London's spring gardens and parks are the green spaces that carry the city's best season, from the eight Royal Parks covering nearly 5,000 acres to the botanic collection at Kew and the small walled gardens most visitors never find. London holds roughly 3,000 parks in total and something close to half the city is green space, which is why it was designated a National Park City in 2019, the first in the world.
Spring is when that green space earns its reputation. The bulbs come first, daffodils and crocuses from late February, then the tulips in the formal beds through April. Cherry blossom arrives from late March and holds for about a fortnight before the wind takes it. The azaleas and rhododendrons come last, peaking in Richmond's Isabella Plantation around late April into May. So the park you should visit depends entirely on the week you are visiting in.
The problem is that the best of them are nowhere near each other. Kew sits nine miles west of Greenwich Park, and Richmond Park alone is 2,500 acres. Getting between them on public transport eats a day that should be spent looking at trees. This guide covers seven parks and gardens worth the trip, what each one actually does well in spring, when it peaks, and how to combine several into a single day. Westway Ride holds Transport for London licence 73850301 and 4.8 from 109 Google reviews.
Why spring is the season for London's parks
Timing beats everything here. A park in August is green and pleasant and much like any other park. The same park in April is doing something specific and brief, and if you miss the fortnight you miss the year.
The other advantage is space. Spring gives you the parks without the crowds that arrive the moment the temperature reaches 25°C, and it gives you the light photographers want, low and soft rather than the flat glare of midsummer. By late April there is usable daylight past 20:00, which is enough for three or four stops.
The catch is that it rains, and the parks that survive rain are the ones with glasshouses. Which is where the list starts.
Kew Gardens, the serious one
Kew is not a park. The Royal Botanic Gardens is a working scientific institution founded in 1759, holding one of the largest plant collections on earth across 300 acres, and it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. That distinction matters in spring, because Kew is planted deliberately rather than pleasantly.
The Palm House and the Temperate House are the reason it beats everywhere else on a wet day: the Temperate House is the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world and it does not care what the weather is doing. Outside, the crocus carpet comes early, the bluebell wood follows, and the cherry walk peaks in April. The Treetop Walkway puts you 18 metres up in the canopy.
It is ticketed, unlike everything else on this list, and it is worth it. Kew deserves a full day rather than an hour squeezed between other stops, and our guide to a spring day at Kew covers the site properly. The rest of the list is free.
Hyde Park, the big one
Hyde Park is 350 acres in the middle of the city, and it is the one everybody knows, which means it is underrated by people who assume they have seen it. In spring it does two things well. The Rose Garden at the Hyde Park Corner end is the best formal planting in central London and it starts moving in April. And the Serpentine, the lake Queen Caroline had dug in 1730, is where the city goes to sit down.
Speakers' Corner is at the north east, still working, still exactly as strange as advertised on a Sunday. The park runs into Kensington Gardens without a visible join, which gives you the Italian Gardens, the Albert Memorial and Kensington Palace in one walk, and most people never notice they have crossed between two parks.
It is central, so it is the easy one. The next is smaller, prettier and holds the birds.
St James's Park, the royal one
St James's Park is the oldest of the Royal Parks and, at 57 acres, close to the smallest. It is also the best. The view from the Blue Bridge back towards Buckingham Palace is the single best view in central London, and the one east towards the Horse Guards rooftops looks like a city that does not exist.
Spring is its moment because the bedding is planted for it: daffodils first, then the tulips in front of the palace end, and the whole park is designed to be looked at rather than played in. The pelicans have been here since 1664, when the Russian ambassador gave a pair to Charles II, and they are still fed in the afternoon, which is worth timing.
It joins Green Park and the Mall, so it is the walking end of royal London. For something hidden rather than famous, go west.
Holland Park and the Kyoto Garden
Holland Park is 54 acres in Kensington and it holds the best small garden in London. The Kyoto Garden opened in 1991, a gift from the city of Kyoto marking the Japan Festival, and it is a proper Japanese garden: a tiered waterfall, a koi pond, stone lanterns, and maples that do the work in both spring and autumn.
The peacocks wander it freely and have no interest in you whatsoever, which children find funnier than anything else in the park. The rest of Holland Park is woodland, sports pitches and the ruins of Holland House, bombed in 1940 and now the backdrop to an open-air opera season in summer.
It is small enough to do in an hour, which makes it the ideal second stop of a day rather than a destination. Unlike the next one, which is a destination by any measure.
Richmond Park, the wild one
Richmond Park is 2,500 acres, the largest of the Royal Parks and bigger than Hyde Park seven times over. Charles I enclosed it as a deer park in 1637 and roughly 600 red and fallow deer still live there, free roaming, which is the thing to understand before you visit: this is not a park with deer in it, it is a deer park with people in it.
The spring highlight is the Isabella Plantation, a 40 acre woodland garden inside the park, and it is the best azalea and rhododendron display in London by a wide margin. It peaks late, generally late April into May, which makes it the last act of the spring season. Keep 50 metres from the deer and keep dogs on leads near them.
King Henry's Mound holds the other curiosity: a protected sightline to St Paul's Cathedral ten miles away, established in law, with the trees kept clear so the view survives. The scale means you need to know which gate you want before you arrive, because the wrong one leaves you two miles from the Plantation. Across the river, the view runs the other way.
Greenwich Park, the one with the view
Greenwich Park is the oldest enclosed Royal Park and it earns its place on this list for one reason: the view from the hill by the Royal Observatory back across the Queen's House to the river and Canary Wharf. It is the photograph everyone takes and it deserves the reputation.
