Golders Hill Park has the only free zoo in London, on the City of London Corporation's own description: lemurs, wallabies, a Scottish wildcat, kookaburras, deer and donkeys, with no ticket and no booking. The park opens at 7.30am every day of the year and closes at dusk, which in late November means 4.30pm. Every entrance is step-free and the paths are tarmac, including the one round the zoo.
It sits on the quiet, north-western side of Hampstead Heath, off North End Way, and most people who visit the Heath never reach it. That is the point of the place. Where the Heath proper is rough grass and mud, Golders Hill Park is a landscaped Victorian park with a bandstand, a walled flower garden, a stumpery, tennis courts and a cafe, and it is entirely free.
The Hill Garden and the Edwardian pergola are immediately south of it, over the road, and they have their own guide here, including the current repair work and the fortnightly opening table. This page covers Golders Hill Park itself and how to link the two on foot.
Golders Hill Park: the practical frame
- Entry
- Free, park and zoo alike. No ticket, no booking, no donation asked at the gate
- Address
- North End Way, London NW3 7HE
- Opening
- 7.30am every day, all year. Closing changes roughly fortnightly: 9pm from late April to mid-August, 4.30pm from 16 November
- Zoo hours
- The same as the park's
- Nearest station
- Golders Green (Northern line), a 14-minute walk. Buses 210 and 268
- Step-free
- All entrances are step-free; most paths are tarmac; the park is on a gentle slope
- Accessible toilets
- Three. One by the cafe (Radar key) and two by the zoo, both with baby change
- Parking
- Eight blue badge bays only, 7.30am to dusk Monday to Friday. Jack Straws car park is 10 minutes away
The zoo, which really is free
London's paid zoos are among the most expensive attractions in the city, and this one costs nothing. It is small: a run of enclosures round one corner of the park, walkable in twenty minutes, with a tarmac path all the way round. The City lists ring-tailed lemurs, red-necked wallabies, a Scottish wildcat, kookaburras, deer, donkeys and bantam chickens.
Two City pages disagree about the deer: the zoo page says fallow, the donations page says red. We would not bet either way, and the enclosure signs are the thing to read when you get there. What is not in doubt is the Scottish wildcat, which is one of Britain's rarest mammals and which very few visitors to London realise they can see for free.
There is no keeper talk programme, no feeding schedule published and nothing to book. You can adopt an animal, which gets you a certificate, a photograph and your name on a sign by the enclosure, and there is a donation point; the money goes on food, bedding, enrichment and enclosure work.
For a family, this replaces an afternoon that would otherwise cost more than £100. Two adults and two children at a ticketed London zoo runs well into three figures before anybody has eaten. Golders Hill Park's zoo, playground, table tennis and cafe come to the price of lunch. It is not a substitute for London Zoo, which is a different scale of thing, but it is a very good substitute for a wet afternoon of paying for entertainment.
The walled garden and the stumpery
The walled garden is the reason to come without children. It is a formal flower garden inside brick walls, with beds that are actually planted and maintained rather than left to naturalise, which makes it the opposite of the Heath around it. Late May into July is the peak, and it is small enough that fifteen minutes does it justice.
Next to it is the stumpery, a Victorian idea that has come back into fashion: tree stumps and roots arranged as a planting structure for ferns, mosses and shade plants. It works because the wood rots slowly and holds damp, and it is one of the few in a London public park. Both are free, unfenced and open whenever the park is.
Elsewhere there is a bandstand, open lawn that people picnic on, tennis courts and all-weather table tennis tables. The playground suits children up to about twelve and has a basket swing and a climbing frame; the sandpit was closed for improvement when we checked, so do not build a morning around it.
Opening times that move every fortnight
Opening is always 7.30am. Closing follows a published table that changes in steps through the year, and the steps are large:
| Dates (2026) | Park closes |
|---|---|
| 27 April to 16 August | 9pm |
| 17 to 30 August | 8.30pm |
| 31 August to 13 September | 8pm |
| 14 to 27 September | 7.30pm |
| 28 September to 4 October | 7pm |
| 5 to 24 October | 6.30pm |
| 25 October to 15 November | 5pm |
| 16 November to 31 December | 4.30pm |
| 1 to 25 January | 4.30pm |
| 26 January to 8 February | 5pm |
| 9 February to 8 March | 5.30pm, then 6pm |
| 9 March to 26 April | 6.30pm, rising in steps to 8.30pm |
The jump worth noticing is at the end of October, when closing drops from 6.30pm to 5pm within a week of the clocks going back. In midwinter the useful day is 7.30am to 4.30pm, and the zoo animals are less active in the cold, so a morning is better than a late afternoon.
