the Princess Diana Memorial, a statue of Peter Pan and a stunningly simply arch by the artist Henry Moore. We will pause for a rest in some exquisite water gardens.

From here will head into Kensington Gardens to explore how Queen Caroline shaped the landscape of the park we see today, creating the Serpentine and Long Water in the 1720s and laying out the avenues and trees to frame Kensington Palace, birthplace of Queen Victoria and home of numerous fashionable royals in modern times. We will enjoy views of the Palace, before ending our tour near its east front.

Note: this is a slightly longer walk than normal at 2.5 hours as we shall be enjoying the beautiful landscape of the parks

Meet time: at 17:45 for a prompt start at 18:00

Meet place: underneath the Wellington Arch, in the centre of Hyde Park Corner, London, W1J 7JZ

End: approx. 20:30 near to Kensington Palace (from here it is a short walk to Queensway tube)

Post-tour drinks: Caroline will not be booking a table for post-tour drinks