There are numerous parks in London and all of them are beautiful and unique. International tourists who travel to London usually visit Hyde Park, Green Park, Regent’s Park or others close to the city centre, while the largest royal park in London, where you can feel wild, is ignored by some of the international visitors due to its distance from the centre.
Even though Richmond Park is not located between other touristic attractions in the central area, you can get there easily using public transports or by car.
You can get the District line to the Richmond’s tube station or you can get there by bus, it highly depends on where you are coming from. The easiest way to plan your journey is using the TFL website.
Richmond Park is a site of both national and international importance for wildlife conservation.
You can walk around the park, enjoy the nature and watch wild deers. There are 650 deers, 300 red and 350 fallow deer. They have been resident since 1529, when the site was a deer-hunting park.
It was a sunny and hot Sunday when I went there for the first time. The park was very crowded. I walked around, but I couldn’t find any deer and I went back home a little disappointed. I found it discouraging at that time and I thought that wild deers homing in London should be fake or a fantasy story.
After that, I have gone to Richmond Park a couple of times and I found a group of deers as soon as I strolled into it. I was so excited because I could walk very close to the group. They seemed so friendly, calm and comfortable to have humans walking around their authority. I was trying to get as close as I could to take photos, even though I was told that 100 metres was a safe distance from deers. Also, you should keep in your mind that during the annual autumn rutting season they could become more violent. Thus, the message to parents is to keep your eyes on your children who like to run towards wild and horny stags.
Richmond Park is home to other mammals such as squirrels as well as deer, though they may not be as obvious, according to the Richmond Park’s official website.
When you walk through the park, deers would obviously grab your attention, and you might not notice birds around you. It has been reported that 144 bird species have lived in the park over the last decade including native woodpeckers, kestrels, owls and a range of waterfowl.
Richmond park isn’t only about watching animals, but it is about enjoying the unique nature. You can find the oldest and largest trees, particularly ancient oaks around the park.
Some of the trees are really huge and you can’t just walk by without taking photos or paying considerable attention to them. The old trees and associated decaying wood help nationally endangered species of fungi, as well as a significant range of nationally scarce invertebrates such as the cardinal click beetle and the stag beetle.
You can bring your mat and picnic basket to the park, because Richmond Park is one of the most favourite spots for picnics in London. Here is where you can get away from the urban development while you are still not far from the city.
