We checked 10 Boxing Day walks near Richmond, from Richmond Park to the Barnes wetlands, for gate times and cafes on 26 December. Updated November 2026.
There are 10 Boxing Day walks around Richmond worth knowing about in 2026, and this guide puts them in one place with what is open on Saturday 26 December, from gate times to the cafes at the halfway point. Most people make for Richmond Park, Bushy Park, the Thames Path past Ham House and the towpath to Kew. Every entry was checked against the owner’s own site on 11 November 2026.
Plan around the light. Sunset on Boxing Day is at about 3.57pm, the Richmond Park car parks lock at 4pm and Ham House garden shuts at the same time, so set off by 1.30pm for anything longer than an hour.
Plan around the trains too. National Rail says most operators run nothing on Boxing Day, and South Western Railway ran no trains at all on 26 December last year, so walk to the start or take the bus; our Christmas and New Year travel page will carry the 2026 timetables when they are out. The riverside paths flood for an hour or two either side of a very high tide, so look at the Environment Agency’s flood alerts for the tidal Thames before a towpath walk.
Richmond Park and Bushy Park
1. Richmond Park: the 6.9-mile circuit
The big one, and the walk most of Richmond does at some point over Christmas. The Royal Parks publishes a 6.9-mile circuit of the park, about two and a half hours at an easy pace, past King Henry’s Mound, Pembroke Lodge, Pen Ponds and White Lodge, with shorter loops for anyone who wants to be back before the light goes.
Its 2026 opening times put the vehicle gates and all seven car parks at 7.30am to 4pm every day from 23 November to 31 December. The pedestrian gates are open 24 hours a day outside the deer cull, which starts on 1 November and runs for up to six weeks, so it is over by Boxing Day.
Pembroke Lodge has not published Boxing Day hours for its tea rooms; the nearest pub with confirmed hours is the Marlborough on Friars Stile Road, near Richmond Gate, open 12pm to 11pm on 26 December.
Open pedestrian gates 24 hours; vehicle gates and car parks 7.30am to 4pm on Boxing Day
Address Richmond Gate, top of Richmond Hill, TW10
Parking car parks at Pembroke Lodge, Kingston Gate, Broomfield Hill, Robin Hood Gate, Roehampton Gate, Sheen Gate and Pen Ponds, locked at 4pm
Cafe Pembroke Lodge and Roehampton Gate Cafe, plus kiosks at Pen Ponds, Broomfield Hill and Kingston Gate
Website royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/richmond-park
Good for long circular walk, deer, views from King Henry's Mound, dogs on a lead near deer
2. Isabella Plantation
The short, sheltered walk inside Richmond Park, and the one to pick when the wind is up on the open grassland. The Royal Parks describes the plantation as a 40-acre woodland garden fenced off in 1831 and opened to the public in 1953, and says it is open all year with the park.
Its marked loop is 1.4 miles, about 45 minutes, down from Broomfield Hill Gate past the Acer Glade and Still Pond. The azaleas it is famous for are a spring show; in December it is evergreens, bare oaks and beech.
The Still Pond toilets close after November, but those at Peg’s Pond gate stay open all year, with baby changing.
Open with Richmond Park, every day of the year
Address Broomfield Hill car park, Richmond Park, off the Kingston Gate to Robin Hood Gate road
Parking Broomfield Hill car park, about 400m away, locks at 4pm; Peg's Pond car park for disabled visitors
Toilets Peg's Pond gate, open all year, with baby changing and wheelchair-accessible cubicles
Access resurfaced paths and bridges
Website royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/richmond-park/isabella-plantation
Good for sheltered woodland, short loop, dogs on a lead
3. Bushy Park and the Woodland Gardens
More than 1,000 acres on the Teddington and Hampton side, run by the Royal Parks, with deer, Chestnut Avenue, the Diana Fountain and the Woodland Gardens. Boxing Day 2026 is a Saturday, which means Bushy parkrun, the 5k where parkrun began, starts at 9am as it does every Saturday; walkers are welcome, and the runners’ habit is a coffee at the Pheasantry afterwards.
The Royal Parks says the Pheasantry Cafe and the Diana Kiosk are open every day except Christmas Day, the cafe from 9am to 5pm in winter, card payments only. The park’s second deer cull, from 2 November for about six weeks, leaves the gates open as normal at weekends.
Dogs are not allowed in the Woodland Gardens and must be on a lead near deer and water. For lunch afterwards, The Park on Park Road, Teddington, lists Boxing Day hours of 8am to 11pm.
