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As the temperatures finally start to rise after another frigid winter in London, the city becomes filled with delicate, pink and white petals as the cherry blossoms return to town. These trees are beautiful when in bloom and are incredibly popular, we expect to see social media feeds – as well as our own photo galleries – overflow with pics of them every year.
Cherry blossom originates in Japan, where it is called Sakura, and is actually considered the country’s national flower. The Japanese custom of hanami, meaning ‘flower viewing’, largely revolves around cherry blossoms and many cities host their own festivals dedicated to the flowers during the blooming season. In the UK, the spirit of hanami is strong and as well as making pilgrimages to the best cherry blossom spotting sites in London (more on that below), many city-dwellers join in the Sakura-based celebrations that go down at restaurants such as KOYN, Mei Ume, Aqua Kyoto, Marugame Udon and more.
Luckily, as London has so many green spaces, it’s pretty easy to find clusters of cherry blossoms once Spring comes around. You’ll likely catch glimpses of the distinctive trees in most of the city’s Royal Parks, including Greenwich Park, Regent’s Park and St James’s Park. But you could just as easily stumble upon a pile of pink petals on some of London’s most picturesque streets, such as the ones found in Notting Hill and near St Paul’s Cathedral. Wherever you prefer to do your Sakura searching, here are the best places to find cherry blossom in London.
No surprises here – Kew Gardens is probably your best bet for cherry blossom because of the number of trees. Their Japanese varieties include Mume, Kanzan, Tai Haku and Hatazakura, which means white as well as pink blooms.
There’s a whole avenue of trees to walk through by Ranger’s House in Greenwich Park, so when they’re in bloom you get a full canopy of cherry blossom for your ‘gram.
Head to Cherry Tree Avenue in Wandsworth’s King George’s Park for a very aesthetically pleasing stroll. It turns spectacularly pink during the Spring months making it almost impossible to pass by without taking a photo.
Your best bet for blossoms in Kensington Gardens is by Lancaster Gate and the Albert Memorial – the latter is where the Japanese Society Conversation Group has had cherry blossom viewing parties so it must be a good spot!
Photo: @urbanheartlondon
It’s worth walking all the way up to Ally Pally as you’ve got about thirty trees to choose from and plenty of green spaces to kick back and admire them from, not to mention a pretty bangin’ view of the city too.
Notting Hill is another great hood to head to for cherry blossoms. Again you won’t find a load of trees grouped together but if you angle it right, you’ll get pink flowers framing those pretty pastel coloured houses.
Photo: @chicplasir
St James’s Park may not have great clusters of cherry blossoms but the individual trees it does have are picture perfect. Walk to the Buckingham Palace side of the park to see some leaning over by by the lake and there’s also another burst of blooms by Storey’s Gate in front of the Treasury.
Photo: @sequinsandcherryblossoms
A perfect pink cherry blossom in front of a London landmark, it doesn’t get much better than that. There aren’t that many trees around the cathedral but you can find the best ones in St Paul’s Churchyard on the south side of the building.
You’ll find the odd cherry blossom tree around the streets of Primrose Hill but if you head by St Mark’s Church you’ll get the bonus of a beaut building for your backdrop.
Photo: @whatalicedidnext
There are blossoms scattered all over Regent’s Park so you won’t have any trouble getting a good snap, but Avenue Gardens and Chester Road (which was restored to its full glory after a sponsorship campaign) are the best spots.
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Put the kettle on!