Hyde Park

London’s lung: Speaker’s Corner, paddle boats, and ice creams, and, to the West, the more stately Kensington Gardens – acre upon acre of slavish devotion to the cult of Diana.

London's legendary park spreads itself over a whopping 145 hectares of neatly manicured gardens and wild, deserted expanses of overgrown grass. Spring prompts the gorgeous Rose Gardens into vivacious bloom, and summers are full of sunbathers, picnickers, Frisbee-throwers and general London populace who drape themselves across the green. It's the largest of London's Royal Parks and a magnificent venue for open-air concerts, demonstrations and royal occasions. Gun salutes are fired here and soldiers ride through the park each morning on their way to Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall, while people on Rollerblades and bicycles impress passers-by with their tricks.Hyde Park is separated from Kensington Gardens by the squiggly L-shaped Serpentine lake, which was created when the Westbourne River was dammed in the 1730s; it's a good spot for pleasure boating in summer (around 5 per half-hour). Henry VIII expropriated the park from the Church in 1536, after which it became a hunting ground for kings and aristocrats; later it became a popular venue for duels, executions and horse racing. It became the first royal park to open to the public in the early 17th century, and famously hosted the Great Exhibition in 1851. During WWII it became an enormous potato bed.You'll either love or hate the ornate Queen Elizabeth Gate (designed by Giuseppe Lund and David Wynne in 1993) leading on to Park Lane near Hyde Park Corner. The pale-green granite sweep of the new Australian War Memorial nearby at Hyde Park Corner is a little more restrained.