Open pedestrian gates open as normal on Saturdays; vehicle gates from 8am during the cull
Address Hampton Court Road, Hampton, TW12; Teddington and Hampton Wick stations
Parking free car parks at Coleshill Road Gate, the Pheasantry Cafe and the Diana Fountain
Cafe Pheasantry Cafe in the Woodland Gardens, 9am to 5pm, closed Christmas Day only; Diana Kiosk by the playground
Call 020 8943 1347 (Pheasantry Cafe)
Website royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/bushy-park
Good for parkrun at 9am, deer, flat walking, buggies
Along the Thames
4. Richmond Hill, Terrace Gardens and Petersham Meadows
The short walk from the top of the town to the river, with the view down the Thames that Turner painted. Richmond Council says Terrace Gardens, the formal garden that falls away below Richmond Hill, and Petersham Meadows, the water meadow protected by a 1902 Act of Parliament, are both accessible at all times.
The meadows are owned by the council and run by the National Trust, with cows grazing them most of the year. Join the Thames Path at the bottom and turn left for Ham House or right for the town centre, where the Old Ship on King Street opens from 10am to midnight on Boxing Day.
Open at all times
Address Richmond Hill, TW10 6RH; Petersham Meadows from River Lane, TW10 7AG
Cafe Terrace Gardens cafe, open daily in daylight, with gender-neutral toilets
Access Richmond station; buses 65 and 371
Website richmond.gov.uk/services/parks_and_open_spaces/find_a_park/terrace_gardens
Good for the view from Richmond Hill, a short walk, the riverside
5. Ham House and the Thames Path from Teddington Lock
The most dependable Boxing Day walk on the river, because the house halfway along publishes its hours to the day. The National Trust’s Ham House lists the garden open from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 26 December, the coffee shop 10am to 3.30pm, the house itself 11.30am to 3.30pm and the second-hand bookshop 10am to 3.30pm; everything is shut on 24 and 25 December, and last entry is 30 minutes before closing.
TfL’s Thames Path South Section 1a runs about 5km from Teddington Lock to Richmond, past Ham House and along Petersham Meadows, on a path its route notes call “broad and gravelled”. Ham Common and its woods sit just inland.
Open garden 10am to 4pm, house 11.30am to 3.30pm on Boxing Day; closed 24 and 25 December
Price house and garden adult £18, child £9, family £45; National Trust members and under-5s free
Address Ham Street, Ham, TW10 7RS
Cafe coffee shop 10am to 3.30pm on Boxing Day
Access tickets at Visitor Reception by the river gates; no pre-booking
Website nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/london/ham-house-and-garden
Good for riverside walk, a house to visit halfway, second-hand bookshop
6. The towpath from Richmond to Kew
TfL’s Thames Path South Section 1b is about 6km from Twickenham Bridge past the Old Deer Park, the obelisks of George III’s observatory and the river wall of Kew Gardens to Mortlake. The stretch between Richmond Lock and Kew collapsed in October 2024, and Richmond Council reopened it on 8 November 2025.
The towpath is open at all times, but it is one of the low-lying stretches that floods at high tide. Start with a drink at the White Cross on the riverside, which opens 11am to 11pm on Boxing Day.
Kew’s Christmas light trail runs on the evening of 26 December; it is shut only on Christmas Day and three November dates.
Open at all times, except at very high tides
Address Richmond Riverside to Mortlake, along the Surrey bank
Access Richmond and St Margarets stations at the start, Mortlake at the end; shared with cyclists
Website tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/thames-path
Good for flat riverside walk, Kew Gardens, a pub at each end
7. Marble Hill, Twickenham
English Heritage’s Marble Hill is 60-plus acres of free riverside park on the Twickenham bank, with a sheltered Woodland Walk along its eastern edge and the white Palladian villa in the middle. English Heritage says the Coach House Cafe is open whenever the park is, all year round, and lists it open daily from 8am to 3.30pm from 1 December.
From here the National Trail’s 1.9-mile circular walk in Turner’s footsteps goes up to Sandycombe Lodge in St Margarets and back.
Open park all year; Coach House Cafe daily 8am to 3.30pm in December
Address Richmond Road, Twickenham, TW1 2NL
Cafe Coach House Cafe
Website english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/marble-hill
Good for free entry, riverside lawns, Woodland Walk, cafe from 8am
Barnes and Twickenham
8. WWT London Wetland Centre, Barnes
The one walk on this list that charges at the gate, and one of the few attractions in south-west London open on Boxing Day. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust says the centre is open 364 days a year, 10am to 4.30pm with last admission at 3.30pm, and closed only on Christmas Day.
