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Where to Stay in Richmond
Richmond here means Richmond upon Thames in south-west London, not Richmond in North Yorkshire, Virginia or British Columbia. It is worth saying plainly, because those other Richmonds fill a lot of search results.
What you get is the greenest borough in London: 128 parks, commons and woodlands, two Royal Parks, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and a view from Richmond Hill across the Thames that has been protected by an Act of Parliament since 1902. The river runs through the middle of all of it.
The practical case is that none of this costs you access to London. Richmond station carries South Western Railway, the District line and the London Overground Mildmay line, and the borough tourism service puts the centre about twenty minutes away by rail. So you can spend the morning among deer and the afternoon in the West End.
The decision that actually matters is which part of the borough to sleep in. Richmond town gives you restaurants and the station; Kew gives you the Gardens on foot; Twickenham gives you the stadium; Ham and Petersham give you quiet and a walk. They are genuinely different holidays.
When to visit Richmond
Late spring to early autumn is the strongest all-round stretch, simply because almost everything worth doing here is outdoors and the attractions keep longer hours. Kew, the parks and the Thames Path work year-round, but shorter winter days cut how much you fit into one.
September to November is deer-rutting season in Richmond Park. The Royal Parks ask visitors to stay at least fifty metres from the deer, and further when the stags are active. It is the most dramatic time to see them and the time to take the advice seriously.
Two six-week deer culls change park access after dark, roughly November into early December and February into early March. During those, pedestrian gates close from 20:00 to 07:30 except on Friday and Saturday nights. Outside them, pedestrian gates are normally open around the clock.
Autumn is also rugby season, and Allianz Stadium at Twickenham fills the borough's rooms on fixture weekends. If your dates are flexible and you are not going to the match, check the fixture list before you book.
Kew runs a season of its own from mid-November. Christmas at Kew runs 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 with timed entry and advance booking described as essential, and Halloween at Kew runs 16 October to 1 November 2026.
Best areas to stay in Richmond
The borough spreads across both banks of the Thames, and the areas are not interchangeable. Pick the one that matches what you are actually here for.
Richmond town, the Green and the riverside
Best all-round first-time base
The most rounded choice: the station, the shopping streets, Richmond Green with its surviving palace associations, the riverside terraces at Heron Square, and Richmond Park immediately beyond the top of the hill.
It suits travellers who want restaurants and transport in the same place rather than sleeping next to one specific attraction. Richmond station is in Zone 4 and carries South Western Railway, the District line and the London Overground Mildmay line.
Kew
Best for the Gardens and the National Archives
The obvious base for a Kew Gardens trip, and quietly the best one in London for anyone working at The National Archives. Kew has its own District line and London Overground station, plus Kew Green and Thames-side walking.
One accessibility catch worth knowing: a step-free transfer between the two platforms at Kew Gardens station involves an approximately 600-metre journey at street level. Kew Bridge station, on the eastern side, has no step-free platform access at all.
Richmond Hill and Petersham
Best for the view and the walking
Quieter, greener and more residential than the station end of town, with Terrace Gardens on the slope, Petersham Meadows below, and the protected Thames panorama that painters have been coming for since the eighteenth century.
Best for walkers and for couples who would rather have the landscape than immediate rail access. Everything is reachable on foot; nothing is instant.
Twickenham and St Margarets
Best for rugby weekends
Allianz Stadium is here, and on international weekends that decides everything. The World Rugby Museum publishes eight minutes by train from Richmond to Twickenham and a ten-minute walk from the station to the stadium.
It is not only rugby, though. Church Street, Marble Hill with its sixty acres of free parkland, Orleans House and the Thames give this side its own separate identity.
Ham and Petersham
Best for quiet and heritage
The slow option, centred on Ham House, Ham Village Green, Petersham Meadows and the paths into Richmond Park. The National Trust publishes two very different walks from Richmond: a direct 1.5-mile route along the Thames Path, and a 2.9-mile historic scenic walk that takes an hour and a half to two hours.
Choose it if you are content to walk and use buses rather than have a station at the door.
Barnes, Mortlake and East Sheen
Best for river walks and the Wetland Centre
Leafier village-style bases east of Richmond. Barnes has the pond, the common, the pubs and the WWT London Wetland Centre, which opens 364 days a year.
