Kensington Gardens began life as Henry VIII's hunting ground before Queen Caroline carved it from Hyde Park in 1728 as Kensington Palace's private garden, open only on Saturdays to the "respectably dressed." The 270-acre Royal Park still closes at sunset each evening, reverting to the private grounds of its palace residents.

J. M. Barrie lived nearby and drew so much inspiration from the gardens that he set Peter Pan here before Neverland, then commissioned the famous statue himself in 1912. Prince Albert imported the Italian Gardens' design from the royal holiday home on the Isle of Wight as a gift to Queen Victoria in 1860. And if you hear a shriek overhead, look up: wild parakeets have colonised the treetops.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours trace Kensington Gardens' royal origins from Henry VIII to Princess Diana, uncovering the story behind Peter Pan's statue, the Italian Gardens' Isle of Wight connection, and the graffiti inside Queen Caroline's Temple dating to 1821.