This is a post about the best London picnic spots.
When you live abroad, it often feels like you live many lifetimes in a year alone. Writing this post felt like I had a movie going through my head showing me all the lifetimes I’ve lived in London. Every park on this list is one of them.
The one where I used to run to clear my head (and ran past Chris Martin once!), the one where I’d collapse on the grass after a long week, the one where a dog stole our baguette and my friends and I laughed so hard we couldn’t get it back. London is one of those cities where the parks aren’t just green space, they’re the backdrop to entire eras of your life, especially in the summer.
I’ve lived in Parsons Green, Swiss Cottage, Hampstead, Wandsworth, Brixton… and each neighbourhood came with its own park, its own rhythm, its own version of the city. In this guide I’m sharing the best London parks for a picnic, from the famous ones that earn their reputation to the under-the-radar spots most visitors never find.
Apparently London has over 3000(!!) parks. So, wherever you’re staying, there’s a patch of grass with your name on it.
Quick Guide: Picnicking in London
| Best overall | Hyde Park or Hampstead Heath |
| Best views | Primrose Hill or Parliament Hill |
| Best by the river | Bishop’s Park or Wandsworth Park |
| Best hidden gem | Lincoln’s Inn Fields |
| Best for seasons | Regent’s Park in spring |
| Picnic supplies | Marks & Spencer Food, Waitrose, Broadway Market |
The Big Classics
These are the parks everyone’s heard of. Each one is worth the hype and each has its own personality.
Hyde Park
Hyde Park is London’s most famous park and somehow still one of the best, which is harder to pull off than it sounds.
The key is knowing which bit to go to. The North Meadow near Marble Arch is a vast, open stretch of grass that gets sun for most of the day, perfect for a big group or a long lazy afternoon with nowhere to be. The area around the Serpentine is better for shade, for people-watching and for hiring a pedalo on the lake if you want to feel absurdly wholesome about your afternoon. There are deckchairs to hire if you’ve forgotten a blanket, which you will.
One great thing about Hyde Park in summer is British Summer Time festival. It’s a series of huge outdoor concerts held in the park across several weekends in June and July. The trick locals know is that you don’t need a ticket to hear the music. Spread your blanket near the concert area, pour something cold and listen from outside the barrier. I once did this during a Bruce Springsteen show and, at the end of the night, a barrier panel near us opened up for some reason and we wandered in just in time for the last song. One of those London moments you couldn’t have planned.
I’ve also seen Pearl Jam (on my birthday with a gorgeous sunset backdrop!), Pink…from the inside. Going in you get the full London-in-the-summer-life-is-great vibe.
Getting there: Hyde Park Corner, Marble Arch or Lancaster Gate tube. Picnic supplies from the M&S Food on Marble Arch or the Serpentine Bar & Kitchen inside the park.
Regent’s Park
Regent’s Park is a park that I don’t even know how to describe. It’s SO beautiful! And it’s got so many different areas.
It’s spectacular in spring! The Inner Circle rose garden is one of the most beautiful things in the city when it’s in full bloom and the outer paths are quiet enough that you can find a corner that feels entirely yours. In autumn it takes my breath away. It turns a deep, warm gold that I’ve tried to capture numerous times and never quite managed. I literally took a day off work last year just to spend time there amongst the leaves!
The park has a boating lake, tennis courts, open air theatre performances in summer and the kind of wide, tree-lined avenues that make you walk slower without realising it.
For a picnic, the area around the lake or on the inner circle lawns near the rose garden are the best spots; flat, sunny and far enough from the main paths to feel removed from it all.
Getting there: Baker Street, Regent’s Park or Camden Town tube. Plenty of delis and cafes on Marylebone High Street for supplies.
St James’s Park and Green Park
I’m pairing these two because they’re connected by a footpath and together they cover almost every London picnic mood.
