Crystal Palace park is a ‘pearl in a shell’ located in the land of South East London. It is a greeting place for all, and it receives great tourist attractions.
This place is specifically prominent for the giant-glass-structure hall in Hyde Park, London, that once organized the great exhibition in 1851. This Palace was beautifully designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, a great architect, and gardener.
Crystal Palace has various things to attract and entertain its visitors. Starting from wonderful shops, different delicious food varieties, structures of dinosaurs that look like full of life, and easy transport facility make the place more lively.
Now let’s come to know the 10 amazing things that we should definitely do here while we visit this place!
1. Crystal Palace Park—Hyde Park
Crystal Palace Park is located in the South London suburb of Crystal Palace. It stretches over 80 hectares of landscape and is found as a Victorian Pleasure Ground. Today Crystal Palace Park serves as a great entertaining ground.
It matches itself with beautiful scenery all around, surrounded by lakes, trees, a maze, huge real-like structures of dinosaurs made by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, and also has a concert stage.
Transport Facility
Crystal Palace Park serves great transport facilities. Trains, buses and all other modes of transportation are always available near this place. Excellent transport facility is provided towards central London, through London Bridge and Victoria National Rail Station, within a 30 minutes distance.
This place also provides a free parking facility. Most interestingly there is no entry fee into the park.
2. National Sports Centre—Crystal Palace Park
Crystal Palace National Sports Centre is a wonderful place to visit. It provides numerous entertaining activities that are loved by all the visitors. This is the centre attraction of Crystal Palace, which receives a huge tourist interest.
This place has excellent fitness facilities like a gym, pools, fitness classes, football pitches, wall climbing, creche, athletics stadium, squash courts, tennis courts, beach volleyball courts, cafe, training space, and sports hall. National Sports Centre also provide a free parking facility to all the visitors.
3. Crystal Palace Food Market
Another most delightful place of the town is the Crystal Palace Food Market. This place is a non-profitable body that provides fresh food items. The market remains open every Saturday from 10:00 am to 03:00 pm.
It provides farm-fresh food items, which has attracted the choice of the locals of the South Londoners. This marketplace is one of the most liked places for food-loving travellers.
4. Crystal Palace Museum
One of the most heart-touching places is the Crystal Palace Museum. This place has its beauty locked in the history of the Crystal Palace. The past stories of the Crystal Palace are beautifully described in this museum. This place also narrates the past incidents of both Hyde Park and the Sydenham Crystal Palace.
The Crystal Palace Museum was inaugurated on June 17th, 1990, by the Duke of Devonshire. It consists of several eventual images, paintings, and huge sculptures to detail the historical stories. One should definitely visit this place to enjoy the thrilling stories of the Crystal Palace.
5. Crystal Palace Pedalo Hire
The Boating Lake in Crystal Palace Park serves as one of the amusing activities for both kids and families. This lake is managed by the Park Boats London borough, which remains open on weekends i.e., Saturdays and Sundays.
It also remains open on the days of school holidays that fall between Easter and October, and on bank holidays too. It provides ride facilities for 30 minutes and is a great place to enjoy in the lap of the beauty and nature’s calmness.
6. The Maze—Crystal Palace Park
As we know, Crystal Palace Park is a box of wonders, among which, the maze is another brilliant attention of the palace park. This maze was planted in the 1860s, but unfortunately, that was completely destroyed by the massive fire event.
Today the maze that we see is renovated and redesigned in the year 2009, to prevent the historical memory of the Girl Guide’s Cemetery event, that took place in 1990.
This place seems to be very dark, dangerous, overgrown with trees, and adventurous inside. One who visits Crystal Palace Park, must not miss out on this place.
8. The Skatepark—Crystal Palace Park
The Skatepark in Crystal Palace Park is another glimpse of fun and amusement for its visitors. It stretches over an area of 1100 square metres which provides the fun activity of skating.
This park not only allows skateboarding, but also permits activities like roller-blading, quad-skating, and scootering. It permits rides for all ages of riders, and it is a great place of fun for those who love riding, gliding, and skating very much.
It has a pool which is said to be the first skateboarding pool in the London borough. The Crystal Palace foundation seems to hold various events frequently in this park.
9. Outdoor Concert Stage—Crystal Palace Park
Outdoor Concert Stage is one of the craziest places in Crystal Palace Park. This stage was founded by Joseph Paxton in the year 1864 to gather people in the Crystal Palace, during the Great Exhibition held in 1851.
The stage is surrounded by water on all sides and placed in the middle of a lake. the shape of the concert stage looks like a bowl, that can hold 8000 people at a time.
In summer, concerts or programs take place, accompanied by the world’s first-ever outdoor acoustic music system, which can be controlled by the computer. The stage is also presented with 46 speakers for more great and best performances.
10. Palace Park Farm
Another most interesting and beautiful area to visit is the Palace Park Farm, which is situated in the great historical Crystal Palace area. This Farm has a wide range of animals of different species, birds, etc.
It is a great place to spend leisure time and enjoy nature’s beauty with animals. Children also enjoy roaming this place and spending time with the animals. This place also encourages children to learn animal farming. In other words, this place is also referred to as “children’s farm”. The Farm also provides information about extinct animals for children’s recreation.
This “children’s farm” also provides an education facility to children and students, regarding animal management, forestry, and arboriculture, styling various events, floristry, garden designing, and horticulture.
The Farm remains open daily from noon to 03:30 pm, except Wednesdays. And yes, the entry fee for this farm is free! So, if you visit Crystal Palace Park, never forget to miss this place.
11. Brown and Green Life Café—Crystal Palace Park
Getting for a day out and not enjoying desserts, doesn’t go well right! So, to also complete your day, here is another most delightful place to visit in the south London borough is the Brown and Green Café, located in Crystal Palace Park. This is the most wonderful place where you can taste delightful coffee, cakes, and snacks.
Every people especially the one who loves the dessert while outing with families and friends must visit this relaxing place, and make their day more memorable.
Final Note
Overall we can say that Crystal Palace Park is the heart of the London city, situated in the southern part of the London Borough Bromley. It is an excellent masterpiece of glass walls, founded by Sir Joseph Architects, in 1997.
It has many things inside to explore and refresh. Simultaneously, this park provides us with every single pleasure of life, starting from historical stories, sports and activities, foods and restaurants, antique items, boating facilities, thrilling maze, and also loving and taking care of animals.
In one word we can say that this park is a single masterpiece that has an all-in-one facility. Visitors and travellers must visit this place to enjoy the ultimate feelings of life.
Also, read—7 Best Places To Visit Near London
