Spring is a beautiful time of year to visit London. All of those years ago, my first visit to London was in the spring. It was at the end of March and during the week we had as 'spring break' between quarters at university. The spring season tends to start at least two weeks earlier than where I lived in the states, and I remember the spring flowers out and the trees budding. Although signs of spring can be seen in most places in the city, I have three favourite places to enjoy spring: St. James' Park, Green Park, and South Bank.
First up, St. James' Park. This is the oldest of London's eight royal parks and is located along the Mall, to the side of Buckingham Palace. The park has several unique birds, including Pelicans, and has a complex history. It was once the location where King James in the early 1600s kept his exotic birds and animals, such as crocodiles and camels and an elephant. Later on, it was landscaped with a canal. When it became open to the public, it was not a nice place to visit at dark as it attracted the wrong people. The park also has an island called Duck Island, which became inhabited by an exiled Frenchman; apparently he'd been told he could be the governor of this island, which turned out being a tiny island inhabited by birds. Until the the 1800s, a group of women would daily bring a cow into the park and would sell milk to visitors from it. Today, the park is home to many different types of birds, trees, and beautiful gardens. In the spring, there are nicer views of House Guards Palace and Buckingham Palace as the trees are not in full leaf to obscure these views.
In spring, the park is covered in thousands of daffodils.
Ornamental trees are in full blossom, and I also caught a green bird in one of the trees. Actually, there were three green birds (which I learned are called ring-necked Parakeets) in this tree. They liked picking the flowers off of the tree.
I watched the parakeet for a few more moments to get some photographs.
The views of the London Eye and Big Ben from St. James' park are unobstructed from view with beautiful flowers in the foreground.
Next up is Green Park, which is opposite the Mall from St. James' Park. The park is mainly large trees, but the daffodils are in abundance here as well, and there's a few different varieties and colours of daffodils.
Finally, South Bank is another place in London that I recommend to visit in spring. Actually, South Bank is pleasant during any time of year, and at the weekends on nice days, there are often street performers along here. Spring is a nice time to visit because the views of Big Ben are unobstructed by trees in full-leaf.
Enjoy!
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