Serpentine Lake

Kensington & Hyde Park


Hyde Park is separated from Kensington Gardens by the gently curving Serpentine lake, created when the River Westbourne was dammed in the 1730s. At Christmas, it's the site of an only-the-brave swimming race, and in summer people like to rent pedalos (adult/child per hour £10.50/7.50). A solar ferry called the SolarShuttle traverses the Serpentine at river-snail's pace from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain to the boat house near the Dell Café (daily from June to August, weekends only for the rest of the year).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kensington & Hyde Park attractions

1. Hyde Park

0.25 MILES

One of London’s best parks, Hyde Park spreads itself over 142 hectares of neat gardens, wild expanses of overgrown grass and glorious trees. As well as…

2. Serpentine Sackler Gallery

0.27 MILES

This exhibition space is part of the Serpentine Galleries, located within the Magazine, a former Palladian villa–style gunpowder depot dating to 1805,…

4. Holocaust Memorial Garden

0.3 MILES

This simple marker of stones in a grove of birch trees, a short distance east of the Serpentine in Hyde Park, is a quiet commemoration of those who died…

5. The Arch

0.39 MILES

Fashioned in stone from northern Italy, this 37-tonne travertine statue by Henry Moore provides phenomenal views of Kensington Palace.

6. Serpentine Gallery

0.39 MILES

This gallery is one of London’s most important contemporary-art galleries. Damien Hirst, Andreas Gursky, Louise Bourgeois, Gabriel Orozco, Tomoko…

7. Rose Garden

0.45 MILES

Beautifully landscaped gardens in Hyde Park, with flowers year-round. It's an ideal place in which to sit and contemplate for a while.

8. Peter Pan Statue

0.51 MILES

This is sculptor George Frampton’s celebrated statue; close to the Long Water. Kensington Gardens were an inspiration for JM Barrie, author of Peter Pan,…