National Park City founder Dan Raven-Ellison's guide to London's best outdoor spaces
AlamyDan Raven-Ellison is a "guerrilla explorer" who helped make London the world's first National Park City. Here are his picks for London's best green spaces, from wetlands to forests.
London, with its dominant skyscrapers and perpetually murky skies is often cast as a grey metropolis but nearly half of the UK capital is made up of green and blue spaces, including more than 3,000 parks, 400 miles of waterways and 8.4 million trees.
We spoke to London National Park City founder Dan Raven-Ellison to find London's greenest spaces.
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Daniel Raven-Ellison is a British geographer and "guerrilla explorer" who led the campaign to make London the world's first National Park City. He is also a National Geographic Explorer and Ordnance Survey GetOutside Champion.
"People often think of London as this cultural, political and financial centre. It's an incredible ecological centre too," says Raven-Ellison, who is also a National Geographic Explorer. "London has nearly as many trees as people and 15,000 species of wildlife have been recorded including more peregrine falcons than in Yosemite National Park."
Raven-Ellison is the creator of Slow Ways – a project which aims to connect all of Britain via a network of walking routes – so he's naturally a strong proponent of exploring London on foot. "It's a great way to get under the skin of the city," he says. "You'll discover parts you won't expect, whether that is quirky local histories, dishes from Somalia or some cool community project where you can get hold of some delightful second-hand clothes."
In 2023, London Wildlife Trust, in partnership with the Mayor of London, launched its third funding drive to rewild more pockets of land and water in London, restoring areas and allowing nature to return, but Raven-Ellison remarks that "in many ways it's a continuation of a very long and proud tradition of Londoners protecting, enjoying and celebrating nature."
The sheer diversity of options makes it hard to pin down favourites, but here are Raven-Ellison's insider recommendations to make the most of London's outdoor spaces.
Alamy1. Best for spotting wildlife: London Wetland Centre
Raven-Ellison's pick for assured animal sightings is the London Wetland Centre. Perched on the banks of the Thames in Barnes, southwest London, over 150 species of bird call the ponds, reedbeds, wildflower meadows and marshes here home. The watery landscape also attracts water voles, dragonflies, bats and (sometimes) kingfishers.
"It's fairly close to the centre of London and you're guaranteed to see dozens of different bird species, and might be lucky enough to spot grass snakes and lizards," says Raven-Ellison. "The centre was created from old reservoirs. It's a good example of how London has been involved in rewilding for a very long period of time. People can come and see first-hand how a large urban area can be transformed to flourish with life."
Website: https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/london/
Address: Queen Elizabeth Walk, Barnes, London SW13 9WT
Phone: 020 8409 4400
Instagram: @wwtlondon
Alamy2. Best for uncovering history: Thames mudlarking
To discover more of London's multi-faceted history, Raven-Ellison not only recommends an amble along the Southbank – a flat, pedestrianised part of the Thames Path, which packs in the iconic landmarks of Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Southwark Cathedral, the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament – but the banks of the Thames too.
The Thames riverbed is the longest archaeological site in Britain. For over 2,000 years, the Thames has become home to countless flotsam and jetsam, preserved in the dense clay mud, and its treasures are revealed daily at low tide. Permit-holding mudlarkers scour the banks of the Thames for these lost treasures of centuries past.
"Walking all or part of the Thames Path in London gives you a really good slice through London and you can literally uncover history if you have a go at mudlarking at low tide," says Raven-Ellison. "People find 300 year-old smoking pipes and cups or bits of jewellery, and even shoes from the Victorian era."
Alamy3. Best view of the city: One Tree Hill
There are many spots to enjoy sweeping vistas of the city, but one of Raven-Ellison's favourite viewpoints is from One Tree Hill, a local nature reserve in leafy Honor Oak Park, an area in the capital's southeast. Despite its name, the reserve is home to sycamore, ash and wild cherry trees plus oaks, including the mighty hilltop 'Oak of Honor'.
"There's some really big trees framing the view of the city that creates a particularly beautiful view," says Raven-Ellison. The leafy framing of London takes in all the highlights of the cityscape from the City of London architecture, dagger-point shape of The Shard, iconic St Paul's Cathedral, the London Eye, BT Tower and beyond.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/friendsofOTH/
Alamy4. Best for families: Kensington Gardens
A short walk to the north of London's world famous Natural History Museum lies Kensington Gardens, a neatly manicured oasis, with tree-lined walkways, a large round pond and, according to Raven-Ellison, "friendly, raucous green-necked parakeets and woody areas that are great for hide and seek".
