London Times | Chiswick House and Gardens

My sister has Friday's off from work, so we set out that morning for a nice walk along the Thames via the Chiswick Mall. It was a perfect morning - a little cloudy with an occasional glimpse of the sun.



The walkway, or Mall along the river was dotted with pubs, restaurants and private houses with beautiful gardens.




Most of the gardens were in a strip of land between the river's retaining wall and the walkway. The house would then be located across the street - you had to cross the street and the walkway to get to your garden. Because of this arrangement, most of the gardens were tucked behind gates and privacy hedges.





There are a couple of river access points along the walk - the girls took their cousins down to the muddy banks by mistake (the adults were lagging behind) and subsequently turned back when they realized how muddy it was, but there was an adventurous group of students exploring down along the banks.


We caught a sculling team practicing:


We headed away from the river to the Chiswick House Gardens where we enjoyed lunch outside and the kids played in the playground.


The Chiswick House itself was closed, but the gardens are so nice it didn't matter. The gardens were created in the 18th century and served as inspiration for other grand gardens such as New York's Central Park.
Water flows through the center of the gardens, home to several new families:

Egyptian Ducks:


Then there was the amazing conservatory and formal Italian Gardens in front:


In a large city, Chiswick House and Gardens is a perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle of the crowds. We really enjoyed our visit.