A broad earth path running straight ahead under an arch of trees in fresh pale green leaf, with thick dark trunks on the left, white-barked silver birches on the right, a wooden bench at the path's edge on the left, and a few small figures of walkers far away where the trees meet

A broad path through an avenue of trees on Wimbledon Common.

Before you go

Prices
Free
Open
Always open
Nearest station
Wimbledon (District line, trains from London Waterloo, Thameslink trains and trams), go to bus stop L for bus 93 (every 7 mins) towards Putney Bridge
Plan your journey
TfL Journey Planner, Google Maps or Uber

For families

Wimbledon Common is a lovely place to take the kids for a run-around. Together with its neighbours, Putney Heath and Putney Lower Common, it covers 1,140 acres of heath, woodland and ponds, all kept fairly wild (although there is a golf course in there).

A child's leg in rolled-up jeans and a navy wellington boot patterned with little cartoon cars, with red stripes round its top and sole, stamping into a muddy brown puddle and throwing up a splash of water to the right, with green grass at the puddle's far edge

Jumping in a muddy puddle in wellies.

After it’s been raining wear boots as there’ll be plenty of mud. Excellent for jumping in muddy puddles.

The 93 bus (which runs every 7 mins approx) goes along the common’s eastern side. The windmill is at one end of the common and the Wimbledon Village is at the other end, with Rushmere pond and Cannizaro Park; you can easily see both in a day.

With young children, start at the windmill end, where the museum, the tearooms and the toilets are by the car park, and the Nature Trail and Queensmere are close by. At the Wimbledon Village end there are cafes, restaurants and pubs.

The Wombles

Great Uncle Bulgaria Leads the Wombles!, 25 minutes of episodes from the 1970s TV series, on The Wombles Classics YouTube channel.

The Wombles are fictional creatures. They are anthropomorphic, small and furry. They live in their burrow beneath Wimbledon Common where they collect and repurpose rubbish. Elisabeth Beresford devised them while walking on the common with her two children, and her first book about them came out in 1968. The BBC’s TV series of 60 five-minute episodes began in 1973.

The books are great. Start with The Wombles, the first of six, or The Wombles at Work. The Windmill Museum’s shop sells Wombles books as well as stuffed toy Wombles.

Warning: Oak Processionary Moth

The Dangers of Oak Processionary Moth (OPM), on the Forestry Commission YouTube channel.

The Windmill

Before you go

Prices
Free; the Windmill Museum and the Windmill Car Park ask for donations
Open
Wimbledon Common: always open
Windmill Museum: Sundays 11am to 5pm, late March to late October; in winter, pre-booked groups only
Windmill Tearooms: daily 9am to 5.15pm, to 5.45pm at weekends
Nearest station
Wimbledon station, then bus 93 towards Putney Bridge from bus stop L to Parkside Hospital (a 9-minute ride) and an 8-minute walk to the windmill
Plan your journey
TfL Journey Planner, Google Maps or Uber

The windmill as a black silhouette, with its sails, fan and balcony railings dark against a yellow sunset sky streaked with thin cloud, between dark pine trees

Wimbledon Windmill at sunset.

Two of the windmill's white sails, with their slatted frames, and its white boarded cap, seen at a slant from below, with black iron rods and levers where the sails meet, against a deep blue sky

The sails and the white cap at the top of the windmill, from below.

Looking straight up inside a wooden windmill tower, with dark timber beams slanting in from the boarded walls to a round opening in the middle, where a wooden ladder climbs past toothed iron wheels to the top

Looking up inside the tower, past the ladder to the iron gear wheels at the top.

Model windmills in a long glass case on model grass, with a wooden mill on a trestle in front, with its four lattice sails, a white wooden mill on a round black base behind it, and a small round mill with white sails to the right, with printed notes beside them

Motorised model windmills in the museum.

For families

Accessibility

  • Accessible toilet: by the windmill’s entrance, locked with a RADAR key (the UK’s standard key for accessible toilets); if you don’t have one, ask at the Ranger’s Office, round the corner to the right.
  • Windmill Nature Trail: an 800-metre firm, flat path with rest areas, 200 metres east of the windmill.

The Windmill Museum fills the two floors below the windmill’s tower. A great little museum to pop into with the kids, especially considering it’s free. Only open on Sundays in the summer months though, so if it’s appealing to you then choose the day of your visit carefully.

