Since I live on the doorstep of Greenwich Park, it has always been my favourite park in London, but up until last weekend I’d never stepped foot in Richmond Park and now I think it’s taken the top spot for its delightfully bucolic setting (sorry Greenwich!).
There are eight royal parks in London, and the biggest and arguably the best is Richmond Park in south-west London. I’d been meaning to go for years, the closest I got to it was Kew Gardens which is incredibly beautiful with a splendid variety of manicured gardens, but Richmond Park in contrast is a vast expanse of wilderness.
During lockdown I decided to buy a bike and it’s probably the best thing I’ve ever spent money on. Why I didn’t get one sooner is something I’ll try not to beat myself up about. I never anticipated the feeling of freedom it offers on top of the physical benefits too. So with a new bike in tow, I decided to hop on the Overground to Clapham and cycle to Richmond Park from there, taking approximately 30-minutes.
Deer watching
Less than 5-minutes being inside the park I spotted a huge deer with a mane like a lion, it was bigger than any deer I’d seen in Greenwich Park, and unlike the ones in Greenwich which can only be seen from behind a fence, it was roaming free as nature intended. I pressed the brakes and hopped off my bike to get a closer look while it grazed among the foliage but stayed a safe distance away. It appeared completely unfazed by the people around, clearly it was used to sharing the park with humans.
As I made my way around the park I spotted more and more deer, most were in groups and, like me, seemed to be basking happily under the warm rays of the sun. I even saw some gracefully wandering knee-deep into the lake, it truly felt like I was on a wilderness safari, not just mere miles away from the hustle of central London.
Cycling around Richmond Park
With endless scenic views and not a car in sight, Richmond Park is fantastic for cycling. Initially, I was going to leave my bike at home so I could explore the park by foot, but taking the bike proved to be an excellent choice since it’s so big there was no way I would’ve seen it all on foot in the few hours I had. Cycling meant I could cruise along and hop off at any attractions I spotted along the way.
The circumference of the park is 7 miles long and some of the sections are tougher than others with a few short but challenging hills to feel your muscles getting a good work out. It’s the perfect place to come if you’re training for longer rides like London to Brighton – you’d need to do 7 and a half laps to replicate the distance FYI! Maybe that’s something I’ll work towards! There are also lots of other routes to do which involve cutting through the middle of the park and spiraling off down smaller paths.
Isabella Plantations
I’d seen pictures of Isabella Garden brimming with pink and red rhododendrons, apparently the best you’ll find in London so I was excited to go inside. It’s a garden within Richmond Park so I locked up my bike and headed inside.
Unfortunately, I discovered the best time to go is April and May when the rhododendrons are in full bloom, by early September there were only a few remanence of red but nonetheless it was a tranquil oasis with lovely waterways, trails, trees and flowers. And now I have more reasons to return, eh?
London panorama – including St Pauls
I made my way to the western edge of the park, locked up my bike again and walked the rest of the way up to catch the views of London from Richmond Park’s highest point. There’s a telescope, and at first it’s a bit confusing because it points towards a beautiful leafy panorama. However, I couldn’t see any skyscrapers which indicted it wasn’t pointing central – and where was the famous view of St Pauls?
With the help of a passerby I realised that I needed to swing the telescope in the opposite direction through a wrought iron fence with a hole in the middle, and voilà! St. Paul’s appeared. With the naked eye you can’t actually see it, so it’s a pleasant surprise when you do. The view is considered so important that developers aren’t actually allowed to build any tall buildings that might get in the way – much to the chagrin of urban developers I’m sure.
You might also like: Best Parks to visit in London – City Escapes
Are you planning a trip to Richmond Park?
One Response
Well done finding this (secret-like?) spot, and though you’re right that St. Paul’s is now only really visible by telescope, it’s still pretty special how this sightline has been preserved though time, and how at least the telescope’s view itself hasn’t changed for over three centuries. There are many parts of London – metropolis that it is – where you wouldn’t know you’re in a city, and to me this is one of them.