5 Places In London To Escape The Madness

Speaking from a personal perspective I love city life, I love the hustle, bustle and madness of it all. Give me city life over the countryside any day of the week.

I don’t think that I could ever personally live in the countryside on a permanent basis. I would die of boredom, it just isn’t my thing. From my own experience of living in Barbados for 9 months it reminded me that I’m the sort of guy that needs to live in a big city not some slow paced environment, which is 20 years behind the times. It is a great place for a 2 or 3 week holiday, but to live permanently NO WAY.

Don’t get me wrong I love nothing more than occasionally heading to the park or the countryside for a breather from city life. What I truly miss more than anything about life back home in Aberdeen, is that I could jump in the car and in 20 minutes I could be walking along beautiful Balmadie Beach or one of a dozen different forest walks. Or if I truly wanted to head to the back of beyond I would head to the hills, mountains and locks around Braemar or visit places like  Burn O’ Vat where the bandit Gilderoy Macgregor had his hideout. AMAZING PLACES, AMAZING SCENERY and they were only a mere hour away in the car.

London may not have any places that can truly compare to the forests, beaches, hill, lochs and mountains of back home. But never the less there are a number of great places to head to when the sun is shining or if you are just seeking a wee breather from the concrete, steel and glass jungle that is London.

Just like back home or when I was living in Barbados there were places that I would head to when I needed to escape the hustle and bustle for a few hours to recharge my batteries, I have discovered plenty of places here in London, which are great for chilling out at. Whether your a tourist or live in the Big Smoke I feel that my, “5 Places In London To Escape The Madness” are worthy of a visit.

5 Places In London To Escape The Madness

Hampstead Heath: Quite possible my favourite place to head to when the sun is shining. A true oasis, which covers around 792 acres in size. At “The Heath” you will find open green spaces, forest trails, historic buildings and you can even go for a dip in the pond. It is real easy to forget you are a fairly short distance from central London when wandering around this place.

Greenwich Park: My personal favourite Royal Park. This place is awesome, it is a former royal hunting park that covers over 183 acres. Greenwich Park is the oldest enclosed Royal Park in London. This place may get a wee bit busy around the Royal Observatory but it is easy enough to find nice quiet places to totally relax in. The views in Greenwich Park are also pretty dam good.

Regents Park: The Regents Park is another one of the Royal Parks, which can get a tad busy at times, but hey this is London, what do you expect. This park has open parkland, a large boating lake and some wonderful formal gardens to wander around in. I especially like Queen Mary’s Garden, which is usually never over run with tourists. Of course a trip to The Regents Park is never complete without  visiting near by Primrose Hill to take in some of the best views in all of London.

Victoria Park: This park is regarded as one of London’s best kept secrets, it truly is a wonderful place to get some rest and relaxation. I recently visited this public park for the first time a few weeks ago and I fell in love with the place. Victoria park has many attractions including a couple of canals, lakes, ornamental gardens, deer enclosures, parkland and countless varieties of trees and plants. Despite this parks working glass roots it is very much designed almost in the manner of the more illustrious Royal Parks. A park which I will be heading back to sometime very soon.

River Thames/Albert Embankment: There are countless good walks to be had along the River Thames and my particular favourite stretch is the Albert Embankment. This part of the Thames may be in the heart of London, but it never seems to get too crowed. It is a great stretch to walk along with your girl enjoying the views and even better there are tons of seats to sit down at and watch the world go by. I especially enjoy this stretch of the river later on in the evening when it is unbelievable quiet.

There are of course loads more great places to head to in London when you need to escape city life, these are just some of my personal favourites that I have found so far.

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