Hyde Park Corner

The streets that converge at the corner include Park Lane, Grosvenor Place, Piccadilly, Knightsbridge and Constitution Hill. It is easily reached via the tube to Hyde Park Corner Station and thankfully a number of pedestrian tunnels allow visitors to safely cross the high-trafficked roads that surround the traffic island.

There are tons of memorials and monuments at Hyde Park Corner. The centerpiece is the Wellington Arch, also known as Constitution Arch. A memorial to the Duke of Wellington, this grand monument was designed by Decimus Burton and was to serve as a triumphal gateway to London and as a northern gate to the grounds of Buckingham Palace. Atop the arch sits a statue by Adrian Jones, sculpted in 1912 and known as "The Angel of Peace Descending on the Quadriga of Victory".
Another monument dedicated to the Duke of Wellington is an equestrian statue showing the duke on his favorite horse, Copenhagen.

There are also several World War I and II memorials at Hyde Park Corner such as the Machine Gun Corps Memorial, designed by Francis Derwent Wood and erected in 1925 to honor those members of the corps who died during World War I. It's sometimes called the "Boy David" monument because atop it sits a statue of the young David leaning on the sword of Goliath.

Also located on the traffic island is the Royal Artillery Memorial, dedicated to Royal Artillery members who died in the Great War. It was dedicated in 1925 as well. There's also the Australian War Memorial and the New Zealand War Memorial, built in homage to the men and women of those countries that died during World War I and II.

The Hyde Park Corner Screen sits on a separate traffic island, between Piccadilly Arcade and Hyde Park. It is a 33 meter (107ft) wide gate with three arches connected by an Ionic colonnade. The gate was designed in 1825 by Decimus Burton as an entrance to Hyde Park.

Another gate, the Queen Elizabeth Gate, can be found on yet another traffic island, at the boundary of Hyde Park and Hyde Park Corner. Built in 1993 to honor Queen Elisabeth II, it is made of stainless steel and bronze. The gate gets its colors not from paint but from heat and natural oxidation.

The 18th century Apsley House, which sits next to the Hyde Park Screen, was once the residence of Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington. Today the building houses a museum dedicated to the duke, who is best known as the leader of the British forces who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo with the help of Prussian forces. The museum houses a collection of paintings from masters such as Velázquez, Goya, van Dyck, Teniers and the American painter John Singleton Copley. Some of the furniture and objects that once belonged to the Duke of Wellington are also on display, most notably a 3 meter tall nude statue of Napoleon.