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Hyde Park’s 12 best things to do run from Speakers’ Corner and the Serpentine Lido to the Albert Memorial and Winter Wonderland, and almost all of them are free. Hyde Park’s pedestrian gates open at 5am and close at midnight, and the park runs into Kensington Gardens across the Serpentine, so a single walk covers Marble Arch at one end and Kensington Palace at the other.
Hyde Park was Henry VIII’s hunting ground before it was London’s protest ground, and it is still where the city goes to argue, swim, ride and play. The park sits with Knightsbridge to the south, Mayfair to the east, Bayswater and Paddington to the north and Kensington to the west, which is why it is so useful as a base: the museums, the department stores and the palaces are all a walk away.
The 12 best things to do in Hyde Park
The 12 things to do in Hyde Park below are ordered by how much of the park they show you, starting in the north-east corner and working towards Kensington Gardens.
1. Speakers’ Corner
Speakers’ Corner is the north-east corner of Hyde Park, and it is the place to be on a Sunday from midday, when anyone who wants a crowd brings a stepladder. The right to assemble and speak here follows the Parks Regulation Act of 1872, and Karl Marx, George Orwell, Vladimir Lenin and William Morris all used it.
The idea has been copied in cities all over the world, which makes the original worth half an hour of listening. Do not expect a programme. What you get depends entirely on who has turned up.
2. Marble Arch
Marble Arch stands at the junction of Park Lane, Oxford Street and Edgware Road, a short walk from Speakers’ Corner, and you can walk under it. John Nash designed it in 1827 as the state entrance to Buckingham Palace’s forecourt, and it was moved to its present site in 1851 when the palace was extended.
Do not believe the version that has it moved in the 1960s. What happened then was the road scheme that stranded the arch on a traffic island, which is why so many people assume the arch itself was shifted.
3. The Animals in War Memorial
The Animals in War Memorial stands on the Park Lane edge of the park and commemorates the animals that served and died alongside British forces. Sculptor David Backhouse designed it and Princess Anne unveiled it in 2004.
The detail is what stays with you: the dogs that found mines and dug out bomb victims, the mules whose vocal cords were cut in the Burmese jungle so they could not give a column away, the message pigeons, and the glow worms that gave soldiers enough light to read a map by in the First World War.
4. The Serpentine
The Serpentine is the 40-acre lake that curls across the middle of the park, and it is where most of Hyde Park’s activity happens. The lakeside paths give the best long views in the park, herons fish under the bridge, and deck chairs go out along the banks in summer for a small hire charge.
Pedalos and rowing boats run through the warmer months from the boathouse on the north bank. The bridge across the water is also the boundary: east of it is Hyde Park, west of it is Kensington Gardens, and the two parks are managed separately despite looking like one.
5. Swimming at the Serpentine Lido
The Serpentine Lido is a roped-off swimming area in the lake itself, open 10am to 6pm, on weekends from mid-May and daily from June to mid-September. A full-day adult ticket is £8.40 (about €9.80, $11.35), a child aged 3 to 15 pays £4.15 and a family ticket for two adults and up to four children is £17.70.
Shorter sessions cost less: £6.50 for an adult on the morning or afternoon session, £4.70 off-peak, and £2.50 after 4pm when those slots are available. Lockers are £2.00 and sunbeds £12.00. Children under 16 must be with an adult over 18 who can swim, and the supervision ratios tighten sharply for under-eights. The Lido Café Bar opens earlier than the swimming, at 8am.
The Serpentine Swimming Club, the oldest swimming club in Britain, uses the same water year round, which is why you will see people in it in January. That is club swimming, not lido swimming, and it runs to different rules.
6. Sport on the old Great Exhibition site
Hyde Park’s sports pitches sit on the ground where the Crystal Palace stood for the Great Exhibition of 1851, which drew over 6 million visitors. You can book football, tennis and padel there through the Royal Parks.
Beyond the booked pitches the park takes casual sport well: putting, cricket, frisbee, running, public hire bikes, and horse riding on the sand of Rotten Row, the old route that ran from Kensington Palace to Whitehall. Rotten Row is also where the rose garden is, at the Hyde Park Corner end.
7. The Serpentine Galleries
The Serpentine Galleries are free, and they sit on either side of the lake: Serpentine South near the bridge and Serpentine North across the water in the old Magazine. Both close on Mondays and both close for a week or two between exhibitions, so check what is installed before you walk over.
