Bushy Park is the second largest of London's royal parks: 445 hectares, or about 1,100 acres, of grassland, ancient trees and free-roaming deer next to Hampton Court Palace. It is free, the car parks are free, and on most days the pedestrian gates never close. It gets a fraction of the visitors that Richmond Park gets, which is the main reason to come.
The two parks are often mentioned together and they are genuinely similar: both were Tudor hunting grounds, both have red and fallow deer roaming loose, and both are managed by the Royal Parks charity. Our guide to Richmond Park sets out the deer safety rules in full, along with the Isabella Plantation and the sightline to St Paul's that planning law protects. This page is about what Bushy has that Richmond does not: a Wren fountain in the middle, the place where D-Day was planned, a set of water gardens almost nobody visits, and a great deal more room.
The park's perimeter is about 6.6 miles, so walking round the edge is a serious half-day. Most visitors do a loop of two or three miles from one of the car parks instead.
Bushy Park at a glance
- Entry
- Free, and car parking is free
- Pedestrian gates
- Open around the clock, apart from the six-week deer culls (September to mid-October and November to mid-December), when the hours become 8am to 10.30pm
- Vehicle gates
- 6.30am until dusk
- Size
- 445 hectares (about 1,100 acres); perimeter about 6.6 miles
- Nearest stations
- Hampton Wick and Teddington, both about 5 minutes from a gate. There is no Underground station
- Deer
- Free-roaming. A 50-metre distance applies year round, and 100 metres from an active stag in autumn
Gates that never close, except twice a year
Bushy Park is one of the very few large London parks you can walk into at three in the morning. For most of the year nothing shuts on the pedestrian side, which makes a sunrise walk here a genuine option in summer.
There are two exceptions, and they matter. The annual deer culls run for about six weeks from September to mid-October and again from November to mid-December, and during those weeks the walkers' gates keep restricted hours of 8am to 10.30pm. Vehicle gates open at 6.30am and shut at dusk all year round, so their closing time moves with the season.
Check the current week's times on the park's own page before an early or late visit, because dates shift and individual gates close for maintenance. In September 2026 the park was in its autumn cull period, with the 8am opening in force.
The deer, the rut and the 50-metre rule
Henry VIII kept deer here while he lived next door at Hampton Court, and their descendants graze across the whole park. Unlike the fenced herd at Greenwich Park, nothing at all stands between you and them.
The safety rules are identical in every Royal Park, and our Richmond Park page works through them properly: the minimum distances, what to do if an animal walks towards you, and the restrictions on dogs. Read it before you come. What is particular to Bushy is the calendar.
- Autumn belongs to the rut. It coincides with the first of the year's two culls, so the park is at once at its most spectacular and at its most restricted. Roaring carries across the grass at dawn and dusk from late September onwards, and stags will charge.
- Late spring brings calves, and with them a compulsory lead requirement covering every square metre of the park between 1 May and 31 July. Rangers enforce it.
- Prosecution is not theoretical. A dog that runs at the herd can put its owner in front of a magistrate rather than simply in an argument.
For the rest of the year dogs may run free, but they must be leashed close to the animals, beside the rivers and ponds, and inside the skylark protection zones. The Woodland Gardens bar dogs altogether.
Autumn is the wrong season to bring a dog here. Between late September and November the park authority asks owners either to leash their animals anywhere near the herd or to walk them somewhere else altogether. A loose dog and a rutting stag make the most dangerous combination in any London park, and it is the owner who answers for it afterwards.
The Diana Fountain
The park's landmark stands in the middle of Chestnut Avenue, in a circular pond where the two halves of the park meet. The Royal Parks credits the design of the setting to Sir Christopher Wren, and the bronze figure on top, despite the name, is generally taken to represent Arethusa rather than the goddess Diana.
It is worth seeing for the setting as much as the sculpture. Chestnut Avenue runs dead straight for about a mile, planted with horse chestnuts and limes, and the fountain sits at its visual centre with the water and the sky around it. In the first half of May the chestnuts flower along the whole avenue, which is the single best week of the Bushy Park year.
A car park sits right beside the fountain, and most visitors start their walk from it.
The Woodland Gardens and the water
Most visitors to Bushy Park stay on the open grass and never find the gardens, which is a mistake. The Woodland Gardens are two enclosed areas of planted woodland in the middle of the park, with streams, ponds, rhododendrons and a canopy that turns gold in late October. The Pheasantry Café sits beside them.
The gardens are gated, close earlier than the park itself, and do not allow dogs, which is exactly why they are peaceful. Autumn is the best season, and a walk through them takes 30 to 45 minutes.
There are also the Water Gardens, a formal 18th-century water garden that was lost for decades and has since been restored, with basins and channels running through the trees. It is a strange, quiet thing to come across in the middle of a deer park.
