Spend a Day at the Kensington Gardens

Posted on 09/09/2015

Ultimate Guide to Visiting Kensington Gardens

Spend a day in Henry VIII’s favourite hunting grounds in the western section of Hyde Park, made anew five hundred years later into one of London’s eight Royal Parks. The Kensington Gardens will please you aesthetically, emotionally, and spiritually with their beauty, history, and the peace of mind they bring any visitor. Once 6am comes, the doors are open and you are free to enter and enjoy the vastness of the gardens and the beauty of their contents. The Kensington Gardens have something for everybody, and you should feel free to find what that something is in your case. Here are your options.

The Italian Gardens

Believed to be a gift from Prince Albert to Queen Victoria, the Italian Gardens are a 15-year-old ornamental water garden situated near the Lancaster Gate. See the amazing rosettes, cut in great detail in Carrara marble, the Tazza Fountain, made of white marble and Portland stone. Statues and urns of incredible designs encircle them and you can marvel at the intricacies of the sculptures, true works of art that will leave any and every lover of art in awe.

The Allotment

Every day between 9:30am and 4pm you may visit the allotment in Kensington Gardens where you can learn all about being a gardener and about the planting and growing of amazing plants. Professional gardeners in charge of the garden maintenance can educate you in a variety of ways to grow and sustain your own organic fruits and vegetables. You might stumble upon groups of schoolchildren as the allotment offers a programme of educational activities for schools, and even the London community. And there is more life in the gardens – chicken run free around the place, teaching the visitors a few things about self-sufficiency.

The Memorials

And if gardens are not your thing, then you can visit and see one of the many memorial statues scattered about the Gardens. See the Albert Memorial – one of London’s most decorated monuments, or the fantastic Peter Pan statue which gives you a lesson about love and nature. Henry Moore’s Arch is a Roman travertine sculpture that adorns the north bank of the Long Water, and Queen Victoria’s magnificent marble statue gazes over the people pacing on Broad Walk just outside the Gardens. The Physical Energy statue is a bronze tribute to Sir Cecil Rhodes, and there is more colour to be seen, as you can come across the red granite beauty that is the Speke Monument, which commemorates John Hanning Speke, the one who discovered Lake Victoria. And these are barely the beginning as you can also witness wonders like the Elfin Oak, Queen Anne’s Alcove, the Jenner Statue, Queen Caroline’s Temple, and many more.

Activities

No, the Kensington Gardens are not only filled with things to look at. You can find a variety of things to do as well, like take a seven-mile-long hike on the Diana Princess Memorial Walk, witness the brilliant art and architectural displays in the Serpentine Galleries, and rest or picnic in the Garden’s green grounds. Your kids might get bored of all the statues and walking, so they can instead visit and have fun in the Diana Memorial Playground – a most amazing playground, visited by over a million kids each year.

And if you feel like taking a break from all the walks and exhibitions, you can do so in the Broadwalk Cafe and Playcafe, the Orangery, the Summer Pavilion Cafe, or stop by any of the refreshment points scattered about the Italian Gardens and the Albert Memorial.

You will not regret a second of your day spent in the Kensington Gardens. Visit them and see one of London’s wonders, learn about reliable gardening, and rest in the well-kept greens of the amazing parks.