But the highlight of Kensington Gardens, one of London's Royal Parks, is tucked away in the far northwest corner. The Diana Memorial playground is a delight for kids, says Raven-Ellison, with an epic central wooden pirate ship along with a huge assortment of accessible, imaginative natural play areas from a sensory trail to a village of tepees.
Website: https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/kensington-gardens
Address: Kensington Gardens, London, W2 2UH
Instagram: @theroyalparks
Alamy5. Best urban oasis: Dalston Eastern Curve Garden
Dalston Eastern Curve Garden is "probably one of London's richest, smallest parks," says Raven-Ellison. This tiny peaceful haven, once part of a railway line, supports wildflowers and organic vegetable patches as well as welcoming seating areas, a café and a programme of cultural events.
"You'd be hard pressed to find a bit of London that's working harder for local people," he says. "Dalston is one of the most nature deprived parts of London, and yet in this wedge of land they're growing food, there's nature, there's trees. You could go there and get coffee and cake, there's a stage as well for outdoor performances. It's a brilliant place to go and hang out, especially in the summer."
Raven-Ellison recommends jumping on a train to Walthamstow and then walking to Dalston down Slow Ways route Dalwal Two. "It's 8km (5 miles) and finishes right by the Curve Garden – perfect to celebrate the end of your walk," he says.
Alamy6. Best hidden gem: Section 8 of the Capital Ring
Walking sections of the Capital Ring, a 78-mile signposted loop that connects together the mosaic of green and blue in the capital "will give slices and experiences of different urban areas, ecologies and habitats, wildlife, languages and a whole raft of great views across the city", says Raven-Ellison.
All of the Capital Ring is worth walking, but Raven-Ellison recommends starting down in Boston Manor and the Brent River Park to hit Section 8. "You'll see loads of herons," he says. The route follows the meandering river up to the new Warren Farm Nature Reserve, an area of rewilded land that was once an old sports ground. "This special place has been protected thanks to a campaign by the community," says Raven-Ellison. "It's very basic, but people can see owls and kestrels and all kinds of wildlife because of how rich the grassland is there. Carry on up the river to Paradise Fields, where you might just be lucky enough to see beavers, who have been reintroduced for the first time in 400 years."
Alamy7. Best for feeling like you're in the countryside: Hampstead Heath
According to Raven-Ellison, for a quintessential countryside feel, nothing really beats the jewel of North London, the vast open space of Hampstead Heath, with its swimming ponds and peaceful meadows. "If you're in Hampstead Heath and the grass is long and filled with rhythmical chirping crickets and you've got your picnic blanket out, you can very easily feel like you're in the depths of the British countryside," he says.
But to see a bit more of what Greater London has to offer, Raven-Ellison suggests The South London Downs, the newest National Nature Reserve in London, and the aptly-named Happy Valley in Croydon with "really gorgeous rolling hills and grazing animals".
AlamyTravel Tip
"I recommend picking how far you're willing to walk," says Raven-Ellison. "Take any direction out using the tube from central London and just walk back again and pick up as many green spaces as you can all the way back. Wherever you go, you're going to have a really interesting adventure. If you need more inspiration on where to go, the London National Park City Map has all the green spaces on it, which is super fun. Alternatively, you could follow one of London's Slow Ways, and take part in the project I started to create a national walking network."
8. Best for a grand day (or two) out: From Epping to urban
Raven-Ellison's pick for a weekend hike starts in Epping Forest, an ancient tract of woodland on the eastern fringes of the city, and heads back down into Hackney through Wanstead Flats, taking the Centenary Walk (also known as the Big Walk) or, for added adventure, simply following woodlands tracks south until hitting the urban landscape. Epping is gorgeous at any time of the year but particularly beautiful in spring, when swathes of bluebells are in bloom and centuries-old oaks in bud frame broad woodland paths.
"The walk is just a really fantastic cultural and emotional experience," says Raven-Ellison. "You emerge from this immersed sense of being in nature for so long to being in the thick of the city. It's a really epic day out knowing you started on the outside of the M25."
The route can easily be connected to the newly-opened Green Link Trail, "a brilliant way to see a chunk of park life in East London," says Raven-Ellison, so avid hikers may continue along all or part of this 24km (15-mile) accessible trail, which links southern Epping Forest to Peckham in southeast London, crossing marshes, canals, parkland and passing St Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern art gallery.
"If more people visiting London National Park City go park hopping, I think it'd be a lovely thing," he says.
Website: https://efht.org.uk/discover-epping-forest/epping-forest-walks-and-maps/epping-forest-big-walk/
Instagram: @eppingforestht
The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers
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