Sights:

1. Hyde Park

The park was originally used as a private deer preserve for Henry VIII. Kensington Garden was created in 1728, when the wife of George II, Queen Caroline, divided the 625-acre plot of land almost in half, and separated the two with the long, curved lake, The Serpentine. The park still features 18th-century buildings and arches; newer additions include the Princess Diana Memorial fountain honoring the late Princess of Wales.

2. Marble Arch

Erected in 1828, the white marble arch-built, as was the Wellington Monument, in honor of the end of the Napoleonic Wars-was intended for the entrance to Buckingham Palace, but according to popular lore, it did not fit with the 1851 extension of the Palace, and was then moved to its current position.

3. Speakers' Corner

Even though it is against the law, crowds and passionate speakers, once including Karl Marx and George Orwell, have gathered here in the name of free speech since the 1700's.

4. Kensington Gardens

Kensington Gardens became the site of William III and Mary II's home in 1689; until that time, it was part of Hyde Park. William bought the Nottingham House, which architect Christopher Wren redesigned as Kensington Palace. The king found that the refreshing air here relieved his asthma. Look for the red brick building next to Round Pond.

5. Long Water (a.k.a. The Serpentine)

This addition to Hyde Park was created when Queen Caroline dammed the Westbourne Stream, which originally crossed this area running from Hampstead to the Thames. Designed in 1728, it was one of the first artificial lakes in England made to look natural; most manmade lakes were long and straight.

6. Kensington Palace

A working Royal residence for more three centuries, this red brick palace was home to Diana, Princess of Wales from 1981 until her death in 1997. The road leading from the Palace to Hyde Park Corner was fitted with oil lamps in the 17th century, making it the first artificially lighted road in Britain. It came to be called "Rotten Row"-a morphing of the French term Route de Roi, or King's Road.

7. Albert Memorial

Prince Albert was 42 when he died in 1861. His wife, Queen Victoria, requested that this 14-foot memorial be built in his honor. Around the base, you can see the 169-figure Frieze of Parnassus depicting his passions-painting, poetry, sculpting, music, and architecture.

8. Royal Albert Hall

www.royalalberthall.com
Prince Albert had great visions of a central hall devoted to industrial and cultural exhibitions, but he died in 1861 before construction began. The round Hall, almost a quarter-mile in circumference, has housed more than 150,000 events, including symphonies, concerts by The Who and by Tony Bennett, and literary readings by contemporary authors, such as J. K. Rowling, creator of the Harry Potter series.

9. Apsley House

Look to the right for the stone mansion known as London No. 1. In the 1700s, it was the first house anyone coming into the city from the countryside would see. In 1817, , the Duke of Wellington, who would later serve as prime minister from 1828 to 1830, bought the house from his brother; it stayed in the Wellington family until 1947, when it was handed over to the nation.

— Alicia Carr