Travel by photos – Hyde Park, London

One of the London 2012 Olympics sporting venue for marathon swimming and triathlon event, Hyde Park is the largest public park in London. It is also one of the royal parks owned by the royal family of UK but opened for public access and recreation purposes. Eventhough it is a public park, foreign short term tourists seldom go there. It is more for the Brits, foreign students or expatriates who come here for Sunday walk, sports, concerts and mass demonstration. Currently, it is one of the Olympics venue out of the Olympics Park in Stratford.

I was on my self guided Free and Independent Tour to London last year, so I had the opportunity to spend a whole morning in the park and here are some of the photos that I captured in my SD card.

The park is divided into two by the Serpentine lake. The Serpentine Bridge crossing the lake marks the western border between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, a park that often assumed to be part of Hyde Park. Hyde Park covers 142 hectares (350 acres) and Kensington Gardens covers 111 hectares (270 acres), giving an overall area of 253 hectares (630 acres).

Serpentine Bridge actually splits the lake into east and west where The Long Water is normally referred to the west part of the lake.

You can find a lot of wildlife such as ducks swimming in the Serpentine.

During the morning and the evening, local people love to walk their dogs in the park.

A wide spread of flower bushes can be seen in the park.

Goose looking into herself in the water?

The Serpentine lake or sometimes being referred as Serpentine River since it is long and curve in shape. A rectangular swimming area on the southern bank was opened in 1930. It is known asLansbury’s Lido, and is partitioned off from the rest of the lake by a perimeter of buoys. During the London 2012 Olympics, the Serpentine would be used as the venue for the Open Water Marathon (10 km) Swim and the swimming leg of the triathlon.

Eventhough Hyde Park is more famous for the events that it hosts all year long especially the summer open air rock concerts, there are plenty of tourists sights to explore, and Isis the sculpture is one of them.

Isis is actually the focal point of a for natural awareness fundraising project.

Also featured in Hyde Park is the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain.

As information board described, “The fountain was built with with the very best of materials, talents and technology. It contains 545 pieces of Cornish granite, each shaped by the latest computer-controlled machinery and pieced together using traditional skills”. It was designed by Kathryn Gustafson and Neil Porter to reflect Diana’s life.

The fountain is circular in shape. Water flows from the highest point in two directions. It cascades, swirls and bubbles before meeting in a calm pool at the bottom. The water is constantly being refreshed and is drawn from the chalk aquifer over 100m below ground.

There are many other features to explore in the park, such as a memorial commemorates the victims of 7th July 2005 terrorist attacks, in the form of 52 steel pillars, one for each of the dead. Also found in the northern part of Hyde Park is Speakers’ Corner, an area where open-air public speaking, debate and discussion are allowed. A tennis centre can also be found in the park.

To the south of the park is the Alexandra Gate, another entrance to Hyde Park, joining it to the Exhibition Road, which will further lead you to a number of exhibition halls, museums and Imperial College London, until junctioning with Brompton Road, where the Harrods is.

The Harrods premier shopping mall is not far away from Hyde Park.

Royal Geographical Society along the Exhibition Road is where the TPOTY 2012 exhibition being held each year.

Hyde Park as wellas most royal parks of London falls within the City of Westminster borough.

Albert Memorial is at the south of Kensington Garden.

Opposite the Albert Memorial along the Kensington Road is Royal Albert Hall, the venue for musical concerts.

Click the above to view all my London trip photos in slideshow. Check out my Flickr page if you wish to view them in high resolution. All photos were taken with myNikon D7000.

View Larger Map

Check out the location for Hyde Park shown above. Visit their official website here to learn more on their history and attractions.

What’s my verdict?

• Environment: Good    √ √ √ √
• Features to explore: Good     √ √ √ √
• Facilities: Good    √ √ √ √
• Accessability: Good    √ √ √ √
  
• Value of Money: Excellent (Free Entrance)     √ √ √ √ √ 
  

• Overall Travel Score : 84% (Very Good)
  

• Verdict:  By combining relaxing environment with plentiful features to explore within the park, Hyde Park is surely a great stopover for travelers exploring the huge city of London!  – Travel Feeder, your ultimate travel photo blog