London’s Westminster and City of London are two of the most popular areas for tourists on account of the high concentration of landmarks and attractions in these central districts. With popular accommodation like the Grand Royale Hotel London situated in these areas, it’d be easy to restrict your stay in London to popular attractions like the Natural History Museum and the National Gallery. That being said, London is a city comprised of 32 boroughs and 1500 square kilometres of space, meaning that if you have the time or the energy, there’s plenty of other attractions to explore during your visit.
From one-of-a-kind history museums to some of the best days out in zones 2 to 6, guests of centrally located Grand Royale London Hyde Park with some time to kill should check out these one-of-a-kind attractions that the tourist brochures don’t tell you about.
Crystal Palace Park
Located in the southeastern district of the same name, Crystal Palace Park is a Victorian park that was built to house the relocated Crystal Palace. Originally created as an exhibition hall for the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, the Crystal Palace had its own purpose made park built in southeast London. Though the Crystal Palace itself burnt down in 1936, the park and surrounding walls and stairs to the hall still exist today. On top of that, the dinosaur and prehistoric animal sculptures dotted around the park’s pond never fail to inspire the imagination of visiting children.
Greenwich Observatory
Another southeastern gem, Greenwich is a riverside borough reachable via the DLR rail service. Alongside its popular Royal Maritime Museum tha texplores the history of British seafaring, the Greenwich Observatory is an often overlooked attraction thatcomes equipped with its own museum and planetarium. The observatory is situated on a hill that draws large crowds, many of whom overlook the 1670s-built observatory in favour of the beautiful over London’s Canary Wharf district. The observatory is also located on the line of Greenwich Meridian, a navigational and astronomical prime meridian of the world – Longitude 0 degrees, from which all navigational maps are built.
John Soanes Museum
John Soanes Museum is actually situated in zone 1’s Lincoln’s Inn Field in Holborn, and is therefore easy to reach from the Grand Royale London accommodation. The museum is often overlooked due to its surrounding attractions such as the British Museum and the London Museum of Transport. This museum was once the home of famed architect Sir John Soane, who was responsible for the design of the Bank of England and Dulwich College. The museum itself contains a wealth of John Soane’s paintings, architectural models and sculptures as well as mindbending interior design from the man himself.
Horniman Museum
This unique arts and crafts style museum was built in the early 20th century at the behest of Frederick Horniman, a wealthy tea magnate heir who built the house to showcase the many artefacts he collected during his years travelling the world. The Forest Hill-based museum is free to visit and contains an wide array of artefacts that include taxidermy, ancient musical instruments and decorative art as well as ticketed temporary exhibitions that are geared towards families.
