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Thames Path: Richmond and Teddington Circular Short Walk

A lovely section of the Thames: Ham House, Marble Hill House, New Orleans Gallery, a sculpture garden, riverside pubs

Circular Easy London

History

Club walks since April 2015, and a summary which goes back to Jan 2010.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sun, 22-Feb-26 The Thames Path (Richmond-Teddington Lock)
Thu, 30-Oct-25 b Evening Walk - Thames Path: Twickenham to Teddington 9 dry
Thu, 19-Dec-24 a Evening Walk - Thames Path: Teddington to Richmond 5 clear skies no wind
Thu, 08-Aug-24 Evening Walk - Thames Path: Richmond Circular via Teddington [New Walk] 6 grey and humid and on the cold side
Sean
Short Walk 52 – Richmond Circular, via Teddington Lock

Length: About 12 km (7½ miles). Toughness: 1/10

Meet in the ticket hall of Richmond station at 11:00. Either take the 10:39 Bracknell train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:43, Clapham Jct 10:49, Putney 10:53), arriving at 10:58; or the Overground or a District line tube (see the TfL site for times). Richmond is in Zone 4.

There are five trains an hour back from Richmond to Waterloo (at xx:05, xx:09, xx:27, xx:37 & xx:57), plus the Overgrounds and tubes.

Strawberry Hill House This is one of those simple Thames walks: upstream from Richmond on the south bank, cross the river at Teddington Lock and return along the north bank. It's one of the prettiest riverside stretches in the capital with plenty of interesting sights along the way.

The logical place to stop for lunch is at the halfway point, with OpenStreetMap showing a couple of pubs and a café at Teddington Lock. The Walk Notes suggest The Anglers, a large Fullers pub which is doubtless crowded in summer but should be less of a squeeze in February. There are more riverside pubs in Twickenham on the return leg, and plenty of places in Richmond if you need reviving before the journey home.

You won't need the L=short.52 page for the directions but it has some useful information about the places en route. Of the free attractions Marble Hill House is closed for the winter but the art gallery at Orleans House would be worth a detour.

NB. The Walk Notes say that its ‘fly in the ointment’ is a long stretch of road walking between Teddington Lock and Twickenham, but the map shows a newish public footpath parallel to Strawberry Vale which would cut out a third of this (as well as giving a good view of the beautifully-restored Strawberry Hill House: see photo). The Walk Map also shows a simple out-and-back route between the station and Richmond Bridge, but for a small extension at the end you could continue along the Thames Path for an extra 1 km and cross the river at Richmond Lock instead.

  • Lucilla
    Wed 11-Feb 23:02

    Art pass holder can get into Strawberry Hill House for free.

Thomas G
Length : 9.2 km
Ascent : negligible
Net Walking Time : 2 hours
Take the 18.03 Bracknell service from Waterloo (calls Vauxhall, Clapham J, Putney), arrives Twickenham 18.26.
Return trains: six per hour (there is a pub right by the station).
Variation of the Richmond Circular walk, cutting out the enervating Teddington – Twickenham stretch along a main road: A 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.
Walk Options :
Join at Richmond Bridge, crossed after 3.3 km.
Finish at Kingston-upon-Thames Station.

Refreshments: Plenty of options .

For a detailed route map, gpx/kml file and pdf directions click here .

  • Thomas G
    Oct-25

    7 walkers off the slightly delayed train, soon caught by a local-ish walker whose bus was even more delayed. The riverside path was not as busy as one could suspect, so we progressed at a good pace to Richmond Bridge, where we were awaited by walker 9. He had earlier been passed by a local walker on her way back home from work, but she didn't fancy waiting to join the caravan to Teddington, apparently.

    Back along the other side then, now into the (mild) wind. There was some moonlight refracting through the fluffy clouds, so headtorches were not really needed. Plenty of rowers were still going about their business, with flashing lights at the front of their boats.

    At Teddington Lock bridge, the Richmond joiner walked on to Kingston and its sculpture trail, while the 8 of us turned across the river and then chose The King's Head for dinner. And what a good choice that was! They had a table of just the right size in a rectangular alcove, efficient staff and very good food and drink as well.

    22.11 train to Waterloo for the train takers.

    dry

Thomas G
Length : 6.6 km
Ascent : negligible
Net Walking Time : 1 ¼ hours

Take the 18.12 service from Waterloo (calls Vauxhall, Clapham J, Earlsfield, Wimbledon,…, Kingston,…), arrives Teddington 18.45.
Fast Return trains are on xx.15, xx.28, xx.45 and xx.58. Richmond is also served by the Overground and the District Line.
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.

We have walked the full version of the walk (Richmond Circular via Teddington), and found the return along the westerly side of the river a little unsatisfactorily. So, here it is starting from Teddington Station (then finding the route to the Thames and Teddington Lock) and following the easterly Thames-side to the honeypot that is Richmond (honey = pubs and restaurants).

Refreshments: Plenty of options.

For a detailed route map, gpx/kml file, photos and pdf directions click here .

  • Jane from Kew
    Dec-24

    I am.hoping to come on this walk Jane Hope to see u later

  • Thomas G
    Dec-24

    Train is leaving 7 minutes late and is FAST (ie non stopping) to Norbiton!

  • Thomas G
    Dec-24

    At least two walkers are on the 18.27 from W'loo, I hear

  • Thomas G
    Dec-24

    3 walkers met on the platform, and turned straight into The Railway pub to wait for the 2 delayed walkers. We therefore left 25 minutes or so behind schedule, falling further behind as the 'leader' turned the wrong way 'towards the river' (ie in fact away from the river), not having realised that the railway line through Teddington runs south to north...

    Anyway, that made us realise that there another two pubs on 'that' side of the railway and also forced us onto the High Street much earlier than planned. And that looks like a good place to finish a walk, with lots of good 'tea' options. Next time...

    The moon was about 2/3 up and there were no clouds, so we had decent lights apart from when under trees, ie headtorches were rarely needed. No wind either, so it felt warmish while walking. Got to Richmond's main drag at 20.40 or so and went into the usual place, The Old Ship (Young's), for a meal.

    A delightful stroll.

    5 clear skies no wind

Thomas G
Length : 10.5 km
Ascent : negligible
Net Walking Time: 2 hours
Take the 18.13 service from Waterloo (calls Vauxhall , Clapham J , Putney ), arrives Richmond 18.32 . Richmond is also served by the Overground and the District Line.
Fast Return trains are on xx.15, xx.28, xx.45 and xx.58.
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. 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 café, and a host of riverside pubs.

The attractions include Richmond (an upmarket riverside town), Ham House, Marble Hill House, Orleans House Gallery, York House gardens and riverside sculpture garden, Teddington Lock, Eel Pie Island. Just off route is Strawberry Hill House.

Refreshments: Plenty of options en route, for details check the webpage or pdf.

For a detailed route map, gpx/kml file, photos and pdf directions click here.

  • Thomas G
    Aug-24

    6 off the train(s), with a 7th also there but staying behind, awaiting a delayed friend, who may or may not have arrived at some point. We di not see either of them again. Grey skies with an at times cold breeze encouraged fast walking, so that's what we did.

    The outbound route is very nice, although entirely on hard surfaces. The return has a very long, slightly soul-destroying stretch along a busy road, with not that much to look at in the form of grand houses or somesuch.

    1 fell a bit behind due to carrying a very heavy backpack, us other 5 settled into The Old Ship Inn (Young's) for a meal in Richmond, where walker 6 joined us. grey and humid and on the cold side