Walk With MeAudio Tours
London Royal Parks Walking TourBuckingham Palace behind red flower beds on a sunny dayBlue pedalos out on the Serpentine in Hyde Park

London Walking Tour: Royal Parks from Horse Guards to Kensington

A self-guided London walk from Horse Guards Parade through St James's Park, past Buckingham Palace and along the Serpentine to Kensington Palace.

5.9 km walk1 h 21 walking9 stopsFrom Horse Guards Parade to Kensington Palace16 min of stories6 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic
$11.99
  • 9 stops and 16 minutes of stories, told as you reach each place
  • The intro and stop 1 are free in the app: try before you buy
  • Download before you go; the audio plays without signal (the street map needs a connection)
  • Walking with friends? Pick 1 to 10 seats; everyone hears each stop on their own phone, at the same moment
Hear stop 1
30 seconds of the real narration

Plays in the free Walk With Me app on iPhone and Android.

What you'll see

Buckingham Palace behind red flower beds on a sunny day
Buckingham Palace behind red flower beds on a sunny dayCheck the flagpole: the Royal Standard means the King is home; the stone front you see dates only from 1913.
Blue pedalos out on the Serpentine in Hyde Park
Blue pedalos out on the Serpentine in Hyde ParkQueen Caroline had a small river dammed to make this lake in 1730; swimmers still race here every Christmas morning.
The Albert Memorial at the end of an autumn avenue
The Albert Memorial at the end of an autumn avenueWalk around the base to find nearly two hundred carved artists, plus a camel, an elephant, a bull and a bison at the corners.

About this tour

The royal parks only make sense on foot. By car or bus you see a blur of railings; walking, you feel how one park hands you on to the next, from St James's with its lake and pelicans, to the open lawns of Green Park, to the grand scale of Hyde Park, and finally the calmer, more formal gardens around Kensington Palace. You cover centuries of royal history without ever leaving the grass for long, and the whole thing is free unless you choose to go inside. Go early for the quiet, or late on a summer evening when the light turns the Serpentine gold. And if you would like some company on your next stroll, open the Walk With Me live map to see who else is out walking London right now.

The route

5.9 km in walking order from Horse Guards Parade to Kensington Palace. Stop 1 is free in the app.

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  1. 1Horse Guards ParadeThe gravel parade ground behind Whitehall, once a royal tiltyard, now the stage for a June ceremony and one surprising summer of sport.Free in the app
  2. 2St James's Park Blue BridgeThe blue footbridge across St James's Park lake, with a palace at one end of the view, and how pelicans came to live here.
  3. 3Buckingham PalaceThe open space before Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial, a front younger than it looks, and what the roof flag tells you.£33 to go in, optional
  4. 4Wellington ArchDecimus Burton's arch at Hyde Park Corner, a statue that was mocked and replaced, and the flowerless park you climb past to reach it.£7 to go in, optional
  5. 5Hyde Park Rose GardenA walled rose garden just inside Hyde Park, a marble boy with his dolphin, and the park's long life as London's meeting ground.
  6. 6Serpentine BoathousesRowing boats on the north bank of the Serpentine, a lake made by damming a river, and a race swum every Christmas morning.
  7. 7Diana Memorial FountainA granite ring in a hollow by the Serpentine where water runs two ways at once, built to be sat beside and touched.
  8. 8Albert MemorialA towering Gothic canopy over a gilded prince in Kensington Gardens, the book in his hand, and a frieze of nearly two hundred figures.
  9. 9Kensington PalaceThe red-brick palace across Kensington Gardens, bought for the sake of a king's lungs, where a young princess was woken with news.£24.70 to go in, optional

What costs extra

3 stops have a ticket to go inside. The story plays outside, so going in is your choice.

StopInsideTicket from
3. Buckingham PalaceOptional£33
4. Wellington ArchOptional£7
9. Kensington PalaceOptional£24.70

Before you go

  • Allow about an hour and a half of steady walking, and closer to three hours if you stop to watch the birds, sit by the Serpentine or go inside either palace.
  • The ground is flat almost all the way, with one gentle rise up Constitution Hill, and the paths are paved or firm gravel, so ordinary comfortable shoes are fine.
  • London weather changes its mind several times a day, so carry a light waterproof whatever the forecast says.
  • Mornings are the calmest time, though if you want to see the Changing of the Guard outside Buckingham Palace, check the schedule before you go, because it does not run every day and the crowds gather well in advance.
  • There are cafes, toilets and drinking water points spread through the parks, and plenty of benches.

Toilets and water on the way

6 public toilets (4 free) and 6 drinking fountains within 150 m of the route.

StopNearest toiletNearest water
1. Horse Guards Parade396 m397 m
2. St James's Park Blue Bridge238 m, free111 m
3. Buckingham Palace259 m, free260 m
4. Wellington Arch660 m, free338 m
5. Hyde Park Rose Garden278 m, free105 m
6. Serpentine Boathouses412 m, free213 m
7. Diana Memorial Fountain124 m, free170 m
8. Albert Memorial210 m245 m
9. Kensington Palace590 m, free161 m

The full map is in our London guide. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Cheaper in a bundle

Crown & RiverThree self-guided audio walks through central London: the royal parks from Horse Guards to Kensington Palace, the South Bank of the Thames, and Westminster to the Tower.
Royal Parks5.9 km
South Bank5.9 km
Westminster7.5 km
$20.99$36.97Save 43%

By Yahya, founder of Walk With Me · Written · How we write

Photos: JR Bradbury / Pexels; Mike Peel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.