Brockwell Park

South London's finest urban green space sits between Brixton and Herne Hill, and it's the sort of place that makes you forget you're in the city at all. Brockwell Park sprawls across 127 acres of meadow, woodland and proper Victorian landscaping - the kind of park that rewards wandering without a plan.

You get rolling grassland for a decent walk, a tree-lined avenue that's genuinely lovely in late spring, and views back across London from the higher ground. There's a lake, a walled garden that's been restored to something like its former state, and enough open space that you can actually find solitude on a weekend if you're not here during the summer festival season.

Walkers will get a solid hour or two out of this, and families with younger kids won't struggle for space to run around. The terrain's gentle enough that pushchairs work fine on most paths. If you're after history, the Victorian bones are still visible - this was someone's grand estate once, and you can feel it in the way the space is laid out.

It's free to wander and open as you'd expect for a London park. Spring is best - the bluebells and magnolias are worth timing a visit for. Summer brings the festival crowd which changes the vibe entirely.

If you're staying at Lovat Parks nearby, this is an easy escape into proper green without heading out of London entirely. Not flashy, but genuinely restorative.