St James's Park

St James's Park stands proudly in the heart of London, and as the oldest royal park it has strong royal, political and literary associations. Three royal palaces surround the park, the oldest is Westminster, which now holds the Houses of Parliament, the Tudoresque St James's Palace and of course Buckingham Palace, the monarch's residence since 1837.

The park is open from 5am to midnight all year round and located amid the 58 acres are the lake and duck island, the Mall, Inn the Park restaurant, a children's playground, deckchairs from April to September and lunchtime and early evening band concerts from May to August.

The park hosts a number of events and activities. It is possible to take a tour of duck island, home to many ducks, gulls, swans, geese, pelicans and rare birds and you can feed the pelicans daily at 2.30pm. A number of themed guided walks take place and in the summer you can watch the changing of the guard daily at 11.30am in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace.

Inn on the Park licensed restaurant is a fascinating turf roof building, serving a wide selection of food, picnic hampers and merchandise, open 9am-8pm in the summer and 10am-4pm in the winter.