Holland Park Notting Hill & West London

This handsome park divides into dense woodland in the north, spacious and inviting lawns by Holland House, sports fields in the south, and some lovely gardens, including the restful Kyoto Garden. The park’s splendid peacocks are a gorgeous sight and a playground keeps kids occupied. Holland House – largely bombed to smithereens by the Luftwaffe in 1940 – is the venue of Opera Holland Park in summer. The former Commonwealth Institute, with its very distinctive 1960s copper-covered, hyperbolic­ parabaloid roof, just south of the park, now houses the nifty Design Museum.