East Sheen and Mortlake give access to the river and the eastern side of Richmond Park without the town-centre bustle. Barnes and Barnes Bridge stations are each about twenty minutes' walk from the Wetland Centre.
Getting to Richmond and around it
Richmond station sits at The Quadrant, TW9 1DN, in Zone 4, and carries South Western Railway services, the District line and London Overground's Mildmay line. The borough's tourism service puts central London about twenty minutes away by rail.
Kew Gardens has its own station on the District and Mildmay lines. If step-free matters, note TfL's warning that transferring between its two platforms step-free means an approximately 600-metre journey at street level. Kew Bridge, on National Rail in Zone 3, has no step-free platform access.
North Sheen is the useful one for the eastern side of Richmond Park. The Royal Parks name North Sheen, Richmond and Norbiton as the closest mainline stations and publish a fifteen to twenty-five-minute walk to the nearest gate.
There is no tram at Richmond. The station's own transport listing covers Underground, London Overground, National Rail and buses, and nothing else.
Do not assume you can park. Richmond Town's A1 controlled parking zone runs Monday to Saturday in the relevant streets, some areas add Sunday controls, and resident bays around Richmond Green are controlled until midnight. The council explicitly tells drivers to read the individual signs, because operation varies inside a single zone.
Richmond Park is the exception. It has seven main car parks and the Royal Parks currently state that parking in the park is free. Vehicle gates open at 07:30 in winter and 07:00 during British Summer Time, and close at dusk, so do not leave a car in there for the evening.
What to do in Richmond
Richmond Park. Roughly 1,000 hectares, or 2,500 acres, with more than 630 red and fallow deer living loose in it. Pedestrian gates are normally open 24 hours outside the cull periods. Stay at least fifty metres from the deer, and further during the September to November rut.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. A UNESCO World Heritage site with more than fifty thousand living plants across 320 acres, including the Palm House, the Temperate House and the treetop walkway. Opening times shift with the season and last entry moves with them, so check the date you are going.
Richmond Hill and Terrace Gardens. The view from the hill across the Thames has been protected by legislation since 1902, which makes it the only view in England with its own Act of Parliament. Terrace Gardens drop down the slope between the hill and the river.
Ham House and Garden. A seventeenth-century National Trust house with restored formal gardens, reachable on foot from Richmond either directly along the Thames Path in about 1.5 miles, or by the Trust's own 2.9-mile historic scenic route, which it says takes an hour and a half to two hours.
Marble Hill. A free-to-enter eighteenth-century villa in more than sixty acres of parkland, published as one mile from Richmond Underground station. The house normally opens Wednesday to Sunday and bank holidays; the park and café open daily.
Allianz Stadium and the World Rugby Museum. The museum opens Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00 and Sunday 11:00 to 17:00, with stadium tours on published slots. It is eight minutes by train from Richmond to Twickenham and ten minutes' walk from there.
WWT London Wetland Centre. An urban wetland reserve at Barnes, open 364 days a year, 10:00 to 17:30 in summer and 10:00 to 16:30 in winter, closed only on Christmas Day.
Dates worth knowing, and what has changed
The rugby calendar shapes autumn. Allianz Stadium hosts the Red Roses against New Zealand on 26 September 2026, then Nations Championship fixtures against Australia on 8 November, Japan on 14 November and New Zealand on 21 November, with a finals weekend running 27 to 29 November. The Men's Six Nations brings France on 14 February 2027, Italy on 20 February and Scotland on 13 March.
Kew runs two seasons and a marathon. Halloween at Kew runs 16 October to 1 November 2026 and Christmas at Kew from 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, with timed entry and advance booking described as essential. Henry Moore's outdoor sculptures stay until 31 January 2027. Note that Kew Gardens opens late, at 11:00, on 13 September 2026 because of the Richmond RUNFEST marathon.
Ham House has a winter programme too, with Christmas at Ham House running 28 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 and the house closed on 24 and 25 December.
Hire bikes changed in 2026. Lime journeys can no longer start or end in Richmond upon Thames following the service's exit on 26 June 2026, and Forest is now the borough's sole hire operator. This is not a ban on riding through the borough, which is what most people are actually asking.
