Richmond Park has been hailed as one of the UK’s best outdoor spots to go for an autumn walk.
South London’s Richmond Park was named by outdoor retailer GO Outdoors in its list of best autumn walks, coming in at number five, and joins London park Regent's Park which came in at number 10.
The list was based on several factors including TripAdvisor ratings, visitors reviews and keyword searches.
The park scored a TripAdvisor score of 4.7 out of 5 across more than 2,500 reviews, while the study also highlighted that over 160 reviews specifically mentioned autumn.
The park is well known for its herd of roaming deer which you can spot grazing freely around the parkland, with autumn being rutting season in the deer world.
If you visit the park early you can often see the deer rutting, which is a rare sight to see in London and one not to be missed.
But aside from that the park is also a prime location in south London to see the changing colours of autumn, with one of the most popular areas in the park being the Isabella Plantation, a 40-acre Victorian woodland garden nestled into the heart of the park.
Here Japanese maples and sweet gums have been planted to show a natural display of autumnal colour, and this is also a prime place to see lichens and fungi along with oak trees and chestnut trees.
If you’re a walker the park has a number of routes to take to see Richmond Park in autumn colour.
The Tamsin Trail is perhaps the most popular, an 11-kilometre circuit that takes visitors around the park’s boundary, with views across the Thames Valley from King Henry’s Mound to Sawyer’s Hill.
For something easier, the Beverley Brook Walk is a riverside path that takes walkers through woodland and meadow, where you’ll be able to spot trees turning orange and red as the seasons change.
One of the best times to visit the park is at dawn, where the deer will be active and early morning mists will give the park that atmospheric autumn feel.
