Golders Hill Park

• Golders Hill Park in northwest London has plenty of open space and great activities for families to enjoy.
• Have fun taking part in the sports on offer, from tennis to croquet.
• Discover the brilliant (and free!) Golders Hill Park Zoo, where you can interact with animals large and small.
• Take a wander through the woods to the Hampstead hill garden and pergola, a wonderfully magical hidden place to explore.
   

Golders Hill Park is the perfect place to spend an afternoon or two with the kids. It's home to a zoo, brilliant sports facilities, beautiful wildlife and plants, and much more.
 

For active families, Golders Hill Park is a delight. Discover your inner Andy Murray or Serena Williams with a fun game of tennis on one of the park’s courts, or grab a paddle and hit the table tennis tables at the park. If you fancy something a little fancier, then the park is also home to its very own croquet lawns. 
 

One of the park’s biggest highlights is Golders Hill Park Zoo. This London petting zoo is completely free and is a lovely place to visit with kids. You’ll find a brilliant range of interesting animals, including donkeys, maras, kookaburras, pheasants, and lemurs. The animals are friendly, and it's one of only two free zoos in London, alongside Hanwell Zoo in West London.
 

Next to the main zoo building, you’ll find the park’s beautiful family of fallow deer, whose inquisitive nature is sure to excite younger kids. There are even emus, which is something that you don’t usually find in the middle of London!
 

At Golders Hill Park, you’ll also find a large children’s playground, complete with a sandpit to jump around and play in. The playground is open year-round and has lots of equipment for kids to enjoy. There’s also the utterly magical butterfly house, which is open from March to October. At this London butterfly house, you can discover all kinds of butterflies floating around the building; it’s sure to be a huge hit with the kids.
 

There's also a beautifully tended flower garden. The garden is landscaped and comes to life during the summer months, when the plants are in full bloom. The garden is next to a small duck pond, which also features a water garden that runs onto the Park's larger lake. The gardens and park are an excellent place for a family picnic in the sunshine.
 

On Sunday afternoons in the summer, you can catch a brilliant musical performance at the Park's bandstand. Local musicians often play here, and it’s a great place to relax on a warm summer’s day while a band plays. There are also children’s summer holiday camps that take place in and around the bandstand.
 

Golders Hill Park is connected to the larger area of Hampstead Heath, which is also great to explore, especially the glorious Kenwood House. In an area of Hampstead Heath close to Golders Hill Park, you’ll find the beautiful hill gardens and pergola. This is the ruins of an old terrace of one of the park’s famous mansions, and today is a stunningly beautiful destination to enjoy great views in a setting that feels like something straight out of a fairy tale.
 

What to know before you go

• Golders Hill Park is open from 7.30am till dusk; the closing time changes with the seasons. Nearby Hampstead Heath is open 24 hours a day.
• Golders Hill Park Café serves lots of tasty snacks, drinks, and light bites to eat. It also has ice creams and other kids’ favourites. For something more substantial, the surrounding areas of Golders Green and Hampstead are home to some brilliant cafés and restaurants. They’re also beautiful areas to explore, full of independent shops and interesting places to visit.
• There are public toilets available at the park, which are accessible and have baby-changing facilities. The bathrooms are located near the café.
• The park has tarmacked paths throughout, making it accessible for wheelchair users and buggies.
   

Getting there

• Golders Hill Park is in the borough of Barnet in northwest London.
• There’s parking nearby at Heath Brow car park on Hampstead Heath, a couple of minutes’ walk from Golders Hill Park. Parking costs £3.70 for a two-hour stay or £7.40 for a four-hour stay.
• The park is also accessible by public transport. Golders Green station is on the Northern line and is a ten-minute walk from the park.
• The 139, 183, 210, and 328 buses all have stops within a few minutes’ walk of the park.