A 40mph wind forecast can close this park, and the threshold is different next door. The City says Golders Hill Park may shut at short notice when winds of 40mph or above are forecast, because of the risk of falling limbs, and posts closures on social media when it can. Highgate Wood, also City-run, closes at 37mph. Check before travelling in a gale rather than assuming one figure covers both.
Access, in detail
This is one of the more usable London parks for anybody on wheels, and the City publishes enough detail to plan with. All entrances are step-free. Most paths are even tarmac, including the perimeter path around the zoo, and the whole park is on a gentle slope rather than a hill.
There are three accessible lavatories. The one by the cafe is 2.13m by 1.4m with a door 0.85m wide and needs a Radar key. The two by the zoo are 2.74m by 1.93m with 0.92m doors and both have baby changing. That is a level of published detail almost no other London park matches, and it is worth reading our guide to accessible London alongside it.
Parking is the weak point. The park's own car park has eight bays and they are for blue badge holders only, open 7.30am to dusk Monday to Friday and not on bank holidays, with free registration required in advance. Everyone else uses Jack Straws car park, ten minutes' walk away, or arrives by bus.
Getting there, and the walk over to the Hill Garden
Golders Green on the Northern line is the station, and the City gives the walk as 14 minutes. Buses 210 and 268 both serve the park, which is the answer if the fourteen minutes uphill from Golders Green does not appeal.
The Hill Garden and the pergola are immediately south across North End Way, a walk of a couple of minutes from the park's southern side, and the two together make a satisfying hour and a half. Doing it in that order is better: Golders Hill Park has the lavatories and the cafe, which the Hill Garden does not, so use them before you cross.
The cafe in the park, which trades as Golders Hill Park Cafe and was rated 5 by the food hygiene inspectors in June 2026, does hot and cold food. If you would rather have a pub, the Old Bull and Bush is on the corner at North End Way and also holds a 5 rating.
What to pair it with
The obvious day is this park, the pergola and then the wider Hampstead Heath, which starts on the other side of the road and runs for miles east. Kenwood House at the far side of the Heath is free and holds real paintings, and makes the natural end of a long walk.
If it is small, planted and free that appeals, the closest equivalents are the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park across the city, which also has peacocks, and the set of enclosed gardens in our guide to London's secret gardens. For woodland rather than borders, Highgate Wood and Queen's Wood are twenty minutes east along the ridge.
With children, this park plus the Heath fills a whole day at no cost, which is why it sits on our lists of free things to do and London with children.
Frequently asked questions
Is Golders Hill Park Zoo really free?
Yes. The City of London Corporation describes it as London's only free zoo. There is no admission charge, no ticket and no booking, and it is open for as long as the park is. There is a donation point and an animal adoption scheme if you want to contribute.
What animals are at Golders Hill Park Zoo?
Ring-tailed lemurs, red-necked wallabies, a Scottish wildcat, kookaburras, deer, donkeys and bantam chickens, among others. The City's own pages disagree on whether the deer are fallow or red, so read the enclosure signs. It is a small collection and twenty minutes covers it.
What time does Golders Hill Park close?
It opens at 7.30am every day and closes at dusk, on a table that changes about every fortnight: 9pm from late April to mid-August, down through the autumn, and 4.30pm from 16 November to late January. The steepest drop is in late October.
Is Golders Hill Park wheelchair accessible?
Yes, more so than most of Hampstead Heath. Every entrance is step-free, most paths including the one round the zoo are even tarmac, and the gradient is gentle. There are three accessible lavatories, one needing a Radar key, and the City publishes their dimensions.
How far is Golders Hill Park from the Hampstead pergola?
A couple of minutes. The Hill Garden and the pergola are immediately south of the park across North End Way. Visit Golders Hill Park first if you need a lavatory or a coffee, because there are none at the pergola.
Sources
- City of London Corporation - Golders Hill Park: facilities, 2026 opening table, transport, access (checked September 2026)
- City of London Corporation - Golders Hill Park Zoo: animals, opening and access (checked September 2026)
- City of London Corporation - Donate to Golders Hill Park Zoo (checked September 2026)
- City of London Corporation - Golders Hill Park play area (checked September 2026)
- Food Standards Agency - Hygiene rating, Golders Hill Park Cafe (checked September 2026)
- Food Standards Agency - Hygiene rating, The Old Bull & Bush (checked September 2026)