Where D-Day was planned
In the Second World War a large military base was built in Bushy Park, and the planning for the D-Day landings was carried out here under General Dwight D. Eisenhower. A plaque marks the site of his office.
There is almost nothing left to see, which is the point: a plaque, some outlines in the grass, and a very large park where a headquarters stood. The Royal Parks volunteer rangers can show you where it was, and they are usually around the Pheasantry Café and the Diana Fountain at weekends. If military history is your interest, it is a ten-minute detour that most visitors walk straight past.
Where parkrun started
The free weekly 5km timed run that now takes place in dozens of countries began in Bushy Park in 2004, with a handful of runners and a stopwatch. The original event still runs here on Saturday mornings, and hundreds of people take part.
It is free and anyone can join, including visitors, but you must register online in advance and bring your personal barcode, printed or on your phone, or your time will not be recorded. If you are in London on a Saturday and run at all, this is a genuinely memorable hour, and the park is at its best early on a Saturday anyway.
Cycling, parking and the rules that differ
Bushy Park's rules are not the same as the other royal parks, and two catch people out.
- Cycling is restricted to the larger roads, such as Chestnut Avenue and Cobbler's Walk. The smaller paths and tracks across the park are for pedestrians, and cycling on them is not allowed. Our cycling guide covers the routes that get you out here.
- You cannot drive through the park between Teddington Gate and Hampton Court Gate. Both now lead only to car parks.
- Parking is free in the park's own car parks: Coleshill Road Gate, the Pheasantry Café, the Diana Fountain, and additional weekend parking through Clapperstile Gate. The nearby car park at Hampton Court Green belongs to Historic Royal Palaces and charges separately.
- A mobility buggy service runs Wednesday to Sunday between 11am and 3pm, stopping at the old police box in the Diana car park and at the Crocodile Gate into the Woodland Gardens. Disabled parking is available at several gates. Our guide to accessible London has more.
Getting there without a Tube station
There is no Underground station within reach of Bushy Park, and the Royal Parks recommends taking a train instead. Hampton Wick and Teddington are both on South Western Railway and are about five minutes' walk from the nearest gate. Trains run from London Waterloo.
Both stations sit within the London fare zones, so contactless and Oyster are accepted; check your specific journey on the TfL single fare finder, and see our explanation of London's travel zones for how far the daily cap stretches. If you are travelling beyond the zones on the same day, our guide to buying UK train tickets covers advance fares.
Bushy Park and Hampton Court in one day
The two sit side by side, and the combination makes one of the best days out from central London. Hampton Court Palace takes three to four hours with the gardens and the maze, and the palace has its own station on the line from Waterloo. Walk out of the palace, cross to Hampton Court Gate, and you are in the deer park.
A good order is palace in the morning, lunch at the Pheasantry, and the fountain and the Woodland Gardens in the afternoon, ending at Hampton Wick or Teddington for the train back. Be aware that the palace is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays in the period we checked, while the park is open every day.
Further along the same stretch of river are Richmond, Kew Gardens and Wimbledon Common, and there is an outdoor pool at Hampton covered in our guide to swimming ponds and lidos. Bushy Park costs nothing, which puts it firmly among the best free things to do in London.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bushy Park free, including parking?
Yes. There is no admission charge, and the park's own car parks cost nothing either: Coleshill Road Gate, the Pheasantry Café, the Diana Fountain and the weekend overflow at Clapperstile Gate. The car park at Hampton Court Green nearby is run by Historic Royal Palaces and charges its own rates.
How close are you allowed to get to the deer?
The Royal Parks sets a minimum distance of 50 metres in all its deer parks, rising to 100 metres for any stag behaving actively during the autumn rut. Feeding and touching are forbidden, and photographers are expected to use a zoom rather than walk in. Leads are compulsory throughout the park from May to the end of July.
Is Bushy Park open at night?
For most of the year nothing closes on the pedestrian side at all. During the six-week deer culls, roughly September to mid-October and again November to mid-December, they keep hours of 8am to 10.30pm. Vehicle gates always shut at dusk.
Is Bushy Park better than Richmond Park?
It is quieter, flatter and easier to walk, with free parking and a longer opening day. Richmond Park is larger, hillier and has the Isabella Plantation and the view of St Paul's. If you want deer without crowds, choose Bushy; if you want the famous azaleas and the protected view, choose Richmond.
How do you get to Bushy Park from central London?
Take a South Western Railway train from London Waterloo to Hampton Wick or Teddington, both about five minutes' walk from a park gate. There is no Underground station near the park. Hampton Court station, for the palace next door, is on the same line.
Sources
- The Royal Parks - Bushy Park (checked September 2026)
- The Royal Parks - Bushy Park frequently asked questions (checked September 2026)
- The Royal Parks - Deer safety advice (checked September 2026)
- Historic Royal Palaces - Hampton Court Palace opening times (checked September 2026)