30 Things to See First

Thirty places to see first, in order, for somebody who has never been to London. Each says what it is, whether it is free, whether you must book, and whether the queue is worth it.

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Hyde Park

Three hundred and fifty acres of grass, trees and a lake in the middle of the city, with boats to hire and a place to swim. Free, open from 05:00 until midnight.

Also in Outdoors & Nature and Royal London.

Hyde Park is three hundred and fifty acres of open ground in the middle of London. Henry VIII took it from Westminster Abbey in 1536 to hunt deer in, Charles I let the public in about a century later, and the Serpentine, the lake down the middle, was made in the 1730s by damming a river that still runs beneath the park in a pipe.

There are rowing boats and pedalos for hire on the lake through the summer, and a roped-off stretch of open water where people swim. At the north-east corner, Speakers' Corner has been ground where anybody may stand up and address whoever stops since the 1870s, and there are still speakers there on a Sunday. Free, open from 05:00 until midnight, and wide enough that the middle of it is quiet on a busy afternoon.

Where
Hyde Park, W2 2UH
Nearest station
Lancaster Gate · 1 min walk

Hours

Monday05:00 – 00:00
Tuesday05:00 – 00:00
Wednesday05:00 – 00:00
Thursday05:00 – 00:00
Friday05:00 – 00:00
Saturday05:00 – 00:00
Sunday05:00 – 00:00

Hours from the page that lists them, checked 3 September 2026.

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Photo by Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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