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Kensington Gardens London With Nearby Good Hotel

A Vast Green Space in Which Kids Can Run Free While Parents Relax

Mar 28, 2009 Mari Nicholson

Lancaster Gate is located opposite Kensington Gardens in London, a vast "playground" for children tired after visits to Museums, with some good hotels in the vicinity.

The park known as Kensington Gardens merges into Hyde Park to the east but the two vast spaces are very different. Kensington Gardens is a particularly attractive playground for children who are drawn to the Round Pond, in summer to play with model boats, in winter to skate when the water freezes, and for the many water features and the large area of grass on which to play.

Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace, London.

The Gardens were originally the vast parkland of Kensington Palace, home to Kings and Queens of England since 1689 when William III and Mary II bought a Jacobean mansion in what was the village of Kensington. The King suffered from asthma, and wanted to live well outside the City of London and away from the Palace of Whitehall and the dampness of the River Thames.

Latterly, of course, it became famous as the home of Diana, Princess of Wales, and it is in memory of the late Princess that many people come to tour the Palace and see the rooms in which she spent her life, the nearby orangery, the sunken garden and the magnificent trees.

Children like to head straight for the hugely popular Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground, but parents may prefer to continue right through the Gardens to Kensington for the Albert Hall, the Albert Memorial, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. It is a delightful walk especially when the weather is sunny and the grass is dotted with figures stretched out, listening to radios or just napping.

Where to Stay in Lancaster Gate near Kensington Gardens

Finding a reasonably priced hotel in this area is not easy, but the Corus Hotel Hyde Park is an excellent London stopover for businessmen, couples on a leisure break, and families with children. Buses run regularly past the hotel towards the main shopping areas of Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Kensington, the Theatre area of Shaftsbury Avenue, the Strand and Trafalgar Square (for the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery). A short distance away is Paddington Station and the Heathrow Express, and a fifteen minute stroll leads to Notting Hill. Although neither Hugh Grant nor Julia Roberts are liable to be in that bookshop, it is an excellent area in which to wander around and find some ethnic bargains. Just along from the hotel is a typical London pub with seating outside, the perfect place from which to watch the world go by.

Much is made of Regent’s Park, Hyde Park and St. James’s Park, but Kensington Gardens has to be one of London’s loveliest green spaces and it is perfect for parents with active children.

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