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Itineraries

Hattie Lloyd 20/01/25


Richmond: Your Full-Day Explorer's Itinerary

Ah, Richmond: a leafy pseudo-village perched at the end of the District line, just waiting for you to soak up its riverside charms, elegant Georgian houses, noble pubs and excess of greenery… after which you’ll join the locals in secretly hoping nobody else discovers it.

Most people come here for the park, with its famous herds of free-roaming deer – but if you explore Richmond with this handy itinerary (take a little peek in our reel here), you’ll discover it’s popular for a lot more than its stag dos. Because along the way, we’re going to take in some beautiful scenery, delicious cheesemongers, cosy little pubs, boutique-lined alleyways, convivial theatres, and more.

Being the enormous, leafy elephant in the room, however, we are of course starting with the park.

Richmond Park

Sophie Keen

MORNING

Richmond Park is massive. Like ‘2,500 acres, multiple entrance points, takes about 4 hours to circumnavigate’ massive. So without wanting to go all Cheshire Cat on you, where you begin very much depends where you’re coming from. Since you’re heading into Richmond afterwards, it makes sense to start off from the the north, east or southern sides of the Park so you can stroll across to the west.

If it’s late April or early May, we’d highly recommend setting off from Norbiton station so you can enter the park right by the Isabella Plantation. This little patch of formal planting in the midst of all the undisturbed wilderness is an absolute jewel in early spring, when enormous, frothy bushes of colourful Japanese azaleas burst into bloom – a spectacle that’s made twice as impressive by their reflection in the lake below.

Isabella plantation Richmond park

David Iliff/Flickr

The rest of the year, you really can’t go wrong whichever route you trace. The place has basically been untouched in its 400 year history, so wherever you wander you’ll be met with stunning unspoilt landscapes, rolling hills, ancient woodland and the occasional herd of deer. However you get there, set your sights on King Henry’s Mound. It might feel like a tough climb, but the viewpoint’s pretty impressive (it’s apparently where Henry VIII stood watching for a smoke signal after Anne Boleyn’s execution).

Leaving the park through Petersham Gate will lead you neatly to the ideal lunch spot: Petersham Nurseries. Over the past 20 years the Boglione family have grown what is essentially a patch of their back garden into the city’s most famous plant nursery – with its very own Michelin star restaurant attached. It’s easily the most beautiful, romantic and unusual place to eat in Richmond.

Petersham Nurseries Richmond

Surrounded by cascading greenery, woodburner stoves, antique chandeliers, mismatched vintage furniture and weathered stone urns, you can take a seat in the Teahouse for breakfast, lunch, or homemade cakes and whole leaf teas. Housed in a separate greenhouse, the restaurant is a slightly more formal affair – at least, as formal as a restaurant with a dirt floor can be – with an eco-approved Green Michelin Star to its name and a relatively affordable set menu that takes inspiration from the nursery’s gardens and what’s in season.

AFTERNOON

You’ll now come to a very pleasant, though inevitably FOMO-inducing, fork in the road (both physical and metaphorical). If your dowsing rod is set a-quiver by the prospect of more nature, culture, and centuries-old history, you’ll probably want to take the short stroll from Petersham Nurseries to Ham House. It is, literally, right there in front of you after all – and with ornate Stuart interiors to admire, more gardens to explore and live horses, it would practically be treason not to. From there, take the ferry from the gardens across the river to Orleans House Gallery for a free dose of art, visit the naked ladies of York House gardens, enjoy a riverside pint at The Swan, continue your tour of lavish architectural abodes at Strawberry Hill House, and venture onto Eel Pie Island, a private island in the middle of the Thames that’s home to a community of artists (and open to visitors for a few select weekends a year). You can get a better idea of how to tackle all that with our Twickenham itinerary.

Strawberry Hill House

Strawberry Hill House

If you want to keep things strictly to the Richmond side of the tracks, then read on. Specifically, from here:

Follow Star and Garter Hill right to the top, and peel left along Richmond Hill. After about five minutes of walking past big Georgian villas, you’ll pass a tiny little pub called The Roebuck. There’s stiff competition when it comes to pubs in Richmond, but The Roebuck has the biggest antlers. Inside, it’s a cosy little tavern that time forgot – all lead-framed windowpanes and roaring firesides. Outside, the dazzling panorama of river and rolling parkland unfolds in front of you, and the staff are more than happy for you to take your pint to a bench outside to soak up the views.

