Exploring Leafy London

London is a huge metropolis, which thankfully also has a wealth of green spaces breaking up the urban sprawl. The Royal Parks are amongst the finest and best maintained parkland in London, and can offer a welcome relief from both the vehicular and pedestrian congestion that you’ll often encounter in the City of London, and along many of the important thoroughfares throughout Greater London. If you are perhaps staying in one of the Millennium Hotels Greater London, and wish to perhaps try an alternative to the more traditional sightseeing tours while exploring the city, why not try focussing on the Royal Parks? Many of the major tourist landmarks are near a Royal Park, while the Parks are often well worth visiting in their own right.

Regent’s Park straddles two central London boroughs, the City of London and Westminster. The Regent’s Park features a boating lake and an open air theatre, as well as an excellent rose garden and some lovely picturesque fountains. Regent’s Park is also the location of London Zoo, the oldest scientific zoo in the world, which is now home to a collection of some 755 species of animal. Nearby attractions include the famous waxworks at Madame Tussauds.

St James’s Park is located in the heart of central London, in the City of Westminster. After enjoying the formal splendour of St James’s Park, you are spoilt for choice of nearby famous London attractions. Buckingham Palace lies to the west of the Park, and can be best viewed from the bridge that crosses St. James’s Park Lake. The National Portrait Gallery and London Eye are both close to St. James’s Park.

The National Portrait Gallery is just off Trafalgar Square, at St. Martin’s Place, and unsurprisingly houses a collection of portraits of the great and good from throughout British history. The London Eye is the largest Ferris wheel in Europe, and an essential stop for anyone new to the city. On a clear day, the panoramic views of the centre of London to be had from the top of the London Eye are unparalleled, and a must-see introduction to the city for anyone on their first stay in Millennium Hotels Greater London.

Kensington Gardens occupies both Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Basically the grounds of Kensington Palace, the Gardens are home to a statue of J.M. Barrie’s famous creation Peter Pan. Near to both the Royal Albert Hall and the Natural History Museum, the grounds for Kensington Gardens were actually taken from the adjoining Hyde Park.

The Natural History Museum houses a great collection of dinosaur bones, which will delight children of all ages, as well as the educationally important Darwin Centre. The Darwin collection features millions of preserved specimens, the most striking of which is a Giant Squid over 8 metres long!