Welcome to yet another post where I document living in London throughout the different seasons of the year. Last time, I covered the Christmas period. Today, I’d like to share with you the sights of London in early 2025, as the British capital was slowly coming back to life in preparation for spring. It’s only been three months since the start of the year, but it felt like a lot longer! So, if you’d like to see what London looked like in early 2025 – this post is for you. Enjoy!

Nature coming back to life

Let’s start this photo journey with the nature waking up after winter. I found some clusters of snowdrops on one of my walks in early January. That’s right – as soon as Christmas is gone, London parks start to blossom and prepare for spring.

During the same walk I accidentally discovered a hidden garden in Hyde Park, with a small river cutting through it. I don’t know why I never saw it before, despite visiting Hyde Park dozens of times. The whole area of that small garden is inaccessible, behind a fence, which probably helps to keep it neat and pretty. There’s a small waterfall at the far end of the stream, though you can’t see it well in the photo. I found that garden really cute, and it looked really green and fresh for January!

In February, I found some small fields of white and purple crocuses in the heart of Kensington Gardens, right next to the Albert Memoral and Royal Albert Hall. They were super pretty, and I was delighted to see that most of them were intact and no one had decided to walk on them, like some people do.

My parents’ favourite place in London is the rose garden in Regent’s Park. In February, the flower beds are quite bare, with rose bushes trimmed for winter. However, I did find some early bloomers too!

In the first half of March, I spotted the first magnolia flowers preparing to blossom. Magnolias are some of my favourite trees, and I always wish the flowers stayed around for longer.

London wildlife

I’ve probably said it way too many times by now, but I’m always stunned by the variety of wildlife in London. It certainly doesn’t feel like one of the most populated cities in Europe! Aside from the numerous grey squirrels and green parakeets, London parks have many more inhabitants.

Foxes have a bad reputation, which I never understood. They’re such beautiful, majestic creatures! I spotted this amazing fox in St James’s Park, just a stone’s throw away from Buckingham Palace. It was sat under a tree in a fenced-off part of a lawn, and not many people seemed to see it, even though it was peak time on Saturday.

St James’s Park is also famous for its resident pelicans, and I managed to capture a nice photo of a pair of them.

All London parks with a large pond have loads of waterfowl. When I visited Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens – two adjacent parks in central London – I saw a variety of geese, a majestic-but-grumpy-looking heron, and a cute, tiny robin. I also saw a lot of swans, and one of them decided to strike a really flattering pose for the photo.

I also visited Holland Park, famous for the Japanese garden, but also the resident peacock. He didn’t decide to showcase his tail this time. Maybe next time!

I also popped into the Design Museum, located just outside of Holland Park. I don’t know why I never went inside before! There is a small free-to-visit exhibition, worth seeing if you happen to be around – you won’t need much time for it.

Canary Wharf – Winter Lights Festival

At the end of January, I went to see the Winter Lights festival in Canary Wharf in East London. It’s a free event, and I missed it last year. This time, I made sure to put it in my calendar! I enjoyed the various installations and was impressed by how well the event was organised, with lots of signposts in the area and staff handing out printed maps of the festival installations. You can read more about Canary Wharf Winter Lights here.

Japan House food replica exhibition

I also visited the food replica exhibition in Japan House. I couldn’t believe how realistic the models looked! The exhibition has now ended, but you can read about it in this blog post. It’s worth keeping an eye on Japan Houses’s website, as there might be other free events coming up in the future.

Visiting urban farms – Mudchute, Vauxhall

Some of my favourite places in London are the urban farms. They let me forget about the hustle and bustle of a city and I always find it incredibly relaxing to hand-feed the sheep and pet the goats and cows. The baby brown cow is one of my favourites in Mudchute City Farm, while the alpacas are the stars of Vauxhall Farm. Both farms are free to visit, which makes them a great idea for a day out.

If you’d like to learn more about Mudchute Farm, I wrote a blog post about it!

Walks in Central London

Naturally, I visited central London a few times and walked through some of the most popular places, including Covent Garden – adorned with colourful flowers, ready for spring.

I also visited Sky Garden, which is one of the must-see places if you’re visiting London. The golden hour was just starting when I got there, and it created a lovely view of Westminster, with the London Eye Ferris wheel clearly visible.

The first photo was taken with a zoom, just so you know. Sky Garden isn’t that close to Westminster. Can you spot the Big Ben near the Ferris wheel?

Just outside of Sky Garden, there’s one of London’s smallest sculptures. I had never seen it before, despite being in the area numerous times. However, the sculpture even has a pin on Google Maps!

It’s located on the side of one of the buildings next to Sky Garden, about 5 metres above the ground, and depicts two mice carrying a block of cheese. How cute!

Also in the City of London, in February there was a temporary street art event that included a few unique installations scattered around the area. My favourite was this huge, metal witch’s hut. Really impressive! It was hidden in an obscure alley between some skyscrapers, which is a shame – I don’t think many people came across it.

I also visited Canary Wharf, which now has a refurbished riverside area with some humanoid grass sculptures.

God’s Own Junkyard

At the end of February, I finally visited one of the most unique places in London. I had known about it for a long time, but never visited it – mainly because of the location, far from the centre of the city. It took me a while to get there, but it was so, so worth it!

The place I’m talking about is called the God’s Own Junkyard. It’s a small art gallery, entirely focused on neon signs, run by a family of neon artists. It has hundreds, if not thousands of neon signs, big and small. The venue is just covered in them.

God’s Own Junkyard is entirely free to visit, but it’s open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only. They have a small cafe/bar on site, and I enjoyed a cup of coffee there. I will definitely visit it again and take my family there when they visit me in London.

Showtime

This winter, I had a chance to see Fawlty Towers at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End. I had seen the Fawlty Towers TV series many times, and despite it being 50 (!) years old now, I still think it’s one of the best comedy shows ever. I watched as a child on Polish TV channels, and then appreciated it with the original audio as an adult. So, when I saw posters advertising a theatre play based on the great TV series, I knew I had to see it.

It took me quite a few months to actually go and get a ticket, but I finally had a chance to enjoy the show mid-January, and I thoroughly loved it. The acting was phenomenal, and the whole audience laughed throughout the show. 10/10!

Winter seaside trips – Hastings, Brighton

I know this post is focused on London, but I also made two trips to the seaside in the first quarter of 2025, which I’d like to mention. First, I visited Hastings, one of my favourite seaside towns in England. You can read about that trip here!

At the end of February, I visited Brighton. It was the first time in my 5.5 years of living in the UK when I got to see a beautiful sunset over the sea, it was stunning!

But the most stunning thing from the Brighton trip was seeing the starling murmuration. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Apparently, this phenomenon only happens in the winter months. Thousands of starlings fly up into the sky around sunset and dance around the Brighton pier for hours. It was a mesmerising display and I was stuck in awe, watching it with admiration. If you’re ever in Brighton between November and March – make sure to stay around until sunset to see that incredible nature spectacle!

Hello, spring!

And just like that, we got to the end of winter. Tomorrow is March 21st, the first day of astronomical spring. I hope you enjoyed seeing my photos of London (and Hastings and Brighton) from the first quarter of 2025. If you did – make sure to come back in June, when I will be posting photos from the upcoming quarter! But for now – happy spring, let’s enjoy the longer days and extra sunshine. 🙂

Also see:

• Travel