London - Hyde Park

Hyde Park, together with Kensington Gardens, which adjoin it on the west, forms the largest open space in London, extending for 2km/1.25mi from east to west and 1km/0.5mi from north to south. Originally belonging to Westminster Abbey, it was taken over by Henry VIII in 1536 and became a royal deer park. Charles I threw it open to the public in 1635. In 1730 Queen Caroline, George II's wife, laid out the Serpentine, an artificial lake which now offers Londoners facilities for rowing, sailing, swimming or merely watching the birds.

Must-see attractions nearby:

Victoria & Albert Museum

Greenwich

To the north of the Serpentine is a bird sanctuary, with Epstein's figure of "Rima", the bird-girl heroine of W. H. Hudson's novel, "Green Mansions". On the south side are a restaurant and bathing facility. The main entrance to the park, at Hyde Park Corner, is a triple archway by Decimus Burton (1828), with a reproduction of the Parthenon frieze. Near this is a statue of Achilles (by Westmacott, 1822) cast from captured French cannon, erected in honor of the Duke of Wellington.