St James's Park

What it’s like

Free park by the lake where kids can spot pelicans and watch soldiers march down The Mall.

The pelicans are the thing here. They've lived in the park for centuries and turning up hoping to spot one on the lake edge is a proper bit of London that costs nothing. The lake itself has the view everyone's seen in photos, with the Palace at one end and the Shard poking up in the distance, and it's worth the walk round even with a buggy.

Time it right and you'll catch soldiers in scarlet tunics marching down The Mall, which is the kind of thing a five-year-old remembers longer than most paid attractions. There's no set show time given, so it's more a happy accident than something to plan the whole day around.

Gates open early and stay open until midnight. It's free to get in, which makes it an easy add-on if you're already near Buckingham Palace or Westminster, and there's food and drink on site if you don't fancy carrying a picnic across town.

It's an outdoor day out through and through, so a dry forecast helps if you want the pelicans to actually be out and about rather than sheltering somewhere you can't see them.

Need to know

Food

And drink available on site

• Free entry, no tickets or booking needed
• Gates open 5am to midnight for pedestrians
• It's all outdoors, so check the weather before you head over
• The soldiers marching down The Mall aren't on a fixed schedule, so treat it as a bonus rather than the main plan

Plan your visit

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