Richmond hill view

Ian Thompson/Unsplash

Continuing down the hill takes you towards the real heart of Richmond, and after about ten minutes you’ll start to hit a parade of independent shops. Assuming you don’t feel like picking up a fireplace on your travels today, you’ll want to pop your head into the likes of Knit With Me, a craft store run by knitting fanatic Carol that’ll have you vowing to make all your own clothes from now on; newcomer Books on the Rise, a bookshop run by a pair of indie publishers who are committed to supporting diversity in publishing; Teddington Cheese, where the owners will enthusiastically offer you samples (much of which is matured right there on the shelves) as you follow your nose; and finish up at Bramble & Moss, a florist’s that could have been ripped straight out of Belle Epoque Paris, blooming with fresh flowers, houseplants and dried bouquets. Pick up a coffee from Long Black, and you’re all set to while away an hour on Richmond Riverside.

This stretch of the Thames has to be one of the most scenic in London. Just look at it! You’ve got grand Georgian townhouses, stately old pubs, colourful rowboats bobbing up and down and an expanse of stepped lawn to sprawl out on in the sunshine with a good book. You can’t miss the frilly pink parasols on the top deck of Peggy Green (who serves a mean frozé, by the way).

richmond riverside

Derek Winterburn/Flickr

And if you happen to be there on the 362 days of the year it’s not warm enough to do that? Huddle up inside The White Cross – one of Richmond’s best pubs, stood right on, and occasionally in, the river. At high tide the Thames effectively turns the pub into an island for a couple of hours – all the more excuse to hunker down by the fireside or station yourself on the terrace for the duration.

white cross pub Richmond

High seas allowing, continue your stroll along the riverside – if you’re in the market for a long walk, you can join the Thames Path at this point and venture even further west. Otherwise, peel off just before the bridge down Old Palace Lane and pass by dozens of perfectly manicured cottages until you reach Richmond Green, where the houses become even more grandiose – keep an eye out for the Gatsby-style optician’s sign hanging from one of the house’s railings. Crossing to the other side, you can easily while away the afternoon exploring the flagstone-paved, festoon-lit backstreets between the Green and the high street. There are plenty of pubs to drop into, if you’re so inclined (you might recognise The Prince’s Head as the pub from Ted Lasso), as well as an ice cream shop and crêperie on Brewers Lane, plus jewellery shops, gift shops and art galleries.

richmond lanes

Alla Tsyganova/iStock

EVENING

From here it’s a short walk back up the high street to Richmond station – but if you’ve got the evening free too, there’s plenty to occupy you. Richmond’s restaurants tend to fall into two camps: long-standing locals, and ten-a-penny chains. There are some real gems in the first group, but if you want to make a really special occasion of it, nowhere checks that box more enthusiastically than Scott’s Richmond.

A dazzling West London outpost of the Mayfair stalwart, Scott’s serves seafood along with the visual equivalent of 20 tonnes of beluga caviar. We’re talking cut glass Venetian chandeliers, mirrored pillars, velvet seating and shimmering surfaces everywhere you look, with an oyster and Champagne bar as its centrepiece. In fact, the only thing that can trump the interior is the exterior: perched right on the river, Scott’s boasts one of the most enviable al fresco dining spots in London; a smart balcony practically overhanging the water. On a summer’s evening, it’s hard to picture anywhere more idyllic.

scotts richmond

After you’ve bid an emotional farewell to the last spoonful of your blood orange posset with Champagne jelly, take a post dinner waddle along to the Orange Tree Theatre.

Housed in a converted Victorian school, this independent theatre has staged hundreds of productions in its 50 year tenure. It started out as a room above the pub opposite, playing lunchtime performances so they could use the daylight, as they didn’t have any specialist theatre lighting. Half a century on, the Orange Tree has won a slew of awards, seen sell-out shows transfer to the West End, and staged premieres for big name playwrights like Martin Crimp and Alistair McDowall.

orange tree theatre richmond

The Orange Tree remains London’s only purpose-built indoor theatre in the round, where the 170-strong audience surrounds the stage for a thrillingly intimate experience. Tickets start at £15 a pop, and the programme spans from unusual revivals of older plays to new writing, Shakespeare and modern classics. So whatever you see…

…it’s guaranteed to be pithy.

 


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