St James’s is the more formal of the two. Long lake with pelicans, beautiful flower beds, that famous view of Buckingham Palace from the bridge that looks like a fairy tale painting. It gets busy, especially near the palace end, but find a spot on the far side of the lake and it quietens down considerably. Jeff Daniels falls in that pond in 101 Dalmatians 😅
Green Park is my favourite of the pair and one of my favourite parks in London full stop, particularly in autumn. No flowerbeds, no lake, no formal gardens, just hundreds of ancient trees and grass. In October/November when the leaves turn, it becomes one of the most beautiful things in the city. The two parks connect seamlessly so you can picnic in one and wander through the other, which feels like a very London afternoon.
Getting there: St James’s Park, Green Park or Victoria tube.
Greenwich Park
Greenwich Park has one of the coolest views of the city!
From the hill above the Royal Observatory, the city opens up in front of you: Canary Wharf’s towers, the curve of the Thames, the dome of St Paul’s on a clear day. It’s one of the best panoramic views in London and, the park itself, former hunting ground of Henry VIII, oldest of the eight Royal Parks, is beautiful to walk around. There are wide formal avenues, a walled flower garden, a boating pond and a deer park. It’s a bit late now for it but, around April, it’s one of the best spots to admire the cherry blossoms!
For a picnic, the hillside below the Observatory is the obvious choice, mostly because the view makes everything taste better. Go on a weekday if you can. Weekends get busy with visitors combining the park with the Cutty Sark and the Royal Observatory.
Getting there: Cutty Sark DLR or Greenwich rail. Markets and cafes on Greenwich Church Street for supplies.
Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath is enormous! I say that as someone who lived nearby for years and still hasn’t walked the whole thing.
It doesn’t feel like a park. It feels like actual countryside that somehow ended up inside the M25, with woodland, ponds, meadows and hills that go on further than you expect. You can really get lost among the trees and that’s one of my favourite parts of it.
For a picnic, Parliament Hill has the best views but is always busy (more on that in the Best Views section below!). If you want something quieter on the Heath itself, head into the woodland and find a clearing. They exist.
The neighbourhood around the Heath is worth knowing about too. Hampstead village has some of the best (if pricey) independent cafes in London for loading up on supplies before you go in. There’s a Hagen there…apparently they have the best cinnamon buns in London (I still haven’t tried as they only have them on Wednesdays and Sundays)
As usual, it’s one of my favourite places to see autumn leaves. I mean… look at this!! Just this past autumn!
Getting there: Hampstead or Belsize Park tube, or Hampstead Heath Overground. Flask Walk and Hampstead High Street have excellent delis, bakeries and coffee shops.
Victoria Park
Victoria Park is East London’s green heart. Spacious, social and genuinely beautiful once you get past the main gates.
The park has two Victorian drinking fountains worth finding: the Burdett-Coutts Memorial Fountain, a gorgeous Gothic Revival structure donated in 1862 with a canopied shelter and ornate stonework and a simpler ornamental fountain near the boating lake. The lake itself is lovely for a post-picnic wander.
The Sunday farmer’s market inside the park is one of the best reasons to time your visit! Hot food, fresh produce, bakery stalls and a generally excellent atmosphere that makes the pre-picnic shopping part of the outing. Arrive hungry and graze your way around before finding a spot on the grass.
Getting there: Mile End tube or Cambridge Heath Overground. Time it for Sunday for the market.
Richmond Park
Richmond Park earns its place among the classics now. Partly because of the deer, partly because of the sheer scale of it (it’s the largest Royal Park in London) and partly because, yes, it’s where much of Ted Lasso was filmed and that has made a certain generation of visitors feel a very specific kind of way about it.
The Isabella Plantation is one of the highlights! A woodland garden that’s particularly spectacular right now in spring with the azaleas and rhododendrons in full bloom. It’s free to enter and somehow still feels like a secret despite being in one of London’s most visited parks. For a picnic, find a spot on the grass near the Pen Ponds, two linked lakes in the middle of the park where, in warmer months, the wild swimming crowd comes for an early morning dip.
