Arcadia England

By Savanah Sellars

It doesn’t matter if you are in London for four weeks or an entire semester, you don’t need a complicated and pricey gym membership to stay in shape during your time here. Wanting to sightsee, explore Royal Parks, or go to a part of London you have yet to discover? It’s easy to do all of those things while on a run through the city! Here are the five best places to run for non-locals/temporary residents. These places are easy to get to via public transportation, simple to find, and best of all, let you see something you’ll only experience while in London!

Your legs will burn. Every fiber in your calves, quads and glutes will be on fire from the moment you trek up your first hill.

But every minute will be worth it. Upon entering the grassy land and trees of Hampstead Heath, you will forget you’re in a large metropolis city.  The large overhanging trees provide protection from the sun and a scenic view. The grass is a lush green, making the entire route feel alive and vibrant. Hampstead Heath is serene, filled with people doing yoga, walking dogs and exercising. It is also remarkably filled with continuous rolling hills. 

To keep the run interesting, Hampstead Heath is packed with 55 historical features, such as the mysterious Tumulus, an unsuspecting mound of green earth, thought to be a battlefield or burial ground, or the Wyldes Farmhouse, a wooden farmhouse that has been host to the likes of Charles Dickens and Thomas Tooley.

With paved, grass and mud/dirt trails covering over 800 acres, someone could spend all day running up and down Hampstead Heath. But for a nice route, you can begin at the lido and follow the path past The Mansion and up to the top of Prospect Hill and back, for an approximate five-mile run – depending on how many hill intervals you choose to run in between. 

Towards the end of your run, pass through the Parliament Fields to find Kite Hill. While it might seem daunting to get to the top, it is easily the best view of the entire city London.

Hampstead Heath (cityoflondon.gov.uk/hampstead, 020 7606 3030). Entry to Hampstead Heath Running Trails is free. Open from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week.

Parliament Hill Track

Parliament Hill Track is a community center for people of all ages. And while traveling in a foreign country, the feeling of community is irreplaceable. If you’re looking for a flat running route to enjoy with local residents, you can head on over to the Parliament Hill Track. Simple to get to from the Belsize Park tube station, nothing about running at Parliament Hill Track is a complicated experience. 

When you arrive at the standard 400-meter track, children playing on the nearby playground will greet you, youth running teams will be practicing, and you will even see pick-up games of rugby in the center field. But even on the busiest of evening, the track always has an open and welcoming lane in which you can run.

Though perhaps not a quiet area to run, the skyline of London is on the left and the grassy woodlands of Hampstead Heath is on the right, providing quite the view while running in circles. 

Hampstead Heath Parliament Hill Track (cityoflondon.gov.uk/hampstead, 020 7606 3030). Entry costs from £2.10 per person for students and £3.50 for adults. Open daily from 7.30am until 30 minutes before park closing. More detailed rates and times are available online.

The Regent’s Park

The Regent’s Park, which Henry VIII acquired for use as a hunting ground, is, much like its name, regal and governing with its presence.  Just over two miles from Thoresby House, Arcadia Student Housing, Regent’s Park is one of the largest green spaces and most convenient of the Royal Parks for many Arcadia Students. 

The many routes of The Regent’s Park provide a perfect place to run for people of all ability levels. 

For a flat, less than three-mile run, you can run the outer loop of the park. It is there you will likely find the only gun you’ll see while in London, held by a guard posted outside of the exquisite US Ambassador’s living quarters, Winfield House. The Winfield House, on 12 acres of land, is a mansion, oozing prestige and posh-ness, with its large arches and White House-esque style architecture.

While the website has a six-mile route mapped out, the trails can be difficult to follow. It is sometimes easier to get lost sightseeing and running around the park. When you’re ready for your run to come to an end, just stay running in any one direction and within a mile, you are guaranteed to hit a main road or the outside loop, which will take you right to public transport.

The Regent’s Park (royalparks.org.uk/parks/the-regents-park, 0300 061 2300). Entry is free. Open 5am all year round. Closing times vary depending on the season.

Hyde Park

To enjoy a run through the city without the hassle of traffic and crosswalks, you can run in Hyde Park. Just one block away from Harrods, a run through Hyde Park won’t feel like an escape from the metropolis area, but rather a scenic city run.

If you run the loop around the ponds, The Long Water and The Serpentine, you can get a two mile run in, while seeing people in paddle boats, families playing together, people eating in the cafes.  While running southwest along the pond, you can enjoy the view of the London Eye, for a run you can only experience while in London.

Like Regent’s Park, Hyde Park also has many interweaving trails throughout the park. You can run past many memorials, statues and gardens, such as the expansive Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, the Statue of Achilles, and the Holocaust Memorial Garden, without ever becoming lost or far away from a main road.

For a longer run, continue past Hyde Park into Kensington Gardens, Green Park and St. James park for a full tour of many of the Royal Parks, all which connect at different points.

Hyde Park (royalparks.org.uk/parks/hyde-park, 0300 061 2000). Entry is free. Open 5am to midnight all year round.

Your own front door

Sometimes, there’s no need to go to a park or notable location for an exciting run in London. It’s been said time and time again that the best way to see London is by bike or on foot, and as Arcadia students, we all conveniently live in the bustling zone one of London, so why not run and explore the area you temporarily call home.

For Thoresby House residents, take a right onto City Road to find the infamous King’s Cross Station. The cathedral style architecture and reference in Harry Potter with Platform 9 and ¾ will have you wanting to stop and take a picture.

Or, you can take a left to head towards trendy Shoreditch. It’s just over a mile to get to Brick Lane, and other areas covered in street art and pop-up shops.

If you’re more interested in sightseeing, it’s just three miles to Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, and four miles to Kensington Gardens.

Don’t waste your zone-one living. You can get a great run in while seeing some of the most inspiring sites London has to offer, all in your very own neighborhood. If you’re really up for a long run/adventure, you are within running distance to all of the previous mentioned locations on this list!