In spring the cherry avenue comes out and pairs the blossom with the skyline, which is why the park is busier in April than the rest of its year. The Prime Meridian runs through the Observatory at the top, so you can stand in both hemispheres, which is a slightly silly pleasure that nobody skips.
The park sits above the maritime buildings, the Cutty Sark and the market, so it makes a full day rather than a stop. The last one on the list is the opposite: a park most Londoners have never bothered with.
Battersea Park, the underrated one
Battersea Park is 200 acres on the south bank and it is consistently overlooked, which is exactly why it is worth the trip. The Peace Pagoda, built in 1985 by Buddhist monks and given to the park, sits facing the river and is the most peaceful spot in inner London.
The Old English Garden is the spring reason to come, a small walled garden that punches well above its size, and the boating lake and the subtropical planting fill the rest. There is a children's zoo, which settles the argument if you have brought any.
It has changed since Battersea Power Station reopened next door, so the area now has somewhere to eat, which it did not for decades. Seven parks, spread across 20 miles, which raises the only real question.
Doing several in one day
The parks are the easy part. The gaps are the problem. Kew to Greenwich is nine miles as the crow flies and well over an hour by public transport with a change, and Richmond Park's gates are a mile apart from each other. A day built around three parks on the Underground is a day mostly spent underground.
By road the geography makes sense. Kew, Richmond Park and Holland Park sit in a line west. St James's Park, Hyde Park and Battersea form a central cluster. Greenwich stands alone east and deserves its own day. A driver who knows the parks knows which gate you want, which for Richmond is the difference between arriving at the Isabella Plantation and walking two miles to it.
The practical benefit is duller and matters more: coats, picnic and wet umbrellas stay in the boot, and if it rains you swap to Kew's glasshouses without losing the day. For a day built around the sights, a guided day around the city puts a driver with you throughout. For what else the season offers, the wider spring calendar covers the events, and the best brunch in London handles the middle of the day.
Which London park is best in spring?
Kew Gardens is the best overall, because it is planted deliberately for the season and its Victorian glasshouses make it the only option that survives rain. For free alternatives, Richmond Park's Isabella Plantation has the best azaleas and St James's Park has the best formal bedding.
Are London's parks free to enter?
Yes, with one exception on this list. All eight Royal Parks, plus Holland Park and Battersea Park, are free. Kew Gardens is ticketed, because it is a botanic institution rather than a public park, and Historic Royal Palaces and Kew memberships cover repeat visits.
What is the Kyoto Garden?
The Kyoto Garden is a Japanese garden inside Holland Park, opened in 1991 as a gift from the city of Kyoto to mark the Japan Festival. It has a tiered waterfall, a koi pond, stone lanterns and maples, and free-roaming peacocks that pay visitors no attention at all.
When does cherry blossom peak in London?
Blossom arrives from late March and peaks across April, holding for roughly a fortnight before wind and rain end it. Greenwich Park and Regent's Park have the best displays. The azaleas in Richmond's Isabella Plantation peak later, generally late April into May.
Which parks have deer?
Richmond Park and Bushy Park both hold free-roaming red and fallow deer, with roughly 600 in Richmond alone, enclosed as a royal deer park by Charles I in 1637. Keep 50 metres away and keep dogs leashed nearby, particularly in birthing and rutting seasons.
How big is Richmond Park?
2,500 acres, making it the largest of the Royal Parks and more than seven times the size of Hyde Park. The scale is the practical catch: the gates sit far apart, so arriving at the wrong one can leave you a two mile walk from the Isabella Plantation.
Which park has the best view of London?
Greenwich Park, from the hill by the Royal Observatory, looking across the Queen's House to the river and Canary Wharf. Richmond Park's King Henry's Mound holds the other famous one, a legally protected sightline to St Paul's Cathedral ten miles away.
How many parks can you visit in one day?
Three or four if they are geographically sensible, and fewer if Kew is one of them, since Kew deserves a full day on its own. The central cluster of St James's, Hyde Park and Battersea works as a single day. Greenwich is far enough east to warrant its own.
Is Kew Gardens worth the ticket price?
Yes, particularly in spring. Kew holds one of the largest plant collections on earth across 300 acres and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003, and the Temperate House is the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse anywhere. It is also the only entry on this list that works in heavy rain.
Which park is best with young children?
Battersea Park, for the boating lake and the children's zoo, or Richmond Park if the deer will hold their attention. Holland Park works well as a short stop because the peacocks are absurd and the Kyoto Garden takes under an hour to walk.
Can a chauffeur wait while we walk the park?
Yes. On hourly or full day hire the car stays with you across the day, so coats, picnics and wet umbrellas live in the boot, and you can switch from an outdoor park to Kew's glasshouses at an hour's notice if the weather turns.
What is the Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park?
The Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist monument built in 1985 by monks and given to Battersea Park, facing the river. It is the most peaceful spot in inner London and sits in a park most Londoners never bother with, which is exactly why it is worth the trip. The Old English Garden nearby is the park's spring highlight.
How many pelicans are in St James's Park?
A small resident group, and they have been there since 1664, when the Russian ambassador gave a pair to Charles II. They are still fed in the afternoon, which is worth timing a visit around. St James's is the oldest of the Royal Parks and, at 57 acres, close to the smallest.
What is King Henry's Mound?
King Henry's Mound in Richmond Park holds a legally protected sightline to St Paul's Cathedral ten miles away, with the trees kept clear so the view survives. It is one of London's stranger pieces of planning law and one of the best views in the city, and most visitors to the park walk straight past it.
Why is London called a National Park City?
Because roughly half of London is green or blue space, across some 3,000 parks, and the city was designated the world's first National Park City in 2019. The label recognises the sheer quantity of accessible green space rather than granting any legal protection.
