Richmond Park

If you are visiting London and get bored of the big smoke and yearn for pastures of a slightly greener kind, then hop on a train to Richmond and visit the stunning parkland.

A royal park, it borders Surrey and London, as it has gates in Roehampton (near Putney/Wimbledon), Richmond, Kingston, Ham and Sheen and is 3 times larger than Central Park.

If you enter at the Roehampton Gate you can hire a bicycle (L12 for 2 hours) and cycle around the path. It's not an easy ride as there are plenty on inclines, but the experience is wonderful. There are also deer that roam these parks and we saw about 70-80 on out ride as they do not hide away and you can get quite close.

For a full day out, I'd recommend riding up to Pembroke Lodge and nosing around there, before heading into Wimbledon and visiting the Buddhist temple, Cannazarro Park and the Tennis museum .