The reason to plan a summer visit around them is the Serpentine Pavilion, a temporary building commissioned from a different architect every year and standing for about three months. The pavilion hosts the Park Nights programme of music, performance and film. Each gallery also has a shop, and Serpentine North has a restaurant in the Magazine.
8. The Hyde Park Bandstand
The Hyde Park Bandstand is the oldest bandstand in Britain, built in 1869. It stood in Kensington Gardens first and was moved to its present spot near Hyde Park Corner in 1886.
Its octagonal roof gives it unusually good acoustics, and in the 1890s bands played here three times a week. It is used for occasional concerts now rather than a regular programme, so treat it as a landmark you walk past rather than a booking.
9. Winter Wonderland, and what it now costs
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland runs from 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed on Christmas Day, and entry is ticketed rather than free. Off-peak entry is £1, standard entry starts at £5.50 an adult and peak slots cost £8.50, with booking fees included in the advertised price for 2026.
Older guides still describe Winter Wonderland as free to walk into. That stopped being true several seasons ago, and turning up without a timed ticket in late December is the single most common way to waste an evening here. Once you are inside you can stay as long as you like, and rides, the ice rink and the shows are paid separately.
10. Summer concerts
Hyde Park hosts London’s biggest outdoor concert season, and the Rolling Stones, Nelson Mandela and the first UK Pride march have all used the same ground. Concert weekends close a large part of the park’s southern half behind fencing, so check the events calendar if you are coming for the quiet.
Book a nearby hotel early when you have a concert ticket, because Bayswater and Paddington fill up around the big weekends and the walk home beats the queue for the Tube.
11. Kensington Palace and the Orangery
Kensington Palace sits at the western end of Kensington Gardens and is a working royal residence as well as a museum. It is the London home of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who took those titles in September 2022, so the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge label on older guides is out of date.
Historic Royal Palaces opens the State Apartments, the King’s and Queen’s Staircases and rotating exhibitions on Victoria and on royal dress. The Orangery, the Baroque garden building made for Queen Anne, reopened on 1 May 2024 after seven years of restoration and serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea daily from 10am, with last entry at 4.30pm. It closes for private events in summer, so ring ahead if the tea is the point of the trip.
12. The Diana memorials and the Albert Memorial
Four Diana memorials sit inside these two parks, and they are spread out on purpose. The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain is a granite ring near the Serpentine that you are allowed to paddle in. The Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens is built around a wooden pirate ship and takes its theme from Peter Pan. The Diana Memorial Walk is a seven-mile route marked by plaques in the ground, running through Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Green Park and St James’s Park. Kensington Palace itself was her home.
The Albert Memorial faces the Royal Albert Hall on the south side of Kensington Gardens, and it is the most decorated object in either park. George Gilbert Scott designed it for Prince Albert, who died at 42, and it carries a gilded bronze figure, marble friezes of artists and craftsmen, and four groups representing the continents.
Things to do near Hyde Park
Six of London’s best-known attractions sit within a 15-minute walk of a Hyde Park gate, which is the real argument for staying in this part of the city. They are listed below by which gate they are nearest.
- South Kensington museums. The Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum stand in a row south of Kensington Gardens, and all three are free. Exhibition Road links them to the park past the Albert Memorial.
- The Royal Albert Hall. The Royal Albert Hall faces the Albert Memorial across Kensington Gore and runs daytime tours as well as the Proms in summer.
- Harrods and Knightsbridge. Harrods is 10 minutes south of the park’s Edinburgh Gate, with Sloane Street’s shops between it and Hyde Park Corner.
- Hyde Park Corner. Wellington Arch and Apsley House, the first Duke of Wellington’s own house, stand on the traffic island and the corner beside it at the park’s south-east tip.
- Oxford Street and Mayfair. Marble Arch puts you at the western end of Oxford Street, with Mayfair’s squares and Park Lane hotels immediately south.
- Paddington and Notting Hill. Paddington station and the canal basin at Little Venice are north of the Lancaster Gate end, and Portobello Road is a walk west through Bayswater. Our guide to things to do in Paddington covers that side.
For the rest of the city, our list of the best places for tea in London covers the afternoon-tea rooms worth booking, and Canary Wharf and Greenwich covers the east if you want a day away from the west-end crowds.