On the ground floor are models of mills (with motorised sails that turn!) and a film about how windmills work. Upstairs, children can grind grain with a mortar and a hand quern (a small grindstone), listen for the cat purring in the Victorian room, and climb a ladder to see the big iron gear wheels at the top of the tower, which once turned the shaft running down the middle of the mill.

On one weekend about every five weeks, a ranger releases the brake at about 2pm on Saturday and Sunday, and the sails turn for up to 45 minutes, depending on the wind (dates). Phone signal around the common is patchy, so download the museum’s digital guide in the Bloomberg Connects app before you go.

When the museum is shut, go to the Information Centre beside the Ranger’s Office, round the corner from the windmill’s entrance. It opens every day and has a children’s colouring corner and a video macroscope that shows specimens close up on a screen. It’s in a working yard with vehicles and horses, so keep children close (but they can say hello to the horses in the stables!). The Ranger’s Office sells a £2 guide to the Windmill Nature Trail, with things for children to spot and identify.

Food

The Windmill Tearooms, next to the car park, serves hot dishes, homemade cakes, teas, coffees and ice creams, with seats inside and on a large patio.

Queensmere

A long, still pond reflecting the clouds, with thick green woods down both sides and across the far end, a strip of sandy bank at the far end, and leaves of a tree at the left edge, under white clouds and patches of blue sky

Queensmere, with woods all round the pond.

Queensmere, the large pond nearest the windmill car park (go downhill from the car park), is the deepest of the commons’ nine ponds. You can watch herons, mandarin and tufted ducks, cormorants and mallards. Reeds, yellow flag irises and marsh marigolds grow along its banks.

Running and orienteering

Wimbledon Common parkrun, a free, timed 5km run, jog or walk, meets by the windmill car park at 9am every Saturday and goes twice round woodland and gravel paths. It’s lighthearted and fun for kids as well as adults. There are usually lots of kids taking part. This is a great way for your kids to work off some energy! Register online before your first run and bring your barcode. Children under 11 must stay within arm’s reach of an adult, and buggies are welcome. It’s fine to just do a single parkrun while you’re visiting London. You don’t have to be a long-term member.

South London Orienteers holds free training sessions at the windmill car park one Sunday morning a month from October to June; children under 10 can join with an adult. If you’re staying in London it’s fine for you to attend just one of these sessions.

Sledging

When it snows, the Roehampton Hills, a short distance north of the windmill car park, are an excellent place for sledging. The hills were made in the late 1960s from earth dug out for the A3.

Rushmere and Cannizaro Park

Before you go

Prices
Free
Open
Wimbledon Common: always open
Cannizaro Park: from 8am on weekdays and 9am at weekends and on bank holidays (public holidays), until dusk
Nearest station
Wimbledon station, then bus 93 towards Putney Bridge from bus stop L to Wimbledon War Memorial (a 6-minute ride) and an 8-minute walk to Cannizaro Park’s main entrance
Plan your journey
TfL Journey Planner, Google Maps or Uber

For families

  • Cannizaro Park
  • Toilets: in Cannizaro Park, open 9.30am to 5pm from Easter to mid-October and 10.30am to 3pm in winter.

Accessibility

  • Cannizaro Park: The park has a RADAR-key accessible toilet.

A still pond with long grass and reeds in front and a willow tree on its bank, and a row of houses beyond the grass on the far side, under a cloudy blue sky

Rushmere pond, with the houses of Wimbledon Village beyond.

Rushmere is a large grassy area with a big pond. Good for running around and sailing toy boats, if you have them. Bring wellies (boots). Near to lots of pubs and cafes, many with baby changing and kids’ meals.

The pond at Rushmere is the oldest one on the common. Look out for swifts and house martins skimming the water in summer, and black-headed gulls in winter.

If you need a landmark for Google Maps, the War Memorial is a good one to use.

Cannizaro Park

A lawn in sunshine with a low brick and stone balustrade across it, red and pink flowers and small shrubs in front of the balustrade, a tall tree on each side, and trees in autumn colours behind, under a blue sky

The Italian Garden in Cannizaro Park.

Cannizaro Park, on the common’s west side, is a formally laid-out park, with a sunken garden, an azalea dell, rose, water and Italian gardens, and more than 200 kinds of tree, with tree trails to download.

Food

Wimbledon Village, just outside the common at this end, has shops and restaurants. For a pub lunch, the Crooked Billet, the Hand in Hand and the Fox and Grapes, all a few minutes’ walk from Cannizaro Park, serve food from noon. The Crooked Billet and the Fox and Grapes have children’s menus. Book a table at the Fox and Grapes.