Thames Path: Richmond and Teddington Circular Short Walk

6.6 miles (10.5km).

This is a lovely Thames Path walk through one of its prettiest stretches through London. It follows long arcs of the river giving sweeping views, and is surprisingly rural for inner London. The return leg is on its opposite bank. You cross Richmond Bridge at one end, and a pedestrian bridge by Teddington Lock at the other. Along the way it passes several attractions - some grand historic houses, some local riverside city parks with a cafe, and a pub crawl of riverside pubs.

The attractions include:

• Richmond (an upmarket riverside town)
• Ham House and Garden (National Trust, entrance fee)
• Teddington Lock (you cross the river here)
• Strawberry Hill House (entrance fee, just off route)
• Eel Pie Island
• York House Garden and it's riverside "Naked Ladies" sculpture garden (free)
• Orleans House Gallery (an art gallery, free)
• Marble Hill House (English Heritage, free)

The only fly in this walk's ointment is one section of the river which doesn't have a riverside towpath - about 1 mile or so of residential road walking with no river access (except for 2 small riverside parks).It doesn't sound too bad, but it's in stark contrast to the rest of the walk which is very pretty. You can take a short bus ride (every 10 mins, about 10 mins) to avoid it, or continue on to Kingston.

Twickenham via west bank to Richmond via east bank to Kingston

This 'figure of 9' walk completely avoids the 'no riverside path' section. It starts at Twickenham, but rather than crossing the river at Teddington Lock (but do, briefly, for the pub) on the way back, it continues south along the riverbank to Kingston station instead.

The Twickenham (west) side - clockwise from Teddington Lock

• The Anglers. By Teddington Lock
• Radnor Gardens Cafe
• Barmy Arms
• Many places in Twickenham High Street, just inland from York House and the riverside statues
• The White Swan
• Orleans House Cafe

The Richmond and Ham (east) side

• Many places in Richmond, including a riverside terrace just by the bridge
• (then nothing)

On the Kingston extension

• a cafe and a pub in a city park
• then many places in Kingston itself including 2 pricey riverside pubs just past the bridge, and a Wetherspoons by the station

Kew Gardens - further north along the Thames from Richmond

Richmond Park, a large Royal deer park.

Strawberry Hill House, in the 'no riverside path' section.

Public Transport users can choose between Richmond (Tube), or Richmond, Twickenham, or Kingston train stations (trains from Waterloo). Contactless should work out fine, otherwise, if doing the linear walk, a return from Waterloo to Twickenham is valid to return from Kingston

Car drivers can park by Teddington Lock for free - TW107RP. If you do the Kingston Option, there are regular buses (£1.70) and trains (quicker, but more expensive) from Kingston to Twickenham. Thius also skips the road walking section.

Use a TFL Bus (£1.70 in 2024) to skip the pavement walking : 3 routes to choose from which use different bus stops - use the Google Maps App to navigate.

• Anticlockwise : e.g. bus R68 from stop P (Leave the river in Twickenham, King Street, just after Eel Pie Island, and take a bus towards The Anglers Teddington / TW103SD, just by the lock)
• Clockwise: e.g. bus R68 from stop M. (Leave the river after crossing Teddington Lock, and take a bus towards Eel Pie Island / TW118BG )

• Marble Hill House : A Palladian Villa in a park on the banks of the Thames. Built by the King's mistress, now a museum. Free. Wikipedia, English Heritage
• Orleans House Gallery. 18th C. Free
• Ham House is a 17th C country house in formal gardens. National Trust
• York House garden is in 2 parts. The most interesting is the Italian style riverside gardens containing the 'Naked Ladies' statues in a water cascade overlooking the Thames. Possibly ancient, they were the property of a celebrated fraudster, so their provenance is uncertain. Whichever, its a great picnic spot.
• Eel Pie Island. Has artist open days twice a year (July and December). The bridge over to it, and a central footpath is public access (no river views - blocked by fences). There are small blocked off nature reserves at either end.
• Strawberry Hill House is an 18thC gothic villa built by Horace Walpole - the son of the 1st Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, a man of letters (48 volumes), and MP for a rotten borough. The house was already a tourist attraction in his lifetime. The house is by organised tour. 10-4, Sun-Thu (closed Fri, Sat), but the garden and cafe free, tours £12.50. Half price with the National Art Pass (Art Fund) and National Rail 2-4-1 scheme. Just off route, turn left on Waldegrave Road, by Radnor Gardens, in the 'no riverbank access' section.

After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks!

You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:

National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Dec-24 Andrew