a peace pagoda on the thames
Battersea Park is free to visit. Opening and closing times, how to get there and highlights like the Peace Pagoda and the boating lake.
Free to visit · Battersea · Battersea Park · SW11 4NJ
Opening: Daily, 8am to dusk (pedestrian gates open 6:30am–10:30pm)
Battersea Park is free to visit, open daily from 8am until dusk, though the gates themselves stay unlocked from 6:30am to 10:30pm for early runners and evening events. It opened in 1858 on reclaimed marshland on the south bank, and it remains one of the loveliest and least crowded big parks in central London. Two hundred acres of lawns, lake and riverside, all free, with the towers of Chelsea rising across the water.
Its landmark is the London Peace Pagoda, a gleaming gilded Buddhist monument built in 1985 by monks and nuns of the Nipponzan-Myohoji order, standing right on the riverbank. Around the park there is a boating lake, a bandstand, the Old English Garden and a small free gallery in the Pump House.
Entrances: the main gates are Chelsea Gate at the north-east corner near Chelsea Bridge and the zoo, Albert Gate on Albert Bridge Road near the bandstand and boating lake, and Sun Gate (Beechmore Gate) on the south side near Prince of Wales Drive. All are free, step-free and open the same hours as the park.
It is a proper all-rounder, joggers and rowers and families and dogs, with a long Thames-side promenade that gives you free views across to Chelsea and a real sense of space a few minutes from the rush of the centre.
Getting there: A short walk from Battersea Park or Queenstown Road stations, or across the river by Chelsea Bridge or the Albert Bridge from Chelsea.
Best time to go: A clear afternoon for the river views and the Peace Pagoda catching the light. Spring and summer for the gardens and the boating lake.
Insider tip: Walk the riverside path to the Peace Pagoda at golden hour, when the gold leaf glows and Chelsea lights up across the water. The Pump House Gallery nearby is free too and often overlooked.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide