This walk takes you from the south of Regents Park, through a couple of flower gardens as you make your way north, then up onto Primrose Hill, for arguably the best view of London.
Fun Fact: Primrose Hill is one of the six protected viewpoints in London. The trees are kept low, so the view is not obstructed.
How long is the walk to Primrose Hill?
For this walking route, from the south to north of Regents Park, and up to the top of Primrose Hill, it’s about 2 miles, and took me an hour to complete.
You can actually walk from the south to north of Regents Park much quicker, however, when I devised this walk, I added a bit of a detour to avoid the busy path, and threw in a couple of flower gardens (my favourite two) because you can’t come to Regents Park without seeing some flowers.
I will however tell you how to walk to Primrose Hill (the star of this walk) quicker, if you want to skip the middle bit. Once at Primrose Hill, there are a number of well maintained public footpaths, so feel free to have a wander around.
Logistics for the Primrose Hill and Regents Park walk
- Start: South East corner of Regents Park (near Regents Park station).
- Finish: Primrose Hill.
- Where is it: Located in the heart of London, Primrose Hill sits just outside Regents Park, on the North Side.
- How to get there: Regents Park station is on the Bakerloo line underground. At the end, from Primrose Hill, walk down to the left or right where you will have Camden road station, Mornington Crescent, or St Johns Wood station. You can see them on Google Maps. The park also has a number of Santander (AKA Boris bike) docking stations around and in it.
- Distance: 2(ish) miles.
- Time: Under an hour (unless you stop to read a book in the gardens. They are very book reading worthy.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Time of year: I did this walk to Primrose Hill in summer. Note: If you come in winter, the flowers might not be around.
- Amenities: There are a few public toilets in Regents Park. The nearest ones to this route, are from the inner circle. When you reach the inner circle, instead of turning right, continue straight on the path on the other side of the road, and you will reach it. You also have the Broad Walk Cafe, which is en route. After Primrose Hill, you could pop down to the Camden Market, which is well known for good street food.
- Other things to know: The pedestrian gates to Regents park are open from 5am, and the closing time depends on the time of year. Primrose Hill has no closing time, except for Bonfire Night and New Years Eve. You can see the exact times here.
Map for the walk through Regents Park to Primrose Hill
More walk ideas near Primrose Hill and Regents Park will be at the end
Route description for the walk to Primrose Hill from Regents Park
This walk to Primrose Hill starts from the south east entrance to Regents Park (off Marylebone road). When you hit the outer circle, the entrance will be on that corner.
From here (in the park bit), take the path to the left and follow it straight then take a right at the 3rd path along (at the second sculpture I think).
The English Garden
This will take you along the beautiful English Garden. A long straight path, past some super pretty flowers and ornate sculptures and fountains.
The Broad Walk of Regents Park
At the end, the path will lead back onto the Broad Walk, where you turn left. At this point, you could just continue the walk straight along the Broad Walk, which will take you to the other side of Regents Park and to Primrose Hill. It is a lovely bit of path. Wide and lined with trees. It is also pretty well trodden. By that I mean it can be quite busy. Even midweek. So, for this walk, I am going to guide you a different way.
The inner circle
When you have turned left on the Broad Walk, you will hit the road. Turn left on the road, and at the end you will reach the inner circle. From here you turn right.
(For public toilets, cross over the road and stay straight)
The inner circle is basically the inner road of the park, and an interesting road it is. It’s immaculate.
Almost like a pretend road. Not only that, it’s pretty deserted. Not many cars drive along here (compared to the other park roads that is).
St John’s Lodge Gardens
Walking along the inner circle, you will reach the gates to St John’s Lodge Gardens on the right. Upon entering, it will feel like you are heading into a secret garden. Small, cute and compartmented, with well kept grass, statues, a fountain, lots of flowers and benches nestled into the hedges.
Walk north through Regents Park towards Primrose Hill
Exit St John’s Lodge Gardens where you entered, and turn right to continue the walk along the inner circle of Regents Park. A bit further along, you should reach a gate on the right where you follow the path as it goes over the bridge to the other side of the lake.
Take a right after the bridge and continue walking along. The river on your right, a large open field to the left.
Further along, the trail will split. You can take any of these as they all lead you back to the Broad Walk.
Ready Money Drinking Fountain
Once on the Broad Walk, take a left and follow this to the exit of the Regents Park, where you will then be able to make your way up Primrose Hill. You will pass the Ready Money Drinking Fountain along the way.
This is a large gothic drinking fountain donated from Sir Cowasjee Jehangir, as a thank you from protection from British rule in India. His nickname was Ready Money.
It’s also very heavy, with 10 tonnes of Sicilian marble and 4 tonnes of red Aberdeen granite.
The walk up Primrose Hill
You exit Regents park by taking the bridge over the Regents Canal, and then onto Prince Albert Road (the main road). Once there, walk left and you will reach a corner entrance into Primrose hill park.
Once in Primrose hill, you can walk along the main public footpath, which will take you right up to the top, for arguably the best view of London.
One last thing. Sometimes there is a guy in Primrose Hill walking with two very large colourful parrots flying around.
More walking routes near Regents Park and Primrose Hill
If you would like to see more flowers, you can see my guide which takes you around the flower gardens of Regents Park.
On this walk, just before walking up to Primrose Hill, you passed over the canal. If you would like to explore that further, you could try the walk from Little Venice to Camden, or the longer version of it taking you all along the Regents Canal to the Limehouse Basin.
Having seen a view of the city, if you now fancy getting deep into the heart of it, you could go and try the city loop of the Jubilee Walkway. It’s super short, but has some great history behind it.
Slightly further north, the Parkland Walk is a good one. It’s the longest nature reserve in London, finishing with fantastic views to the city skyline.
Pin it for later: How to walk from Regents Park to Primrose Hill
If you would like to learn more about Regents Park and Primrose Hill and things to do there, you can find info in the Royal Parks website.
