Royal Parks
The following Royal Parks are located in Westminster:
Cycling is allowed only on the roads and specific paths in the parks. These are shown on maps at park entrances. However, children up to and including the age of 10 are allowed to cycle on all paths.
Be considerate!
Pedestrians have priority over all other users of pathways, even in areas designated and marked for other purposes. You are asked to use these pathways considerately, especially when passing.
Kensington Gardens
As well as the road in front of the Albert Memorial, cycling is allowed along the Broad Walk, Palace Walk, Mount Walk and Studio Walk. That means you can ride north-south up the west side of the park and east-west across the south of the park.
The Royal Parks considered allowing cycling on the path along the north side of the Gardens, parallel with the Bayswater Road. But they were unable to find a way to slow down cyclists descending the hill from Victoria Gate to the Italian Gardens or to prevent conflict with pedestrians entering the park at Marlborough Gate. So they abandoned the idea.
When planning a ride through Kensington Gardens, bear in mind that they close at dusk and that, shortly before they close, the only way out can be through cycle-unfriendly gates.
Hyde Park
You can cycle easily into the park using special crossings of Bayswater Road (at Albion Gate and Stanhope Place), Marble Arch, Park Lane (from Upper Grosvenor Street), Hyde Park Corner and Knightsbridge (at Albert Gate), or from the West Carriage Drive or Victoria Gate.
Cycling around Park has been revolutionised by the introduction of the East-West Cycle Superhighway along the South and West Carriage Drives. Cycling is also possible along the North Carriage Drive and the Broad Walk, which is shared with pedestrians.
This means that you can ride the entire way round the park along a designated cycle route (North Carriage Drive – Broad Walk – South Carriage Drive– West Carriage Drive). You can also cycle along Serpentine Road and the paths to and from the Old Police House, as well as the path alongside Rotten Row. Please note that you are not allowed to cycle along other paths – though at least one of our members would dearly like to take a short cut through the Dell.
The speed of cyclists on paths shared with pedestrians has been seen as a problem. For this reason, aggressive rumble strips have been installed along the Broad Walk of Hyde Park, as well as Mount Walk in Kensington Gardens.
There are now cycle parking stands close to the cafés in the park, with a do-it-yourself repair station outside the café in the south-west corner of the park. There are also cycle hire stations at several of the park entrances, though those near Marble Arch have been taken out of service because of criminal activity.
Green Park
The East-West Cycle Superhighway runs alongside Constitution Hill (along the former horse ride, see photo) and thence behind the Canada Wall leading towards the Mall (see photo). This route can sometimes be blocked by the 'media circus', however, or by groups of pedestrians.
Many cyclists fancy riding up and down the Queen’s Walk, along the east side of the park. This is not currently allowed north of the side entrance to Lancaster House.
St James’s Park
You can enjoy views across the park and avoid much of the traffic by cycling along Horse Guards Road and along the service road to the north of the Mall, known as the Horse Ride. The Royal Parks have made a number of improvements to this latter route, including an easier crossing of Marlborough Road and a cycle lane through Admiralty Arch.
In recent years, a segregated cycle track has been created for the East-West Cycle Superhighway along Birdcage Walk and around the traffic system outside Buckingham Palace.
The north-south path across the bridge would certainly make a direct cycle route between the Broadway area of Westminster and St James’s. But the narrowness of the path and the number of pedestrians make this impracticable at present.
Regent’s Park
Until recently you were only allowed to cycle around the Inner Circle and Outer Circle, which you had to share with a lot of fast-moving traffic.
Following a pilot scheme and extensive public consultation, the Royal Parks continued an experiment to allow cyclists to use the Broad Walk between the Outer Circle, near the entrance to London Zoo, and Chester Road. Unfortunately there is currently little prospect of continuing the route northwards across St Mark's Bridge.
Cycle Superhighway 11 is intended to run around the Outer Circle. As part of this project, the Mayor of London proposed reducing through motor traffic by closing some of the park gates at peak times. However, this proposal encountered stiff opposition and the future of this Cycle Superhighway is still in doubt.
The Hub sports centre in Regent's Park now has cycle parking stands outside. You are not currently allowed to cycle there, but we are seeking to persuade the Royal Parks to allow this.