Everyone Far East as bricklane must have heard of Victoria park! If they haven't then I must…read moreenlighten briefly. It is a huge park, that if you were to traverse the outer path you'll have walked 5Km doing that one circuit. It was named in honour of our queen Victoria herself. It stands proudly in East London, underneath the fine borough of hackney and above tower hamlets! It's my favourite park in London, if not the world! It's not particularly crazy in design or has architectural or agricultural delights or even much elevation, however it's just perfect. On a fine sunny day, the park screams community, relaxation and escapism from the bustle of the city. I run around the park 2-3 times a week and never get tired of it. It makes me breath fresh air and the people there are lovely! Please go to the park and treat it some respect as it will certainly treat you with a wonderful experience, right back at ya!

After much construction over the last year, the park is starting to come into its own again. I…read morelove this place! Beautiful tree lined paths to walk down, lovely ponds and water features that attract wonderful wildlife, so many places to just...chill. Just about the only sizable park I know of east of The City. Tasty cafe's and shops to pop into on Lauriston Road after a nice walk in the park. Enjoy!

Mile End Park might be London's most underrated park. Completely unbeknownst to tourists who…read moremainly beeline to West End parks, this East London park is a slender 79-acre strip of fabulous modern design, gardens, lakes, and culture/leisure centres along the beautiful Regent's Canal. It's a low-key local gem just across the street from the more popular, sprawling Victoria Park. In my Top 5 Parks along with Regent's and Hampstead Heath

I really love Mile End Park on a quiet day (when the weather is rubbish, hah :)) - there's plenty…read moreof space and I keep discovering new bits I haven't ventured to yet. There is the 'Eco Pavilion' which overlooks a few ponds. Several areas of trees/wildflowers. Close proximity and easy access to Regent's Canal, where one can take a nice walk down to Victoria Park or the Hertford Union Canal. If you're thirsty there's a cafe, and if you fancy a beer the Palm Tree pub is close by. The couple of downsides are that 1) it's never closed and there are sometimes some street drinkers/groups of drunk people inhabiting certain areas and 2) It's next to two very busy roads.

I am fortunate enough to live close by this park. Every season shows beautifully in London Fields,…read morepossibly because it is so vast, and the trees line the walkways. The best thing about the park is the ping pong table. Apparently outdoor tables are popular in other European cities, but this is the first one I have seen in London. Weather permitting, there is usually a good group of players down at the table. Be warned though, there is a pretty high standard of play. The best thing you could possible do is a grab some quality food and coffee from Broadway Market, and sit down on a bench amongst the leaves.

Now that the weather is finally getting better it's finally time to go out in the sun and have some…read moregreat barbecues. For those of us not lucky enough to have a massive garden (whoever does in London what job do you have to afford that) all the massive parks are our best bet. While you can have a picnic at any one you like, London Fields actually allows you to bring a barbecue, I recommend getting a cheap disposable one, and start cooking. If you are coming from Hackney Central you are going to pass by Iceland so make sure to get all your food items from there and you're all set up. There's also an off licence next to the bbq area of the park for some extra drinks. So just bring over everything you need and get the barbie going. You'll have a great day out in the park and a delicious meal. Make sure to take some photos to remember the day and then do it all over again!

What is there not to love about West Ham Park. When I moved away from Hackney to come to Stratford,…read moreI thought I was going to miss the parks, 'London Fields' and 'Victoria Park' but I have a favourite park now, West Ham Park. It has EVERYTHING - Tennis courts, cricket nets, football pitches, grass and gravel, kids only playground, and beautiful looked after gardens. well done park rangers. I mainly use the park for running, and it has made me a keen runner, they have even mapped out a 2km route around the park for you on their notice boards. I have to mention the running club, its every Sunday 11am, 5 KM and was started up by Tessa Sanderson, its FREE, and for all ages and all levels. I remember my first run - almost didnt finish it, but I love the support they give. It is truly a park for the community and a positive influence in the heart of Newham.

Great location to go for a run, play football, picnic,dates...you name it!…read more I've been trying to get back on track when it comes to running and this park is exactly what I need. Will definitely come back!

A simply gorgeous little area of clipped hedges and flower beds. It's formal without being too…read moreformal. While the centre is marked with a circular rose bed surrounded by hedges, nothing is too square and there's some stunning feature plants to be found around bends. Also plenty of well-placed benches to enjoy the view. I also fulfilled an ambition, and managed to get some photos of long tailed tits! They are tiny little birds, easy to miss, even if they are only inches from you, as they move through the thickest thickets. However if you keep your ears open you might get to see them: they move in flocks, twittering to each other as they go. Here I was lucky enough to see them come out into slightly more open branches and happily chirp around within feet of me.

