Autumn tree walks

Did you know there are approximately eight million trees in London! 😲 As summer turns to autumn, why not enjoy a walk through some of the best places to view the trees as their leaves start to change colour. 🍂

Chelsea Physic Gardens

The oldest botanic garden in London with 5,000 plant specimens and impressive trees, including pomegranate trees and the UK’s largest fruiting olive tree. 🌳

Kew Arboretum

Stretching across two-thirds of Kew Gardens, its arboretum of 14,000 trees surrounds the glasshouses and represents more than 2,000 species.

In autumn, the canopies blaze with browns, oranges, and yellows, including shagbark hickory, maple, and sweetgum trees. 🍁

Regent’s Park

Explore the free Music for Trees app, developed by the Royal Parks with the Royal Academy of Music. 🎵

The Music for Trees geo-location app starts at Gloucester Gate, in the northeast corner of the park, which is home to more than 30 species of trees including walnut, hornbeam, ash, and London plane.

Each tree has been given a musical signature, so as you stroll through the park, the music changes depending on the species and age of the trees. 🎧

You can also find information about different types of trees, the composers, and the compositions.

Richmond Park

Located in southwest London, this is a leading UK site for around 1,200 ancient trees, particularly oaks. There’s also beech, hawthorn and horse chestnut, and as the leaves turn russet, copper and all shades in between, this is a magical place to spot deer through the early autumn mist. However, you need to take extra care from September to November as it’s rutting season so you must keep a minimum distance of 50 metres from the deer. 🦌🍁

St James’s Park

Take a relaxing 1.3 mile circular walk around St James’s Park and learn about its many different trees, including the Mandela Tree, a London plane planted by Nelson Mandela in 1996.  

There’s a handy printable St James’s Park Tree Walk guide with colourful illustrations to help you identify the different species. 👍

Stephen’s House and Gardens

This little-known gem can be found at 17 East End Road in Finchley. It is a Grade ll listed house with extensive landscaped gardens, gifted to the people by Henry Charles ‘Inky’ Stephens of the Stephens’ Ink Company, who also sourced many of the specimens in the gardens. 

It boasts some of the most unique trees in London, such as the pocket-handkerchief tree, common medlar, blue atlas cedar, and Judas tree. There’s even a Little Book of Leaves you can buy to guide you around the gardens. 📖

Get exploring

If you want to go further and explore more of London, you can use the London Tree Map  🗺️🌳

You can also use our Journey Planner to find your way around the city.