You can also rent out bikes! In a previous lifetime when I was a nanny, my other nanny friend and I went there with the kids we looked after. I had mine in a bike trailer on the back, which sounds very wholesome and was mostly fine until we realised we’d badly misjudged how big the park was. Bike hire is available from Roehampton Gate if you want to try it under better-planned circumstances.
After your picnic, the walk down to Terrace Gardens in Richmond is one of the best things you can do on a clear day. The views over the Thames from there are genuinely breathtaking and most visitors to the park never make it there. Best sunset view around late autumn ’til early spring!
Getting there: Richmond tube and Overground, then a walk or bus into the park. Bike hire available inside the park at Roehampton Gate.
Best Views
Primrose Hill
Primrose Hill has two personalities and most visitors only know one of them.
The hilltop: that famous, steep climb to the viewpoint with all of central London spread out below you. It’s always busy on a sunny day. Families, tourists, dogs, someone inevitably playing a guitar. The view is genuinely spectacular: St Paul’s, the Shard, Canary Wharf, the BT Tower all lined up like a skyline you’d put on a postcard. Worth it every time.
The evidence:
But if you want a quieter picnic, walk in via Elsworthy Road and bear right once you’re through the gate. There’s a flat area (the athletic field) that most people pass straight through on the way to the hill. It’s usually half-empty even when the hilltop is heaving and you can still hear the city without being in the middle of it.
Otherwise some of the side hills are pretty decent too! I had a picnic there once with friends and a dog appeared from nowhere, picked up an entire baguette and left at speed. We were too impressed to be annoyed. (unimpressed by the owner who did not give a s*it).
Primrose Hill village, just outside the park gates, is worth the visit in its own right. The cafes are expensive but good, and The Little One Coffee Shop sells Brazilian cheese bread that I have never once walked past without buying. If you know, you know.
Getting there: Chalk Farm tube. Stock up on supplies at Little One or the delis on Regent’s Park Road before you go in.
READ MORE: 10 Best Walking Routes in London For Spring/Summer 2026
Parliament Hill, Hampstead Heath
Parliament Hill is technically part of Hampstead Heath but deserves its own mention because the view from the top is the best in north London and arguably one of the best in the city full stop.
On a clear day you can see from the Shard and the City of London. The hill is steep enough that you feel like you’ve earned the view and the picnic spot. It gets busy on weekends but, like in Primrose, you can find more secluded spaces further down the hill.
Getting there: Gospel Oak Overground or Hampstead Heath Overground. South End Green has an M&S, a Gail’s and various delis and cafes for picnic goodies.
Best for a River Picnic
Bishop’s Park, Fulham
Bishop’s Park was my park when I first moved to London. I used to run there (in a different lifetime when I used to do that), have picnics, walk around to clear my head, walk through on my way to Hammersmith by the river…
It’s small but the Thames towpath running alongside it is one of London’s loveliest river walks. You can stop by the Crabtree pub for really good food or maybe keep going up to Hammersmith to grab a slice of one of the best pizzas in London at Crisp. How about a lavender mojito from Sam’s Riverside? (they do change the menu often so check before you get too excited)
For a picnic, find a spot around the big green area. The park itself is flat and well-kept with plenty of shade from the plane trees. After eating, walk east along the Thames Path toward Hammersmith. It takes about 20 minutes and the river views get better as you go. I have a full guide to London walking routes here with this stretch included.
Getting there: Putney Bridge tube. The Putney High St vicinity has a bunch of good cafes and there’s a Waitrose at Putney Exchange for picnic stuff.
Wandsworth Park
Wandsworth Park doesn’t get the attention it deserves, which suits the people who use it regularly just fine.
It has a proper variety of spaces, which is rarer than it sounds: a wide open central area that gets full afternoon sun, a tree-lined avenue along one side that turns magnificent in autumn and a shaded green section along the riverside walk with enough trees that you can find real cool on a hot day.
For supplies, there’s a mini Sainsbury’s a short walk away, but if you’ve got time, Putney High Street is about 10 minutes on foot and has proper delis, bakeries and a better selection than any supermarket.
