London Hotel near Hyde Park

The London Kensington Forum is an excellent choice of hotel accommodation for visitors wishing to visit London’s Hyde Park.

Hyde Park was created to satisfy a royal passion for hunting. But over the years it has become a place enjoyed many thousands of visitors every year.

Seized from the monks of Westminster Abbey in 1536 by Henry VIII as a hunting ground, this 350-acre park is now a peaceful haven in the middle of London for office workers and tourists alike. At 1.5 miles long and just under 0.5 miles wide, it is central London’s largest park. There are 350 acres of woods, grasslands, lakes and gardens.

Hyde Park also has a horse-riding track, originally laid out from the West End to Kensington Palace. This famous track is known as Rotten Row, a corruption of ‘route du roi’.

The park is divided in two by the Serpentine, a lake where visitors can go boating. On its banks are two restaurants and the Serpentine Gallery as well as the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, an oval stone ring fountain opened on July 6th 2004.

In summer there are afternoon concerts at the bandstand and open air concerts are also regularly held in the park, including Promenade Concerts relayed live from the Albert Hall. Free guided walks through the park are also available.

On Sunday mornings, Speakers Corner, at the north-east corner near Marble Arch and the former site of Tyburn gallows, is a venue for free speech.

At around 10.30 am every day the Household Cavalry rides through the park from Hyde Park Barracks to Buckingham Palace. On Royal anniversaries and other important occasions a 41-gun salute is fired in Hyde Park, opposite the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane.

The park is open from 5.00 am to midnight every day of the year and admission is free.

Hyde Park is just a short walk from the London Kensington Forum.

Call 0871 942 9100 to reserve your London hotel near Hyde Park