Butterflies and London parks in the summertime

There is nothing better about London (in my opinion) than spending a sunny summers day wandering through some of London’s best parks after seeing a butterfly exhibition nearby at the Natural History Museum. And yes, I was one of the few people there without children, but I didn’t care, butterflies are cool at any age.

The neat thing about central London is that you can pretty much get to three or four parks very easily because they all link up. On this particular day I started off along the Jubliee Greenway of Kensington Gardens with my coffee in one hand and camera at the ready.

I love walking along when trees overhang either side of the paths, it makes you forget you’re in one of the world busiest cities.

Frolicking along are lots of little (and some big) dogs playing in the grass and taunting the pigeons and ducks. There are people reading on park benches, people having picnics, throwing frisbees and generally being happy that summer has finally arrived!

Leaving Diana’s memorial behind I headed over to Hyde Park (without actually leaving the greenness. This is when I started to think I should have worn something besides jandals (flip-flops/thongs to Brits and Aussies) so that my feet wouldn’t hurt. But it was sunny and I couldn’t stop smiling at the weather, the playful dogs, the intimidating squirrels and the families of ducks and swans that I passed.

Strolling along I past the Peter Pan statue and the lovely Italian Gardens before realising my stomach was growling unhappily. Breaking out my picnic lunch of a bagel that I’d made that morning it was time to relax and take in the vast open green space around me.

Leaving behind Hyde Park I did my usual visit to the NZ memorial as I crossed over the roads  to Green Park. It’s nice to find a little piece of New Zealand in the heart of London to remember those who fought so bravely on behalf of my homeland.

On this particular day my after three hours of walking in jandals my feet were killing me so I opted to skip St. James Park despite it being one of my favourite parks. If you’re near Green Park I totally recommend also checking out St. James Park as you pass Buckingham Palace and paying attention to the array of birdlife there – even if its wintertime and you find ducks skating on the ice!

These are just a few of my favourite parks that I visited on the last sunny weekend we had in London (you have to make the most of these days because you never know when it will be the last one for the year). However, each week I still have the pleasure of walking through the flowery broad walk of Regents Park before my touch rugby games, running through Finsbury Park or walking near Highbury Park. The parks are what I think makes London livable and lovely, so I highly recommend anyone visiting London checks them out!

Those are my favourite London parks – what are yours?

For more photographs that I have captured around England and Wales visit my photo gallery here »