I spent a lot of time in this park during my Wandsworth years. It has a particular quality in the late afternoon when the light comes through the trees along the avenue. Actually, there’s a time of year where the sun sets just over the river giving you the most beautiful view! I THINK it’s early summer but I can’t remember now… I’ll have to get back to you on that (or do what I do: download the SunCalc app and you can see where the sun sets or rises anywhere in the world!).
Getting there: East Putney tube. Walk south toward the river.
Battersea Park
Battersea Park is one of those places that keeps surprising you with how much it contains.
The Japanese Peace Pagoda on the river’s edge is probably the most photographed thing in the park! A genuine Buddhist shrine built in 1985 as a symbol of peace, with gilded Buddha figures on each side and views across the Thames to Chelsea. It’s free to visit and genuinely beautiful. Beyond it, the park has a boating lake, a children’s zoo, a putting green, the famous Battersea Power Station right across the road for a post-picnic wander and enough open lawn for a picnic group of any size.
The riverside section along the Albert Bridge end is the prettiest spot for eating. You’re right on the Thames with one of London’s most beautiful bridges in view and, on a clear evening, the light on the water is extraordinary.
Another one gorgeous in spring with all the cherry blossoms and in autumn with the all the fall foliage – here’s a bit of my Battersea Park autumn wander last fall (mixed with a bit of Westminster).
Getting there: Battersea Power Station tube or Queenstown Road rail.
Under the Radar
Lincoln’s Inn Fields
Lincoln’s Inn Fields is the best picnic spot in central London that most tourists never find.
It’s technically the largest public square in London, established in the 1630s and it sits just behind the busy streets of Holborn like a secret the legal district has been keeping. Manicured lawns, mature trees, a cafe (the Pear Tree), tennis courts and sixteen listed buildings on the surrounding streets, including Sir John Soane’s Museum on the north side, which is one of the most extraordinary interiors in London and absolutely worth combining with your picnic. I’ve got the full story in my London hidden gems post.
At lunchtime on a weekday it fills with barristers and LSE students, but there’s always room and the atmosphere is as good as it gets in zone 1. On a weekend morning it’s almost empty.
Getting there: Holborn or Chancery Lane tube.
London Fields, Hackney
London Fields is East London’s neighbourhood park and one of the best arguments for the Overground being a portal to a different city.
The park itself is simple: open grass, some trees, a bandstand. But what makes it is the location. Broadway Market runs along the eastern edge on Saturdays and it’s one of the best street food markets in London: sourdough, cheese, fresh pasta, oysters, Japanese snacks, everything. Buy your picnic from the stalls and eat it on the grass ten seconds later. London Fields Lido is right next to the park if you want a swim before or after, open year-round.
Getting there: London Fields Overground. Broadway Market is on Saturdays only.
Wimbledon Common
Wimbledon Common doesn’t feel like London. It’s 1,100 acres of ancient heath, woodland and ponds. Big enough to genuinely lose yourself in, just how I like it! And far enough from the centre that you can go an entire afternoon without hearing a siren. When I was dogsitting in the area I LOVED taking the dogs there!
The picnic reason to come, beyond the landscape, is Cart on the Common; a café kiosk near the windmill that does some of the best homemade pastries and coffee I’ve had at an outdoor spot in London. They rotate seasonal syrups through the year (pistachio and lavender are on right now and both excellent), the matcha is properly made and there’s always a new pastry. If you’re making a day of it, get your coffee here and find a spot on the heath, the area around Caesar’s Well or toward the woodland is lovely.
Getting there: Wimbledon tube or train, then a walk (through the pretty village!) or bus to the common.
Clapham Common
Clapham Common is a beloved local park and one of the most reliably good London picnic spots in south London.
It’s big enough to find space even when it’s busy, has a bandstand, a pond and the kind of open grass that’s good for games. The real advantage is Clapham High Street immediately to the north: bakeries, delis, a Sainsbury’s, independent cafes and more options for picnic supplies than almost any other park on this list. Dump your bags on the grass and walk two minutes for whatever you’ve forgotten (well, leave someone in charge of them… this is London!).
