Our Richmond self-guided walk starts at Richmond Station, upon exiting the station turn left and you’ll be in the middle of the vibrant Quadrant. You can spend some time here browsing through the multiple shops around.
Continue walking until The Quadrant becomes George St and then take a left at Church Court where you’ll see one of the many pubs that you’ll pass by in this itinerary – The Angel and Crown. Walk ahead until you reach St Mary Magdalene Church. There are a lot of cute little houses around the church, take time to explore it.
Afterwards – walk back towards George Street, cross the road and turn right to Brewer’s Lane. It’s a quaint little alley which connects George Street to Richmond Green. There’s the Brittania, a cute pub which doesn’t look so promising from the outside but it actually has one of the most charming courtyards as well as a rooftop area where you can enjoy your food and drinks.
Continue on walking towards Richmond Green, a popular area to host sporting events like archery and jousting tournaments since the 16th century. Cricket matches have been played here since the 18th century until the present day. Surrounding the green are beautiful period townhouses, I would suggest that you take your time exploring this area specially if you like taking photos of beautiful architecture.
There are two pubs facing Richmond Green – The Cricketers and The Prince’s Head. The Prince’s Head once lost its license to operate for allowing “disorderly women” in their premises which at the time was against the law as they were considered evil temptations to soldiers. When it reopened, the licensee banned all women in the pub to avoid losing its license again. I’m not sure when they started allowing women again but thankfully I wasn’t turned away when I asked for a pint. Lol.
The Cricketers on the other hand is the oldest pub in Richmond with a longstanding association with cricket games in Richmond Green. I love its facade, I think it’s the prettiest in the area.
There are two beautiful alleyways that you can explore from here – Golden Court and Paved Court. I would suggest that you explore Paved Court the last as it connects you to our next destination – King St. Most of the buildings in these alleyways were built as early as the 17th century, the storefronts are just so lovely to look at.
King St is another area filled with shops with pretty storefronts, my favourite is definitely the Open Book – an independent bookshop selling a wide range of books.
Facing Open Book, walk to your left until you pass by The Old Ship pub. Take a right towards Water Lane until you reach The White Cross – a riverside pub. We once went there when it was high tide and the water from the River Thames overflowed and reached its pub garden. The diners couldn’t care less about it and continued on drinking.
If you’re not up for a drink, explore the riverside area of Richmond walking towards the bridge. During the summer, the green areas facing the river are filled with people sunbathing while a busker plays a tune and an ice cream van sells refreshments. It’s a sight to behold, I love visiting this place during this summer for that vibe.
Continue walking underneath the bridge and you’ll soon reach the prettiest location for a cafe – Tide Tables Cafe. I suggest that you have a cuppa here, it’s the perfect place to watch the world go by. You can hire a boat just opposite the cafe if you wish to explore Richmond from a different vantage point.
If you’re not up for a boat trip, continue walking to your left if you’re facing the river. You’ll soon pass by some other riverside restaurants such as Gaucho and Stein’s. Continue on walking until you reach Buccleuch Gardens.
Buccleaugh Gardens is a public park which is associated with Terrace Gardens just opposite it. It’s the perfect place to have a quick rest after the walk that you’ve just done. I do however prefer to have a quick stop at Hollyhock Cafe at Terrace Gardens which I think is the most charming cafe in the whole of London.
After enjoying your cuppa, make sure that you explore Terrace Gardens itself. There are lots of flower beds around the area and a delight to wander around in.
The centerpiece of Terrace Garden is the statue of Aphrodite, it’s situated on top of the garden itself so it’s very hard to miss. It also gives you the perfect vantage point for an instagram-worthy shot of Terrace Gardens.
Afterwards, take the stairs up to Richmond Hill and walk towards my favourite pub in the area – Roebuck where this walk ends. I highly suggest that you have a drink (or two) here while enjoying the fantastic view from Richmond Hill – the only view in England to be protected by an Act of Parliament to ensure that the scenic panorama remains unobstructed. On a clear day, you might be able to see Windsor Castle from here.
If that’s not the best view to end a walking itinerary then I don’t know what is. 🙂
Our Richmond self-guided walk ends here. From Roebuck, you can either take a bus back to Richmond Station or if you’re still up for it – walk back. Otherwise, you can also have a meal at the most charming restaurant in London – Petersham Nurseries which is very near to where you already are. Read more about Petersham Nurseries here.
I hope you enjoyed our little walk together and you’ll join me again next time.
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