Holland Park Kensington

Holland Park is a beautifully kept park in Kensington which also serves Chelsea as the nearest larger park, it spread across 54 acres of what used to be the grounds of Cope Castle, a large Jacobean mansion hidden in the woods.  I have done many great shoots here with families based in Notting Hill and Kensington and Chelsea.

Pros

It’s free to go in and has some really lovely wild areas of natural growth woodland to explore.  It is particularly good for little people as there are lots of low fences for them to hold onto.  It’s easy to walk around with great backdrops of trees, walks in the flower beds, gates to climb, pillars to hide behind and gorgeous tree lined paths to run up and down.

Cons

The car park is a bit pricey here but at weekends you can park on the road just outside for free after midday I think..  It can get a bit busy here at peak times which can make it hard to find spots to take shots in.  If you avoid these peak times then it’s fine.  Coffee here isn’t the best but fine in the absence of anything else.

Best times to go

All year round is good here as it has a good mixture of deciduous and non deciduous trees and man made interest for the shots.

Logistics

The car park is on the West side of the park near the bottom and always has loads of space available.  It can be reached relatively easily from the tube Holland Park on the North side which is on the central line.  Map