London Open Gardens 2025
Oh look, it’s another Hannah post about gardens. I can only apologise for my lack of diverse content. I’m slowly turning my own garden in to a tranquil space, and I make every excuse to visit as many beautiful gardens as possible.
So it is with absolute joy and delight that London has an annual garden weekend, where all the city’s hidden gardens are opened, and squares and parks are turned in to a centre for events, food, plant buying and much more. Welcome to London Open Gardens 2025.
A bit about London Open Gardens
London Open Gardens is managed by London Parks & Gardens, a registered charity. It allows the public access to private gardens for one weekend a year, and is part of the charity’s larger mission to protect heritage parks and spaces.
Many of the open spaces during the weekend are residential “Squares”, one of the defining features of London. They are private central parks surrounded by homes, where only those who own the homes have access to the garden, forming a hub for local communities to come together.
There are also many more formal gardens open, with access to the gardens of historic buildings, such as those of the British Medical Association, Inns of Court, Businesses, Mosques and Churches – all of which are normally closed. In total over 100 gardens are open across the weekend.
- The event runs across Saturday and Sunday, with some gardens only open on one of the days.
- Tickets cost £24 per adult (free for children under 11).
- Additional guide led walking tours and special gardens where capacity is restricted (e.g. Battersea rooftop) can be booked for a small fee (normally £5).
Gardens
With over 100 gardens open to the public, spread out across the whole of London, it’s obviously impossible to visit all of them in just two days. I focused myself in on central London, across Maps 3, 4, 5 and 9.
The City & Southbank
25 Cannon Street
On the Saturday, my aunt, uncle and cousin joined me. We had a lovely and companionable day exploring some of the gardens (and taking a few detours). One of the most beautiful gardens was at 25 Cannon Street, overlooking St Paul’s Cathedral.
Lincoln’s Inn Gardens
I’ve visited Lincoln’s Inn before on a tour, to learn more about British barristers’ “inns of court” and the historical buildings, but this is another London hidden gem opening its doors as part of the Open Gardens events.
Charterhouse Gardens
The Charterhouse is an almshouse with residents aged 60 and over, and a heritage site as the historic buildings date back to medieval and Tudor times. I’ve always wanted to visit, but normally you can only visit on tours, so it was special to be able to explore the wonderful building and gardens as part of the gardens ticket.
Stationer’s Company Garden
Stationer’s Company was formed as a Guild in 1403 for stationers and newspaper makers. The garden is set in a beautiful courtyard, all situated around a Plane Tree, which interestingly survive in cities because their bark absorbs pollution!
Inner Temple Garden
Alongside Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple also opens its doors to visitors for its spectacular gardens. Inner Temple supports the information and research requirements of barrister, student and judicial members of all four Inns of Court (of which Lincoln’s Inn and Middle Temple are two).
Middle Temple
Middle Temple shares a complex with Inner Temple, and is one of the four inns of court. It’s normally closed to the public as it houses Barristers’ offices, but the beautiful garden is something to behold. This was one of my favourites of the whole weekend!
Master’s Garden
The “Master’s House” is the official residence of the Master of Temple Church, situated at the centre of the Inner and Middle Temple complex. The Master of the Temple is appointed by the Crown, and he lives in the “Master’s House”; a Georgian townhouse built in 1764, with a beauty of a garden!
King’s Cross & Islington
British Medical Association Garden
The British Medical Association has a beautiful little garden in a central courtyard with a nice pond and lots of scented geraniums. There was also a little tea stand providing free flavoured teas; the rose tea was my favourite.
Montague Street Gardens
These gardens sit over what was Montague Mews; a street of stables demolished in 1899. It’s now one of the largest private gardens in London and is home to some lovely lawns, and a hive of honey bees with their very own beekeeper.
Barbican Wildlife Garden
The Barbican Wildlife Garden is home to a wildflower meadow, two ponds and a bird hide. It was created in 2003, on an empty site where the buildings had been destroyed by bombing in the Second World War. I spent a long time here as I also volunteered for a few hours on the “door”.
Chelsea, Belgravia and Pimlico
The Ismaili Centre Roof Garden
The Ismaili Centre was founded in South Kensington in 1979 as a religious, cultural and social centre for the Ismaili community at Kensington Court. It’s both a Muslim centre of worship and a social hub for the community, and on its rooftop is a beautiful Islamic Garden. The volunteers on the day were incredible, and even offered tours of the building and prayer hall too.
Thurloe Square
One of my favourite gardens of the whole weekend was beautiful Thurloe Square, another private garden for the houses surrounding it. I loved the amount of roses, palm trees and gorgeous flower beds throughout the space. I read my book on a bench for an hour in the sunshine!
There you have it – a wonderful weekend exploring lots of hidden gardens all across London. I managed to clock nearly 50,000 steps and still only got around 12 of over 100 gardens, so I will have to go again next year to discover some more further afield. What do you think? Would you like to go to London Open Gardens?