Getting there: Clapham Common tube.
Highbury Fields, Islington
Highbury Fields is a proper north London neighbourhood park. Unpretentious, well-used and genuinely lovely on a sunny day.
There are tennis courts, a children’s playground and a long, open stretch of grass that gets good afternoon sun. It’s much quieter than Regent’s Park or Hampstead Heath and has a regular local crowd that gives it a relaxed, casual energy. Highbury and Islington’s cafes and independent shops on Upper Street are a short walk away for supplies.
Getting there: Highbury & Islington tube and Overground.
Horniman Gardens, Forest Hill
I haven’t picnicked here yet – it’s on my list! And I mention the Horniman Museum in my London hidden gems post but it earns its place on this list on reputation alone.
The Horniman Museum sits at the top of a hill in Forest Hill with gardens that drop away below it offering views across South London that most Londoners don’t know exist. The museum itself is free, brilliantly eccentric (taxidermy, anthropology, musical instruments) and a perfect add-on to a picnic afternoon. The gardens have a formal section, a nature trail and a bandstand. The combination of the view, the museum and the relative obscurity makes it one of south London’s best-kept secrets.
According to the museum’s website, the South Downs Meadow area is the best one for a picnic!
Getting there: Forest Hill Overground.
Morden Hall Park, Morden
I (vaguely) remember first hearing about Morden Hall Park years ago on some kind of best parks list.
It’s a National Trust property at the far end of the Northern Line, zone 4, which feels impossibly remote on a tube map but is actually perfectly reachable. The park has a rose garden, a network of paths along the River Wandle, ancient meadows and a quality of quiet that you won’t find anywhere closer to the centre. It genuinely feels like the countryside. Bring a flask of tea and a good book and no agenda.
I’m not familiar with the food in the area because, if ever I need a snack nearby, I always go to the Brazilian Paraná Sabores on Aberconway Rd (steps away from the station) for pastel and passion fruit juice.
Getting there: Morden tube (end of the Northern Line, Morden branch). Free to enter.
What to Bring for the Perfect London Picnic
A few things that make the difference:
- A proper blanket rather than a carrier bag: the grass is always damper than it looks
- Sunscreen, because the one afternoon you forget it will be the sunniest day of the year
- Something cold to drink from a wide-mouthed flask so it stays cold
- And a bag for your rubbish.
For food, the best London picnic involves a proper cheese, something from a bakery, fruit you’ve actually washed, and one thing that feels slightly too luxurious for eating on the ground. Marks & Spencer Food and Waitrose. Some of these parks also have farmer’s markets or are near one and there’s always a great find there.
FAQ: London Parks for a Picnic
It depends on where you’re staying and what you’re after. Hyde Park is the most central and most varied. Different areas suit different moods. Primrose Hill has the best views, Regent’s Park is the most beautiful. For something under the radar, Lincoln’s Inn Fields in Holborn is the best central hidden gem.
Yes, all the parks on this list welcome picnics. Some (like Victoria Park) don’t allow BBQs except in designated areas. Dogs are welcome in most parks but should be kept on leads in certain areas.
A waterproof blanket or one that you don’t mind getting slightly damp, sunscreen, reusable cups, a bag for rubbish and more food than you think you need. London parks have bins but they fill up fast on hot days.
May through September is peak picnic season, but April and October can be just as beautiful with fewer crowds. Regent’s Park in spring/autumn and Green Park in autumn are two of the most genuinely lovely things the city does. Go on a weekday if you can; the difference in crowds between a Saturday and a Tuesday in July is significant.
Yes, Victoria Park has a Sunday farmer’s market, London Fields is next to Broadway Market (Saturdays) and Greenwich Park is a short walk from Greenwich Market. All three are worth timing your visit around. Green Park has a food market nearby at Southwood Garden.
Planning a London day out? Check out my guides to London’s best walking routes and London’s best hidden gems.
This was a post about the best London picnic spots.
