The Serpentine Lido is not a pool. It is a roped-off, lifeguarded swimming area of the Serpentine lake itself, in Hyde Park, open to the public in summer only and never heated. In November 2026 it is closed for the winter, and the Royal Parks gives May 2027 for reopening (checked November 2026).
The season normally runs daily from June to mid-September, with weekend sessions from mid-May. Outside it, the only people swimming in the lake are members of the Serpentine Swimming Club, who have the water to themselves early every morning all year round. Our guide to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens covers the park as a whole, and the round-up of swimming ponds and lidos across London compares this with the heated pools and the Hampstead ponds. This page is about swimming here: what the ticket buys, what the water is like, what the rules are, and what the year-round club is and is not.
The Serpentine Lido at a glance (checked November 2026)
- Status now
- Closed for the winter; reopening May 2027 (Royal Parks)
- Usual season
- Weekends from mid-May; daily from June to mid-September. Exact 2027 dates not yet published
- Address
- The Serpentine Lido, Hyde Park, London W2 2UH. South shore of the lake
- Water
- Open lake water, unheated, lifeguarded, inside a buoyed boundary
- Booking
- Recommended online; walk-up possible at quieter times
- Lockers / sunbeds
- £2 / £12
- Under-16s
- Only with an adult aged 18 or over who is a competent swimmer
What a swim costs
The Royal Parks publishes three kinds of ticket: a full day, a session (10am to 1.30pm or 2.30pm to 6pm), and a cheap late ticket after 4pm when it is offered. These are the 2026 season's prices, read in November 2026. Prices for 2027 had not been announced, so treat them as a guide.
| Ticket (2026 season) | Adult | Child 3 to 15 | Family (2 adults, up to 4 children) | Concession |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full day | £8.40 | £4.15 | £17.70 | £4.70 |
| Session | £6.50 | £2.40 | £15.40 | - |
| Off-peak | £4.70 | £1.70 | £11.80 | £3.45 |
| After 4pm (if available) | £2.50 | £1.95 | - | - |
Children under three and carers go free. Concessions cover 16- and 17-year-olds, students and people over 65 with valid ID. The Royal Parks does not say on the swimming page which hours count as off-peak, so ask at the gate or check when booking.
For a family of two adults and two children, the family full-day ticket at £17.70 is cheaper than buying four tickets separately (£25.10). A session family ticket is £15.40, so unless you plan to stay past 1.30pm, the extra £2.30 for the whole day is worth it only for a long, hot day by the water. A single adult who just wants a swim after work pays £2.50 after 4pm, which makes it one of the cheapest outdoor swims in London when that ticket is offered.
What swimming in the lake is actually like
Expect lake water, not pool water. It is greenish, you will not see the bottom in the deeper part, and the temperature follows the weather. The Serpentine Swimming Club posts the reading on its website; on 5 November 2026 it was 10.1°C. In June it is often still cool enough to take your breath away, and only in a run of warm weather in July and August does it feel comfortable for a long swim.
The lido is lifeguarded and you swim only inside the buoy boundary. Weak swimmers and non-swimmers must stay in the shallow area, marked by depth signs on the pier, and anyone using armbands or other buoyancy aids must stay there too. The lido does not lend buoyancy aids, and lilos, large rings, water pistols and diving are all banned.
The lake is a closed body of water with no natural river feeding it; fresh water is pumped in from boreholes. That matters because of blue-green algae. The Royal Parks monitors the water through the year, and at the highest alert level it stops all swimming, including the club's. A hot August is both the best time to swim and the most likely time for a closure, so check on the day.
Cold water shock catches strong swimmers too. The Royal Parks' safety advice, drawn from the Royal Life Saving Society, is to get in gradually, wait until your breathing is under control before you start swimming, and get out before you start to feel cold. If you get into trouble, lie on your back and float until your breathing steadies.
What you can wear, and what you cannot
The rules are stricter than many visitors expect, and staff do enforce them. Allowed: a swimming costume, trunks or swim shorts, a wetsuit, a burkini or body suit made for water, lycra leggings and a close-fitting lycra rash vest, swimming caps, goggles, masks, snorkels and short fins. Not allowed in the water: denim, trousers, jogging bottoms, underwear, loose T-shirts, jumpers and anything made of cotton or wool.
On the beach area there is no smoking or vaping, no glass or ceramic containers, no alcohol, no music and no disposable barbecues. Cameras cannot be used in the changing rooms or within the lido and beach area, which rules out filming the children in the water. Pushchairs are allowed on the beach.
Children and the supervision ratios
No one under 16 gets in without an adult of at least 18 who is a competent swimmer, and the adult must supervise directly the whole time. The Royal Parks sets ratios by age: one adult to each child under three, one adult to two children aged three to seven, one to three for ages eight to 13, and one to four for 14- and 15-year-olds. A single parent with three children under eight cannot take them all in.
