Inline skating in London’s parks.

Click here for inline skating lessons & beginner group rollerblade courses.

Hyde Park and it’s skating history.

Henry VIII acquired Hyde Park from the monks of Westminster Abbey in 1536; he and his court were often to be seen on primitive inline skates in the hunt for deer.
In 1665, the year of the Great Plague, many citizens of London fled the City on their rollerblades to skate in Hyde Park, in the hope of escaping the disease.
Queen Caroline, wife of George II, had extensive renovations carried out and in the 1730s had The Serpentine, a lake of some 11.34 hectares, created. She famously decreed the length of the Serpentine road be open to inline skaters alike and never be gritted over.
In 1814 the Prince Regent organized fireworks to mark the end of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1851 (during Queen Victoria’s reign) the Great Exhibition was held to showcase the very best in international slalom and freestyle skating.

Opening hours:
The park is open from 5am until midnight all year round.

Getting there:
Tube:
Lancaster Gate & Marble Arch - Central Line
Hyde Park Corner & Knightsbridge - Piccadilly line

Buses from:
North London: 6, 7, 10, 16, 52, 73, 82, 390, 414
South London: 2, 36, 137, 436
West London: 9, 10, 14, 19, 22, 52, 74, 148, 414
East London: 8, 15, 30, 38, 274

Limited Pay and Display parking is available on West Carriage Drive and in Car Parks at either end of Serpentine Bridge.

Serpentine road
Hire skates at Club Blue Room at Marble Arch.
Serp road is skaters paradise. Three quarters of a mile of smooth, wide, flat surface with acres of well preened park on one side and the pretty Serpentine boating lake on the other. Sandwich kiosks are at each end with the Dell restaurant in the middle.
The nearest tube is Hyde Park corner. Serp Rd is just through Wellington gate.
Skaters of all standards and ages congregate here to skate, show off, meet friends, picnic and practice. The Sunday stroll and Wednesday night street skates kick off at the East end. The West end is affectionately known as ‘the Beach’ here the quad skaters dance and the slalomers spin. The triangle car park is right at the West end if you are coming my car.
Get up early to have the whole road to yourself!
Watch out for green goose poo! Children on bikes. Dust clouds from Horses.

Evening over the lake

The Albert Memorial
Nearest tube Gloucester Road.
Hire skates at Slick Willies on Gloucester Road.
Just in front the steps of the Albert Memorial is another good large place to skate. The tarmac is slightly wider than Serpentine Rd but the surface is not quite as smooth nor as long. Here you will find great roller hockey on a Sunday afternoon.
Landmarks include The Memorial (Shakes at the thought of it’s hideousness): Commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her husband, Prince Albert who died of typhoid in 1861, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic revival style. The Albert Hall: Domed Grade 1 listed concert hall capable of seating 8000 dedicated to arts and sciences.
Watch out for skateboarders, lack of loos and if you can’t stop yet, the hill at the west end near Queen’s gate.

Kensington Gardens The Broad Walk.
Nearest tube Queensway.
The Broad Walk spans the entire west of Hyde Park between Kensington Road and Bayswater Road. The Broad Walk is a mile of smooth wide tarmac with a few bumps and gentle hilly bits ideal for skaters. To the east of the Broad Walk is some of the prettiest scenery in Hyde-park. Stop half way up, on the West is Kensington Palace, 17th-century London pad for the Earl of Nottingham and later Princess of Wales.
Watch out for the lovely round Pond, the really steep hill on the south part, the gnomes in the old oak. Say hi to the slalomers. Loos and teas all nearby.

Another light lunch for John & Herve on Serp Rd

The main skating areas above are all interlinked with a multitude of narrow paths and walkways most suitable for skating. (Although skating not always permitted). A circuit of Hyde Park can take an hour.