Richmond Park is the largest of the eight Royal Parks in London, it's a really beautiful place where hundreds of Red and Fallow deer roam freely through the grassland and woodland.
It was around a 40 minute journey in the car for us, once we'd arrived in the park there were plenty of free car parks to choose from. We took a picnic with us, and wandered into the park where we immediately saw a big herd of deer up close. We continued onwards through some woodland, where there were huge ancient oak trees. I must admit, I was hoping we may find at least one shedded antler amongst the trees somewhere, but no luck this time.
We ate lunch by a small lake, and shared our sandwiches with geese, mallards and swans, the lake was sparkling in the sunlight - it was a real picture!
After we'd eaten, we headed towards the Isabella Plantation, which is an ornamental woodland first planted in the 1830's and famous for it's evergreen azaleas. There are ponds and waterfalls with weeping willows, and huge sequoia trees with bright green parakeets darting from place to place. I almost felt like we could have been in the Mediterranean with all the camellias in bloom.
Leaving the the plantation he also walked next to a herd of resting deer - it was a really lovely day out.
The park gates open from 7.30am daily, and parking is free and there are cafes on site.
