
London's private gardens to open to public for one weekend
Hosted by London Parks & Gardens, the annual London Open Gardens event allows guests to explore the capital's hidden green spaces.
From rooftop gardens, community spaces, to historic land and even the chance to step into the garden of Number 10 Downing Street.
You can step into London's private gardens this summer
The London Open Gardens event is taking place on the weekend of June 7 and 8.
If you want to explore the gardens, you do need to buy a ticket with adult weekend tickets costing £24, young adults (ages 12-17) £10 and children under 11 years old go free.
You can get tickets here.
The tickets give you access to all gardens open for the weekend, apart from balloted tickets like Downing Street.
Gardens open for the weekend include the Barbican Wildlife Garden, Fann Street, which was created to help encourage biodiversity in London.
One spot you do not want to miss is 30 Cannon Street, a roof garden which offers one-of-a-kind views of London, including St Paul's Cathedral.
You can see the full list of gardens taking part in the weekend via the London Garden Trust.
Recommended Reading
It's important to note that some gardens do require booked time slots, and some are only open for limited times during the weekend.
All money raised from the tickets will help support London Parks & Gardens, who work to support and protect the capital's green spaces.
Plus, a percentage of the profit is shared with the participating community gardens.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Ultimate guide to Europe's 12 best theme parks: From incredible rides to gorgeous gardens, world-leading experts tell which to pick, how much it'll cost... and exactly what to do when you get there
Roll up, roll up! Theme parks have flung open their doors for the summer season. And even if you're not a rollercoaster fan, these mini metropolises of fun have plenty to entertain every generation, including spectacular shows, more leisurely rides and beautiful gardens. And often there are big discounts available for pre-schoolers and over-65s, too. Tips? Pack a poncho in case it rains and wear your comfiest shoes...


Metro
22-05-2025
- Metro
10 unmissable Time Out deals — including 50% off London's secret gardens
Looking for 10 things to do in London? Luckily, there's lots to do in this city for cheap in 2025! At least… There is now. Metro has teamed up with Time Out to bring you the best deals across the capital. Every Friday, 10 new deals will drop, available in the Metro newspaper, on Metro, and on our socials. You'll also find them in our weekly London newsletter, The Slice, in your inbox every Wednesday. Rum, brunch and a dance floor? Cottons in Vauxhall is bringing the party. For £36, you get a Caribbean brunch, bottomless rum punch or prosecco, and DJs keeping the energy up. Big flavours, banging tunes for 15% off. London Open Gardens returns on 7 and 8 June with over 100 secret spaces to explore. Wander through rooftops, chill in courtyards and hidden spots across the city. Two-for-one tickets are now 50% and help towards protecting London's green spaces. Feeling hungry and competitive? Inamo is the place. For £29.95, you get all-you-can-eat sushi, dumplings and wings, bottomless drinks and over 20 games built into your table. Available in Covent Garden and Soho. The Slice is your weekly guide to what's happening in London, so if you're looking for restaurant reviews, drinks deals or just a great new exhibition to visit on a rainy Saturday in the capital, we've got you covered. Click here for this week's edit of the best things to do in town. The Slice newsletter also a brand new look! We'll still be in your inbox every week, bringing you all the very best things to eat, drink and do in the capital. So if you want get the next edition before anyone else, sign up here! If you want to do it all on the cheap, you can also find our latest batch of exclusive hand-picked offers in partnership with Time Out here. It's all here and more in these 10 incredible offers, discounts and deals. Dive into a weekend of fun, flavour, and fizz at Inamo! Enjoy an all-you-can-eat brunch with signature pan-Asian delights like sushi, dumplings, and Korean chicken wings, paired with bottomless fizz, wine, or beer. With touch-sensitive tables, 20+ games, and locations in Covent Garden and Soho, it's more than a meal – it's an experience. GET THE OFFER Spice up your weekend with a Caribbean-style bottomless brunch party at Cottons Vauxhall, now for just £36 (that's over 15% off!). Enjoy unlimited rum punch or prosecco, a Caribbean brunch dish, live DJs, and high-energy vibes in one of London's most vibrant venues. From jerk chicken to island-style vegan plates, it's sunshine on a plate and a party in a glass. Whether you're celebrating or just craving a boozy brunch with flavour, this one delivers. GET THE OFFER Tuck into three delicious courses, sip on a glass of Prosecco, and soak up the smooth sounds of live jazz – all in the heart of Mayfair. This is dinner with a seriously chic twist, and it's yours for just £34.95. GET THE OFFER Craving crispy, golden goodness? Thunderbird Fried Chicken's legendary bucket deal is now half price! Get 12 juicy strips, 3 tasty dips and a heap of fries – all brined, spiced, and hand-breaded to Southern-style perfection. Available all week long at locations across London. GET THE OFFER The iconic Bluebird Chelsea brings its signature style to the City with Bluebird City at the South Place Hotel, and it's every bit as chic as you'd expect. Tuck into bold British flavours and elevated comfort food in a sleek, stylish space perfect for long lunches, post-work dinners or celebratory catch-ups. With two or three courses and a glass of fizz from just £25, you've got every excuse to book in. GET THE OFFER London Open Gardens 2025 is back on 7-8th June, throwing open the gates to over 100 secret gardens across the city. From dreamy rooftops to tucked-away courtyards, it's a weekend of leafy adventures, all self-guided and full of surprises. Even better? Snap up a two-for-one ticket at 50% off! Every ticket helps protect London's green gems through the brilliant work of London Parks and Gardens. GET THE OFFER Experience award-winning bowling at Vintners Lanes, Greenwich's newest boutique