The best places to see cherry blossom in London this Spring

Just beyond the cricket pitch in Greenwich Park is a road of bursting cherry trees that leads you straight to a Georgian villa called Ranger’s House. The tangled branches create a candyfloss arch that makes every pic look like the backdrop of a Lawrence Alma-Tadema painting. Careful not to slip on the magenta carpet of mushed petals. The park now has even more blooms. It just introduced a new ‘valley of blossom’, planting 130 prunus ‘sekiyama’ cherry trees sourced straight from Japan. You can see them along the hillside between the Grand Ascent – aka the climb up to the Royal Observatory – and One Tree Hill. 

Best for: sheer prettiness, combined with vistas over London

Park Row, SE10 8XJ

Walk through the Chester Road entrance and (if you’re lucky enough to catch them) you’ll find an avenue belted by tall white Sunset Boulevard-variety cherry blossoms. When the light hits, they’re all ‘Mr DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up’. For more cherry-chasing, hit the south end of Avenue Gardens, where a cluster of pink trees hang over the path like a big bubblegum cloud.

Best for: oh-so-glamorous white blooms

Chester Rd, NW1 4NR

The best way to see the ostentatious blooms of St James’s Park is to travel in full circle. At Storey’s Gate, you’ll meet a clique of eight or so pink trees; keep walking to the Buckingham Palace side to find elegant cherries leaning over the lake. They are among the first to flower most years, so go as soon as the season gets underway to see the petals before they fall.

Best for: blooms fit for a queen 

Horse Guards Parade, SW1A 2BJ

It often gets overlooked in favour of the eight Royal Parks around the city, but Battersea Park has loads going for it, with Thamesside views, an art gallery and a zoo to discover around its 200 acres. And it also has a rather lovely Spring Tree Walk, where you can glimpse views of Battersea Power Station’s 100-metre-tall chimneys among the blushing pink petals. 

Best for: gorgeous blooms with a modernist backdrop

Queenstown Rd, SW11 4NJ

London is full of places to see cherry blossom without opening your wallet. But seasoned botanists and bloom-fanciers will still be tempted to get a ticket to Kew Gardens, and the spectacular sights of the Cherry Walk. You'll find it starting at the Rose Garden at the back of Palm House, which is home to a graceful arc of Japanese cherries. Two parallel rows with 15 trees apiece form a blushing runway to Temperate House. 

Best for: warming up in the greenhouse afterwards

Royal Botanic Gardens, TW9 3AB. £16-£24

How do you know it’s spring in London? When the pale rosy pom-poms on the tree outside St Paul’s Cathedral make an appearance. They popped early in previous years, so to be on the safe side visit soon if you’re after a petal-framed picture of the dome. 

Best for: a spring sightseeing jaunt

St Paul's Churchyard, EC4M 8AD

West London is steeped in sakura during cherry-blossom season. Many of the fancy pastel homes of Notting Hill Gate are fronted by branches covered in flamingo florets. But you’ll get grumpy looks for draping yourself over the gable end of a mansion for photo ops. Instead, try Kensington Gardens. Start at Lancaster Gate where you’ll be greeted by blooms and walk to the Albert Memorial, which has six big, blowsy pink trees nearby.

Best for: an oh-so-refined spring stroll

Lancaster Gate, W2 2UH

The Kyoto Gardens in Holland Park was built to celebrate the Japan Festival held in London and across the UK in 1991. It’s home to koi carp, a little bridge at the foot of a waterfall and, you guessed it – cherry blossom. It’s no Hirosaki Park, but it’s a beautiful, unusually tranquil pocket of London that's always at its best in spring. 

Best for: an authentically Japanese experience

Ilchester Place, W8 6LU

A line of skinny cherry trees point straight towards Ally Pally. It’s not the most abundant collection of blossoms in the city, but there are plenty of green patches where you can settle in for a hanami (flower viewing) picnic.

Best for: a good hike, with spectacular views over London

Alexandra Palace Way, N22 7AY

The arborealness of N8 is too often overlooked, but the area usually has some healthy blossoms to offer come April. Just around the corner from Hornsey Town Hall (and Flashback Records, fyi) is Cecile Park, a road lined with pink prunus ‘kanzan’. The billowing trees transform it into one of London’s prettiest streets. 

Best for: marvelling at a classic Victorian suburban street at its very prettiest

Cecile Park, N89AS

London's newest major park sprung up in the aftermath of the Olympics. So its recently-planted blossom garden isn't the biggest or longest established in the city, but it's still well worth seeking out this collection of 33 trees (one for each London borough), which include native hawthorn and crab apple alongside cherry.