Marylebone, London

Originally a royal hunting ground, Regent's Park was laid out in its present form by John Nash and is now a popular place of recreation, with an artificial lake, also designed by Nash (boats for hire), a small boating pond for children, tennis courts, a cricket ground and children's playgrounds. There are also an open-air theater, in which performances of Shakespeare plays and pop concerts are given in summer, and the beautiful Queen Mary's Gardens (rose garden, rockery) with a restaurant and cafeteria. The north boundary of the park is Regent's Canal (Grand Union Canal) which offers pleasant boat trips.The greatest attraction in Regent's Park, however, is London Zoo, which lies on the north side of the park and is reached by way of the Broad Walk.Primrose Hill adjoins Regent's Park to the north of the zoo, offering a good view of the city.The Outer Circle, a carriage-drive encircling the park, has on its east, south and west sides the famous "Nash terraces" - uniform streets of houses in monumental classical style. Particularly impressive is Park Crescent, at the southeast corner of the park on the far side of Marylebone Road. Much other work by Nash can be seen in central London, particularly in the area between Regent's Park and Buckingham Palace.

The material excavated when the Underground was being built was deposited to the north of Regent's Park. Today Primrose Hill is an attractive park, from which there is a good view over London.

All Soul's Church, built by John Nash in 1822-24, has a circular portico and a tower surrounded by a ring of freestanding columns, with a slender spire which was designed to form a vertical feature closing the vista of old Regent Street with its stuccoed arcades. The prospect is now, however, destroyed by the ugly blank walls of Broadcasting House. After being damaged by bombing during the World War II, the church was restored and completely modernized internally in 1951.

The guided tour of Lord's includes: the Long Room (a cricket shrine and art gallery), the MCC museum (history of cricket), a real tennis court, mound stand and cricket school.

This was the fictional home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.