Regents Park

A walk from Chalk Farm Underground over Primrose Hill through regents Park to Great Portland St. or Regents Park Underground stations.

For this walk, take a sandwich and a drink, and enjoy a picnic at the top of Primrose Hill sitting on a bench overlooking a panorama of London below, as I describe the character of the area and the sights from this point, which is only rivaled by Greenwich Royal Observatory as a classic view of the capital.

From Primrose Hill we walk down to Prince Albert Road and cross the Outer Circle into Regents Park near the London Zoo.

Regents Park is full of history, and is one of London's premier and best maintained open spaces. The development was originally sponsored by the Prince Regent (later George IV) who owned the land. It was intended this royal park should extend to St James's.

John Nash planned the construction of 56 grand houses, but only 8 were built within the park itself around 1827. All round the perimeter are Nash terraces however - and the photo shows Chester Terrace to the South-East with enormous arches at either end of the street.

Within the park itself, we admire a Gothic drinking fountain, a large lake populated by birds and used for boating during the warmer months, the London Mosque, a bandstand where 7 soldiers were killed by terrorist action in 1982, an open-air theatre, Queen Mary's formal gardens, and many other fascinating sights.

This is a longer walk - it may take up to 2 hours in all, depending on the number of stops. It is well worth it, both for the exercise as well as for the history, the wonderful Nash architecture, and the sheer variety of things to see and do. There are excellent facilities such as cafes and toilets throughout the park, and a short cut down Broad Walk which varies the length of the walk if you are short of time.

Chalk Farm Underground is in Zone 2. Take the Northern Line from Tottenham Court Road on the Edgware or Colindale branch. The walk ends at Great Portland Street (Zone 1) on the District & Circle Lines or Regents Park (Zone 1) on the Bakerloo Line.