Park Life - It's Alive & Well in South London

If you live in London and don’t enjoy working out in a brightly-lit room surrounded by strangers, it can be hard to find a place to exercise. Happily there is a solution if you live south of the river (or even if you don’t; we do have some Tube lines, you know). South London is home to a number of parks and open spaces, most notable for the sheer amount of space they cover. These urban idylls are perfect for walking, jogging, or just relaxing in surprisingly green and pleasant surroundings.

South London is arguably the best area of the city in terms of the number and quality of public parks. The jewel in the crown is the vast and wild Richmond Park, which at its epicentre feels more like Dartmoor than South-West London. You can look out for the park’s native deer, or have a picnic with nobody else in sight – even on a bank holiday.

Other wide open spaces of note this side of the Thames include Clapham Common, an unspectacular but very popular green area that stretches languidly away from the area’s lively high street. Further down the Northern Line, Tooting and Streatham commons are perfectly acceptable for a Sunday stroll to burn a few calories. Wimbledon and Mitcham Common are both more extensive areas, large enough for a few hours’ walking.

As well as the natural expanses of the commons, South London is also home to a handful of smaller, landscaped green spaces. Battersea Park on the south bank of the Thames features landscaped gardens, a pavilion and the famous Peace Pagoda. Further south, Crystal Palace park sits on the border of five different boroughs, and boasts a bizarre nature walk dotted with concrete dinosaurs. Surely more interesting than anything you’ll find in the dreaded gym–

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To get to Richmond Park, take the District Line to Richmond and get a 371 which stops outside the park in Petersham.

For Clapham Common, head to the Northern Line station of the same name. It’s on your right as you come out, in the opposite direction to the High Street.

For Tooting Common, take the tube to Tooting Bec on the Northern Line. As you come out, head east along

Tooting Bec Road

. After five minutes you will reach the common.

Wimbledon Common is a short bus ride away from Wimbledon station; take the District Line, tram or overground to the station, exit onto the high street and catch the 93 bus from the other side of the road.

Mitcham Junction railway station sits on the western edge of Mitcham Common, and can be reached from Blackfriars and Victoria mainline stations.

Battersea Park has it’s own railway station, about ¼ of a mile west of the park; it is a couple of stops from Victoria on any Southern service.

Crystal Palace also has its own station, on the southern edge of the park. The station is accessible via Southern services from London Bridge and Victoria stations.

Comments

[dezmembrari auto]

Indeed south London is very beautiful. Much better than other cities. There you find many places where you can stay calm, to relax. I am from Romania and our capital is not such places. Since I work in London seem to be more quiet, and only those places that owe.