Practical notes for visiting Hyde Park
Hyde Park’s pedestrian gates open at 5am and close at midnight, every day of the year, and there is no admission charge. Hyde Park has no single main entrance, which catches people out: the nearest Tube station depends entirely on which corner you want.
| Part of the park | Nearest Tube | Lines |
|---|---|---|
| Speakers’ Corner, Marble Arch | Marble Arch | Central |
| Serpentine, Lido, boathouse | Lancaster Gate or Knightsbridge | Central, Piccadilly |
| Bandstand, rose garden, Wellington Arch | Hyde Park Corner | Piccadilly |
| Albert Memorial, Serpentine South | South Kensington | District, Circle, Piccadilly |
| Kensington Palace, the Orangery | Queensway or High Street Kensington | Central, District, Circle |
Getting to London from elsewhere in Britain or Europe is usually a rail decision, and it is worth comparing train and coach fares in one search before you commit to a date, because advance fares into Paddington, Euston and King’s Cross move a long way.
Travel insurance
Travel insurance covers the parts of a trip you cannot plan for: a cancellation, an illness abroad, sometimes a stolen phone. SafetyWing sells flexible cover you can start after a trip has already begun, which is the practical difference from most policies, and they paid a Covid claim of ours in full without an argument.
Hyde Park FAQ
What is there to do in Hyde Park for free?
Most of Hyde Park is free: Speakers’ Corner, Marble Arch, the Animals in War Memorial, the bandstand, the rose garden, the walk round the Serpentine, both Serpentine Galleries, the Albert Memorial, the Diana Memorial Fountain and the Diana Memorial Playground all cost nothing. You pay only for the Lido, boat hire, deck chairs, booked sports pitches, Kensington Palace and Winter Wonderland.
How long do you need in Hyde Park?
Two hours covers a straight walk from Marble Arch to Kensington Palace with stops at Speakers’ Corner, the Serpentine and the Albert Memorial. Half a day is better if you want to swim, hire a boat or go into the Serpentine Galleries, and a full day if Kensington Palace or the South Kensington museums are part of the plan.
Can you swim in Hyde Park?
You can swim at the Serpentine Lido, a roped-off area of the lake open 10am to 6pm on weekends from mid-May and daily from June to mid-September. A full-day adult ticket is £8.40 and a child ticket £4.15. Swimming anywhere else in the Serpentine is not allowed, apart from the Serpentine Swimming Club’s own year-round sessions.
Is Winter Wonderland free?
Winter Wonderland is no longer free to enter. Off-peak entry is £1, standard entry starts at £5.50 an adult and peak entry is £8.50, with rides, shows and the ice rink charged separately once you are inside. The 2026 season runs from 19 November to 3 January, closed on Christmas Day.
What is the difference between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens?
Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens are two separate royal parks divided by the Serpentine and West Carriage Drive, and most visitors walk between them without noticing. Hyde Park holds Speakers’ Corner, the Lido, the bandstand and the concert ground; Kensington Gardens holds Kensington Palace, the Albert Memorial, the Peter Pan statue, the Italian Gardens and the Diana Memorial Playground.
Which Tube station is Hyde Park?
There is no station called Hyde Park. Marble Arch serves Speakers’ Corner, Lancaster Gate and Knightsbridge serve the Serpentine, Hyde Park Corner serves the bandstand and rose garden, South Kensington serves the Albert Memorial, and Queensway or High Street Kensington serve Kensington Palace.
WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips
The 4 tips below come from checking every price and date on this page against the Royal Parks and Historic Royal Palaces in 2026, and each of them fixes something that older Hyde Park guides still get wrong.
- Buy a Winter Wonderland ticket before you go, even the £1 one. Entry has not been free for several seasons. Monday to Thursday slots in November are the £1 band, standard entry starts at £5.50 and peak is £8.50, and a full ticket can be free if you pre-book £25 or more of rides, games or food per person.
- Book the Lido by session, not by day, unless you plan to stay. A full day is £8.40 for an adult, a morning or afternoon session £6.50, off-peak £4.70 and an after-4pm slot £2.50. The season is weekends from mid-May and daily from June to mid-September, and nothing runs outside it.
- Check the Serpentine Galleries before you cross the park. Both sites close between exhibitions, for a week or more at a time, and a closed gallery is a 20-minute walk you will not get back. The Koenig bookshop at Serpentine South and the Magazine restaurant at Serpentine North usually stay open through those closures.
- The Orangery is open again, and it books up. It reopened on 1 May 2024 after seven years shut, serves from 10am with last entry at 4.30pm, and closes for private events through the summer. Ring before you walk to the far end of Kensington Gardens for it.
About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the team covers London for independent travellers, including the parks, palaces, tea rooms and hotels in and around Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, Bayswater and Paddington worth your time. We update this page when opening seasons, Lido prices and Winter Wonderland ticketing change, which in this part of London is most years.