Small children need swim nappies. With toddlers, the Diana Memorial Playground on the Kensington Gardens side is often the better half of the day, and for paddling in warm water an indoor pool is a safer bet than the lake.
A 1930 idea of public bathing
The lido opened in 1930. The Serpentine Swimming Club's own history credits George Lansbury, then First Commissioner of Works, who had been lobbied by the Sunlight League and said that there were not nearly enough places in London for bathing. It was also the first time women could swim in the Serpentine legally: the club records 16 June 1930 as the day the first woman did so.
The pavilion on the shore holds the changing rooms and toilets, and beside it is a café, which the Royal Parks lists as open from 8am to 4pm every day. The lake itself is much older, made in the 1730s for Queen Caroline by damming the River Westbourne.
The Serpentine Swimming Club: early mornings, members only
The Royal Parks calls the club the oldest swimming club in Britain. Its own records give 1864 as the year of its first Christmas Day race, and treat that as its founding. Members may swim in the lido area every day of the year, in a window that the club gives as 5am to 9.30am and the Royal Parks as 5.30am to 9.30am. There are no lifeguards for these swims; every member swims at their own risk.
This is not a way for a visitor to swim in winter. The club has a strict no-guests policy. Joining means going on a waiting list, waiting to be invited, attending an induction in person, and passing a 50-metre swimming test in the water at whatever temperature it is that week. Membership runs to 31 December and is renewed each January. It is worth knowing about mostly so that you are not surprised, on a February morning, to see people in bright caps swimming in water a few degrees above freezing.
You can watch the Christmas morning race, but not swim in it. The club's Christmas Day handicap for the Peter Pan Cup, first given by J M Barrie in 1903, is a 100-yard race open only to members who have qualified through the winter series. It starts at 9am. There is no Tube or bus service on Christmas Day, so anyone going to watch has to walk, cycle or take a taxi.
Getting there and timing a visit
The lido is on the south side of the lake, roughly halfway along, reached from Serpentine Road. Entry is only through the staffed gate next to the pavilion, where everyone, including parents and children, registers at reception. TfL's journey planner puts it about 15 minutes' walk from Knightsbridge station, 17 from Hyde Park Corner and 12 from Lancaster Gate on the north side. Knightsbridge has been step-free since April 2025. The surroundings are covered in our page on Knightsbridge and Belgravia.
Weekday mornings in June are the quietest time. Hot weekends in July and August sell out, which is when booking ahead earns its keep. If you are planning around the weather, our pages on London in a heatwave and July in London say what else is open when the city overheats. Pair a swim with the Serpentine Galleries across the bridge, or stay on the surface instead with a rowing boat, as described in our guide to boat hire and pedalos.
Other places to swim outdoors when it is shut
Between mid-September and May the lake is closed to the public. The heated outdoor pools and the year-round lidos elsewhere are listed in the lidos round-up linked at the top. For lake swimming further out, Beckenham Place Park's swimming lake is the closest equivalent. And in winter the only way to swim near Hyde Park is indoors: several of the hotels with swimming pools are a short walk away. Swimming anywhere else in the Serpentine, at any time of year, is not allowed.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Serpentine Lido open in winter?
No. Public swimming runs only in the summer season, usually weekends from mid-May and daily from June to mid-September. In November 2026 the Royal Parks lists it as closed for the winter and reopening in May 2027. Only Serpentine Swimming Club members swim in the lake in winter.
How much does it cost to swim in the Serpentine?
In the 2026 season an adult full-day ticket was £8.40, a session £6.50 and a ticket after 4pm £2.50 where offered. A family full-day ticket for two adults and up to four children was £17.70. Check the Royal Parks page for 2027 prices.
Is the Serpentine Lido heated?
No. It is a section of the lake, so the water is whatever temperature the weather makes it. The Serpentine Swimming Club recorded 10.1°C on 5 November 2026; summer readings are much higher, but early June can still feel cold.
Can visitors join the Serpentine Swimming Club for a winter swim?
Not as a one-off. The club has a no-guests policy, and new members join through a waiting list, an in-person induction and a 50-metre swim test in the lake. It is a members' club, not a public session.
Do I need to book the Serpentine Lido?
Booking online is recommended to guarantee a place, especially on hot weekends, but it is not essential. At quieter times you can walk up and pay at the gate next to the pavilion.
Sources
- The Royal Parks - Swimming in Hyde Park: the Serpentine Lido, prices and conditions of use (checked November 2026)
- Serpentine Swimming Club - Membership (checked November 2026)
- Serpentine Swimming Club - Club timeline (checked November 2026)
- Serpentine Swimming Club - Christmas Day Race and Peter Pan Cup (checked November 2026)
- Serpentine Swimming Club - Blue-green algae and swimming safety (checked November 2026)