Tucked away down a back street on the wrong side of the Lee Navigation from Hackney Marshes, this…read moreis not a park you easily wander into. But when I see a patch of green on the map I like to take a look and I was pleasantly surprised. It's quite a little oasis, surrounded by thick, mature trees, and a central sweep of grass giving a vista out over the Marshes. There's also a large and imaginative playground (very much in use), and an adventure playground as well (closed when I visited). Between there's an impressive bmx/skateboard park, with lots of concrete hummocks and some ramps. It was busy when I was there, with most of the users seeming quite young. The atmosphere was also good: a couple of old guys chatting on a bench, an Afro Caribean family having a waterfight, a group of Turkish women sitting in a ring on the grass nattering while their children played in the playground Definitely not a tourist attraction, but if you want somewhere to play or sit and relax, you could do a lot worse.

I remember this from years ago as a pretty bleak square of grass. I'm not sure if my perceptions…read morehave changed or it's actually improved, but it's seemed quite pleasant on my last few visits. It's still basically an open square of a park, though it does dip down on the west side, and has some nice houses bordering some areas. All the paths tend to head to the centre, where the action is. Here there are kids play areas, and a 'no dogs' etc garden for quiet sitting or little kids to play in. There are gangs of teenagers around, but a mix of people of all ages as well. You might also see a game of cricket going on. The area is racially mixed, and some communities are more into it than the ethnic English! My favourite part though is to the North West, where there's a little wild patch, and avenues of London Plane trees.

The reasons for me liking this rather unassuming 17 hectare stretch of grass in East London are…read morethreefold: firstly, location. While the nearby Nightingale and Pembury Estates provide less than salubrious surroundings, the park itself is built on an elevated piece of land overlooking the City, with great views of the Gherkin. It also appears to be the marker for where Heathrow-bound planes dip their wings and hang a right on their approach - a hypnotic manouvre performed on an unending 30-second loop and best watched while lying on your back in the grass on a cloudless July day. The second reason is that Hackney Downs is not London Fields, my other local park, populated by a population of live-in frisbee-tossing fixy-pushing twats. Denizens of the Downs, a much larger space by comparison, have lots more space to play with even on the busiest of days. Lastly, I live round the corner, a literal stone's throw from all the Down's well-lit facilities: jogging track, footie pitches, monkey bars and tennis & basketball courts. At the drop of a hat I can throw on some trainers, burst out of my front door, and lose myself in my own slice of London's extensive green space.

Looked like a nice park with a massive green space in the middle. A jogging track encircled this…read morearea and when I was walking thru this park on a Sunday Morning, I saw quite a few joggers, but it wasn't a huge number. Towards the side was a separated area with lots of playground equipment for little kids and it looked to be in pretty good shape and working order. There was a separate area for a soccer pitch and tons of youth playing the game. Glad to encounter this bit of greenery while on my London visit.

Pretty typical of many of the parks in the area, it's basically a sweep of grass. However this one…read moredoes have some nice features. There's a few undulations, making the view a little more interesting. There's also an excellent play area for the youngsters and a surfaced courts/pitch area for older kids to play on. The park as a whole is a good size, with space for you and/or your dog to have a run. Nothing fabulous enough to travel for, but a good quality local park.

Victoria Park contains two stone alcoves, which were formally part of an older incarnation of…read moreLondon Bridge. The bridge was demolished in 1831, and the alcoves have been in the park since 1860. They do look a little strange, but are fitted with wooden benches, and provide a pleasant place to sit and look out over the park, sheltered from the weather. They are set in an area which also has fine avenues of London Plane trees.

I found some info to add to this review. These two stone…read morepedestrian alcoves, are surviving fragments of the old London Bridge, demolished in 1831. They arrived here in 1860. This incarnation of the famous bridge (there have been two others since), stood for over 600 years and was lined with shops and houses. With regard to these turrets, Labelye, the architect, says they were not only built for their evident accommodation of passengers, desiring or obliged to stop without interfering with the roadway, or for the relief they afforded to the eye in breaking so long a line, but for the additional security they gave to the bridge, by strengthening the parts between the arches, and thereby affording so much more weight to repel the lateral pressure. Maitland, however, mentions a more serious purpose to which these recesses might have been put; he says they might have served for places of ambush for robbers and cut-throats, but for the establishment of a guard of twelve watchmen specially appointed for the security of the passage during the night. The writer of the account of Westminster, in the Beauties of England and Wales, mentions a peculiarity which these recesses possessed, somewhat analogous to the whispering gallery in St. Paul's Cathedral. He says, So just are their proportions, and so complete and uniform their symmetry, that, if a person whispers against the wall on the one side of the way, he may be plainly heard on the opposite side; and parties may converse without being prevented by the interruption of the street or the noise of carriages.