Central Park / photo by Mark Heard
City parks offer a great escape from cars and the pavement. The cities in our list each provide a green oasis in an urban setting. Take a look at some of the biggest and most diverse park systems in the world.
New York City - Central Park
The credit for Central Park belongs to many individuals. Evening Post editor William Cullen Bryant called for its creation in 1844. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux provided the plan - winning a public design competition.
The project took 20 years to complete. Live concerts, boating, running, cycling, museums, restaurants - Central Park has so many things to do that you will find it hard to make time for the rest of the city. Check out the Central Park Conservancy for free walking tours.
Dublin - Phoenix Park
When in Dublin, tear yourself away from the Guinness factory to visit Phoenix Park and its gardens, monuments, and wildlife. This enclosed urban park (the largest in Europe) is a former royal hunting ground with a large herd of wild deer.
It was enclosed to keep the wildlife on the hunting grounds. It has been open to the public since 1745.
Chapultepec Park / photo by Leonardo, easthastings
Mexico City - Chapultepec Park
Located in the same spot as a former summer residence for Aztec rulers, Chapultepec Park is a popular spot, with 1800 acres, several lakes, forested land, museums, and the residence of the President of Mexico. This park also includes Chapultepec Castle, which serves as the National History Museum.
South Mountain Park / photo by John-Morgan
Phoenix, Arizona - South Mountain Park
With 16,283 acres, this is the largest city park in the United States. The land making up South Mountain Park was purchased and developed throughout the 20’s and 30’s.
South Mountain Park is part of the Sonoran desert, with 58 miles of trails available to hikers and bikers. Look for petroglyphs throughout the park. A trail guide is available online.
Santiago, Chile - Metropolitan Park
In downtown Santiago there is a 1785 acre park with tiered gardens, swimming pools, a zoo, a 45 feet tall statue of the the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, and panoramic views of the city. Metropolitan Park is also called San Cristobal Hill - named by conquistadors for St. Christopher.
Bitsevsky Park / photo by kygp
Moscow - Bitsevsky Park
This park offers a huge open area to get away from the city. It is the place in Moscow to go cycling in the summer and skiing in the winter. Don’t be put off by stories of a serial killer who used the park for his amusement from 2001 to 2006.
Philadelphia - Fairmount Park
Claiming to be within walking distance of every Philadelphia resident, Fairmount Park is a park system with 63 different sections. The largest chunk is along the Schuylkill River, offering fishing and paddling opportunities in addition to the usual park activities.
Stanley Park / photo by SqueakyMarmot
Vancouver - Stanley Park
Linked to downtown Vancouver by a series of biking and pedestrian routes, Stanley Park is easily accessible. It contains the Vancouver Aquarium, formal gardens, forest, beaches, and numerous sculptures and monuments scattered over 1000 acres. Start by renting a bicycle near the entrance and riding along the 10 km perimeter seawall. The seawall is a stone wall built to prevent erosion along the shore. Now it is the park’s most used facility.
Denver
With over 200 parks within the city, Denver has the largest park system within the United States. And with 300 days of sunshine each year, there is no bad time to visit. Start with Washington Park, City Park, and Cheesman Park.
Kings Park / photo by g-hat
Perth, Australia - Kings Park
Kings Park is my best memory from my visit to Perth. Many others probably feel the same, since it is the most popular visitor destination in Western Australia. Go walk among the treetops on the Lotterywest Federation Walkway, then just wander towards whatever catches your eye.
In the comments below, share the best city parks you’ve visited!
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17 Comments... join the discussion!
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Great list!! I had an excellent siesta in Chapultepec Park between flights in Mexico
I'd also recommend Englischer Garten in Munich
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What about Edmonton: "Edmonton's river valley constitutes the longest stretch of connected urban parkland in North America" (Wikipedia)
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Chapultepec Park is incredible! I live in Mexico City for part of the year, and I'd contend that in addition to its attractiveness as a green oasis, it's a wonderful place to see locals and experience a slice of their lives. Ted- really appreciate the international focus in this article.
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I lived in Arizona for a year and I can't believe I missed South Mountain Park! Thanks for the info, this is definitely a note-to-self I'm keeping with me.
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Loving the Vancouver mention. Take a walk in Stanley Park and it's like wandering into a Lord of the Rings movie…
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How could you leave Griffith Park in Los Angeles off this list? It's 5 times the size of Central Park in NYC and a lot more diverse. From the park's website: "With over 4,210 acres of both natural chapparal-covered terrain and landscaped parkland and picnic areas, Griffith Park is the largest municipal park with urban wilderness area in the United States. Situated in the eastern Santa Monica Mountain range, the Park’s elevations range from 384 to 1,625 feet above see level. With an arid climate, the Park’s plant communities vary from coastal sage scrub, oak and walnut woodlands to riparian vegetation with trees in the Park’s deep canyons. The California native plants represented in Griffith Park include the California species of oak, walnut, lilac, mountain mahagony, sages, toyon, and sumac. Present, in small quantities, are the threatened species of manzanita and berberis."
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The Parque Lezama in Buenos Aires, Argentina is a beautiful and impressive municiple park. I particularly remember the zen garden with bridges, Banzai's, and it's giant pond full of massive swarms of frenzied Koy…
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Wonderful list! Visiting the local parks is one of my favorite things to do when I find myself in a new city. I'm headed to Mexico City soon and can't wait to check out Chapultepec Park.
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I think it is more like 5,000 acres. Close, though.
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Santiago's San Cristobal Hill Metropolitan Park, with 1785 acre park with tiered gardens is ranked among the top-five biggest urban parks in the world (in downtown). it’s a total scenic outdoors city, few frantic globalised metropolises have beaches and ski resorts by an hour driving distance. It’s also one of the safest capitals in The Americas, because I can still walk for fun by midnight, safely. Locally, It has a pleasant Mediterranean climate that brings great wine fields around and plenty of sun during 7 months a year (spring/summer/fall), with no need to spend on A/C for a family there. A MUST GO!
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Link for Santiago de Chile's Metropolitan Park in the world's southernmost country capital. http://www.parquemet.cl
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Nice list with some wonderful photos. No London parks on the list though, there are many beautiful parks here, people often use Hyde Park as the one to choose, but:
Richmond park: also a royal park, is the largest park in London, much larger than central park or hyde park (at 955 hectares - 2360 acres), with a notable deer population its a great place to run/walk/cycle or generally relax, especially in the summer.
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Edmonton? Meh, the North Saskatchewan River valley parks system is mostly water. How about going south to some of the singularly big municipal parks, some of the biggest in the world… Calgary, Canada’s Fish Creek Park (13.5 square kilometers, ‘over three times the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park’ ~ Wikipedia) and Nose Hill Park (12 square kilometers, all land with no large bodies of water).
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helloo! what about Lazienki Park in Warsaw?
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