It is a short walk from Barnes station and the river, and the one place on this list where the walk comes with a ticket desk, a cafe and toilets under one roof. Tickets are 10% cheaper bought online by midnight the day before.
Open Boxing Day 10am to 4.30pm, last admission 3.30pm; closed Christmas Day
Price adult £17.10 online (£18.85 with Gift Aid); junior £11.12; family £48.11; under-3s free
Address Queen Elizabeth Walk, Barnes, SW13 9WT
Website wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/london/plan-your-visit
Good for birdwatching, children, a walk with a cafe and toilets
9. Barnes Common
Open acid grassland, trees and woodland, a Local Nature Reserve looked after by Barnes Common Limited. Richmond Council says Barnes Common is accessible at all times, and advises coming on foot or by public transport because parking nearby is limited.
It joins up easily with the riverside at Barnes, where two pubs list Boxing Day hours: the Bull’s Head on Lonsdale Road and the White Hart on The Terrace, both 11am to 10pm.
Open at all times
Address Vine Road, SW13 0NE
Parking limited; Barnes station is on the common, buses 33, 72, 265 and 969
Website barnescommon.org.uk
Good for wild heath, short loops, joining the river at Barnes
10. Crane Park and the Shot Tower, Twickenham
A wooded riverside walk on the west side of the borough, following the River Crane from Meadway in Twickenham to Hanworth Road. The council says Crane Park is accessible at all times; Crane Park Island in the middle is a Local Nature Reserve run by London Wildlife Trust.
The park sits on the site of the Hounslow Gunpowder Mills, which ran from the late 18th century until 1926, and the Shot Tower is the only one of the mills’ buildings still standing, according to the Friends of the River Crane. The path is shared with cyclists.
Open at all times
Address Crane Park Road, Twickenham, TW2 6DF
Access Whitton station; buses 110, 481 and H22
Website richmond.gov.uk/services/parks_and_open_spaces/find_a_park/crane_park
Good for woodland river walk, nature reserve, quiet on a busy day
After the walk
Plenty of pubs open on Boxing Day. On the published hours: the Old Ship on King Street 10am to midnight, the White Cross on the riverside 11am to 11pm, the Marlborough by Richmond Park 12pm to 11pm, the Bull’s Head and the White Hart in Barnes 11am to 10pm, and The Park in Teddington 8am to 11pm. Menus and Christmas Day prices are in our Christmas Day pubs guide and our Richmond pubs guide.
Hampton Court Palace and its gardens are not on this list: the palace publishes its Christmas hours on hrp.org.uk, so check there before you go. The same goes for daytime opening at Kew Gardens.
How we chose
These are the walks people around Richmond, Twickenham, Teddington and Barnes head for over Christmas, all reachable on foot or by a short bus ride and all open on 26 December. Gate times come from the Royal Parks, the National Trust, English Heritage, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and Richmond Council, each linked in its entry; pub hours are from each pub’s own Christmas page; sunset is for west London on 26 December. Opening times can change at short notice in bad weather or a high tide, so check the owner’s page on the morning.
Look after a park or path that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@richmondonline.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@richmondonline.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.
For more, see our year-round guide to walks near Richmond, Richmond Park in winter, things to do in Richmond, what’s on in Richmond this month, days out from Richmond and Richmond playgrounds.
Frequently asked questions
Is Richmond Park open on Boxing Day?
Yes. The Royal Parks’ 2026 timetable has the vehicle gates and car parks open from 7.30am to 4pm every day from 23 November to 31 December, Boxing Day included, and the pedestrian gates are open around the clock once the autumn deer cull ends in mid-December. Bushy Park is open too, and its Pheasantry Cafe and Diana Kiosk shut only on Christmas Day.
What time does it get dark on Boxing Day in Richmond?
Boxing Day 2026 is Saturday 26 December. The sun sets at about 3.57pm, Richmond Park’s car parks lock at 4pm, Ham House garden closes at 4pm and the London Wetland Centre takes its last visitors at 3.30pm, so start anything longer than an hour by 1.30pm.
Are there trains in Richmond on Boxing Day?
Almost none. National Rail says most operators run nothing on Saturday 26 December and a few run a very limited service, and South Western Railway ran no trains at all on Boxing Day 2025. Plan to walk, cycle or take the bus; our Christmas travel page will carry the 2026 timetables when they are published.
Have your say