Victoria Park, East London

Open all day, Free!
If the weather is nice, and you live in East London, get to this green lung with your baby or toddler. Accessible from al Hackney Buses and walkable to from Cambridge Heath, London Fields BR, or Bethnal Green tube.

This is a lovely park. I love it. It is BIG and beautiful. For mums with small babies, it's relatively baby friendly, with small hidden areas to BF if you are confident enought to do it in public. I use the small garden area with box hedging, it's shady and secret and mainly peopled with pensioners just sitting and feeding squirrels. I've never been told to stop feeding in there. No changing area obviously, but use the grass!

The key to it is that it's great for toddlers. Not only is it lovely, well planted and well kept, with ornamental areas, a lovely range of trees and shrubs, and wild areas, but it has some great play areas, that toddlers i know would love to review if only they could write or stop playing there. Several playgrounds to choose from, some for little'uns and some for bigger un's with more dangerous lookignslides, a clean 50's style paddling lido (sit and gawp at the sheer size some of these toddlers reach, as they displace the water for others and sit there eating fried chicken in the pool. Yes, really. Had to restrain myself from shouting "for God's sake make your child exercise!" at the mother) . There's a park area with some not-too-depressed looking deer in that you can shove carrots at (although they seem to be fed on everything, probably chicken), and a one o'clock club for mums that i haven't been to. The toddlers pay area is in good nick and has a good range of toys and slides etc. It's well kept and safe.

Sure, there's some "yout" hanging round, but this park is big enough to escape them, and crucially their crap music or football playing for you to find a space with your baby. I like the secret garden area, but everyone i know has a favourite bit. Only downside is the loos, they aren't the cleanest in the world, and why would they be, but it'd help if someone looked after them and was paid to do it. There is a cafe by the boating lake, but bring your own food I say. Beware of the water: there are several lakes and ponds, but all peopled with ducks, swans and moorhens to feed, although TBH, they don't need it, they are fat anyway and the lake doesn't need more mighty white in it to attract rats.