Hyde Park

Henry VIII took the land from Westminster Abbey in 1536 for hunting, and Charles I opened it to the public in 1637. Queen Caroline had the Serpentine created in the 1730s by damming the Westbourne, one of the first artificial lakes in England designed to look natural. Speakers' Corner at the northeastern edge has hosted open-air argument since 1872, at a spot near where the Tyburn gallows stood and the condemned were allowed final words. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was held here in Paxton's Crystal Palace, which was moved afterward. The Serpentine Swimming Club has swum on Christmas morning since 1864, and the Serpentine Gallery commissions a temporary pavilion from a different architect each summer.

What you actually see

• The Serpentine - an eighteenth-century artificial lake with boats and a lido.
• Speakers' Corner - open-air oratory on Sunday mornings since 1872.
• The Serpentine Pavilion - a new architect-designed structure each summer.
• The Christmas swim - a club race in the lake every 25 December since 1864.

When to go

April to September for the lido, boating and the pavilion; Speakers' Corner is a Sunday morning event. Winter brings a large Christmas market, Winter Wonderland, which occupies a section from November.

Honest expectations

Winter Wonderland closes off a substantial part of the park for months and is ticketed and commercial. Speakers' Corner attracts a mixture of the thoughtful and the deranged. The lido charges and is only open in summer.

Nearby

Kensington Gardens adjoins to the west; Knightsbridge and Marble Arch are on the edges.