hotspot. Recently crowned 'Best in the World', this six-lane venue blends vintage charm with industrial-chic style. For just £24.95, enjoy a game of bowling plus a burger, fries, and a drink of your choice. Just minutes from Greenwich DLR and mainline stations, it's unbeatable value for a top night out. GET THE OFFER Ann's Smart School of Cookery invites you to try your hand at making the Chinese delicacy of dim sum. Now just £64, down from £129, this two-hour class will teach you all the tricks and tips of making dim sum, Chinese hot and sour dipping sauce and a classic pork wonton soup from fresh ingredients. GET THE OFFER Unleash your creativity at Token Studio with a fun 90-minute session! Try your hand at the potter's wheel, create miniature pottery, or learn hand-building techniques. Prefer design? Opt for pottery painting and customize a mug, plate, or bowl. Plus, bring your favourite drinks to enjoy while you craft! GET THE OFFER Do you feel that? It's the feeling of a long-awaited self-care day on the horizon! Invite a friend or partner to escape the hustle and bustle of central London and share a five-star luxury experience at Mayfair's Athenaeum Hotel Spa. Spend a relaxing hour in the wet area, sauna, steam rooms and hot tub, then take your pick from a facial and body wrap treatment or massage. All this with a glass of bubbly for 40% off – you'll find it hard to say no. GET THE OFFER MORE: Readers on speaking up for peace and the ins and out of Europe MORE: Monaco Grand Prix: Plenty of horsepower in the car park as F1 stars enjoy working from home MORE: The Metro daily cartoon by Guy Venables


Times
09-05-2025
- Times
Chris Parker remodels a garden that starred in a Hitchcock classic
The century-old Château de la Croix des Gardes, perched high in the hills overlooking the Bay of Cannes, is perhaps best known for being a backdrop in Alfred Hitchcock's 1955 film To Catch a Thief, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. But it was the 11 hectares of gardens, ponds, pools and woodlands, rather than the Palladian-style villa, that caught the attention of the British billionaire Chris Parker when he first saw it eight years ago. 'The real estate agent dropped me off and I said, 'Look, if you don't mind, could you just pick me up in four hours and just leave me here alone?'' Parker, the online gaming and film production entrepreneur, recalls. 'I could see the architecture was splendid. But for me it was all about the gardens.' As he wandered around he could immediately envisage spending hours here, he says, looking at the garden and the blue of the Mediterranean, the Lérins Islands (where the Man in the Iron Mask was held captive) and the Esterel Mountains. The garden had been modified several times since the château was built for the Swiss industrialist Paul Girod in 1919 (the Palladian-style façade was commissioned by another former owner, the Perrier boss Gustave Leven, in the 1960s). Working with the Grasse-based landscape architect François Navarro, Parker's ambition was to return the garden of Château de la Croix des Gardes to its original glory 'with as many plants and materials from the south of France'. It proved a huge task, given that 'it had been abandoned and the plants were not good, so everything needed to be totally remade,' says Navarro, whose practice creates gardens and parks across the Côte d'Azur and Provence. The parkland was regenerated with dozens of trees, including acers, citrus and figs, among existing and new pines; beds were filled with peonies, camellias, gardenias and irises (the blue iris adorns the château's coat of arms); the 36-metre infinity pool was restored; and a terrace was planted with hardy succulents. Paths were also created to wind through vegetable and cottage gardens, avenues of wisteria and valleys of magnificent magnolia trees. 'I liked the idea that everywhere you go there is a new surprise,' Parker says. Romance fills the air too from March to December, thanks to Navarro's planting of fragrant, frilly-petalled heirloom roses in soft shades, jasmine, lilies and narcissi. 'Where there is perfume, everything is better,' Navarro says. Navarro's preference for wild styles of planting did, the owner admits, go against his military training and desire for uniformity. 'But this is not a parade,' Parker says. 'So I agreed: let's have nature growing and taking over.' Hence the vibrant mix of plants — tulips, delicate hellebores, Chinese witch hazel and silvery euphorbia among the formal topiary and conical cypresses — and the sounds of water trickling from waterlily ponds and the rockery waterfall, flower beds abuzz with bees and flocks of parakeets in the evening sky. 'There are probably a hundred flying around and it's truly amazing. Noisy, but in a beautiful way,' Parker says. To protect the local fauna — bees, birds and butterflies — no pesticides are used and the estate's 17 gardeners are constantly assessing the practicality of plant species in the ever drier conditions. 'We've had two very, very dry years and we've lost lots of plants, so we're always trying to modify and adapt what we plant to maintain the quality of the park,' Navarro says. After an extensive five-year restoration — Parker's 'midlife crisis to find myself a château to repair' — the place has been transformed into an immersive escape that thrills all the senses. And just as the villa once hosted Brigitte Bardot and Leslie Caron during the early years of the Cannes Film Festival, nowadays the château and its gardens also set the scene for fashion shows (Donatella Versace and Dua Lipa debuted their collaborative La Vacanza collection here in 2023) and star-studded dinners (Julianne Moore, Marion Cotillard and Lupita Nyong'o were among guests at Chopard's Secret Night Party some years ago). • 25 of France's most beautiful châteaux to visit next While the estate is also open for exclusive use — 'I like the idea of people enjoying this beautiful garden until I find myself retired on a rocking chair on the porch,' Parker says with a laugh — the château is very much his home. 'It's my space to potter around and unload whatever things I have in my head. I can't do that anywhere else in the world. I have a house in Los Angeles, I have a house in Hong Kong, but neither gives me the tranquil feeling that I have here.'