The Regent's Park Guide

Post by R.M. team, Updated on 24 July 2019

Note: The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of RetoxMagazine.com

You can jump to the following sections on this page:

The Regent’s Park Opening Times

How to get to The Regent's Park?

Cafes in Regents Park

Public Toilets in Regent’s Park

Frieze Sculpture in Regent’s Park Exhibition

Facts about Regent’s Park you probably didn’t know

Frequently Asked Questions About the Park

The Regent’s Park Opening & Closing Times

Park Opening Times

The park opens the pedestrian gates at 5am all year round, and the park roads are open from 7am.

Park Closing Times

The park’s closing times vary based on the season, and are as follows:

January - 17:00;
February - 18:00;
March - 19:00, and at 20:00 after the clocks move forward by one hour;
April - 21:00;
May, June, July - 21:30;
August - 21:00;
September - 20:00;
October - 19:00, and at 17:30 after the clocks move back by one hour;
November, December - 16:30

The park roads close at midnight.

Toilet Closing Times

The park’s toilet closing times also vary based on the season, as follows:

January - 16:00;
February - 17:00;
March - 18:00, and at 19:00 after the clocks move forward by one hour;
April - 20:00;
May, June, July - 21:00;
August - 20:00;
September - 19:00;
October - 18:00, and at 17:00 after the clocks move back by one hour;
November, December - 16:00

Playground Closing Times

The park’s playground closing times are as follows:

January - 16:00;
February - 17:00;
March - 18:00, and at 19:00 after the clocks move forward by one hour;
April, May, June, July, August - 19:30;
September - 19:00;
October - 18:00, and at 17:00 after the clocks move back by one hour;
November, December - 16:00

How to get to The Regent’s Park?

You can use the London Underground tube network to get to The Regent's Park. The nearest train and underground stations to The Regent's Park:

Regent's Park (Bakerloo line), approximately 250 metre walk from the station to the park;

Great Portland Street (Hammersmith & City, Circle and Metropolitan lines), approximately 250 metres walk from the station to the park;

Baker Street (Hammersmith & City, Circle, Jubilee, Metropolitan and Bakerloo lines), approximately 300 metres walk from the station to the park;

St John's Wood (Jubilee line), approximately 800 metre walk from the station to the park;

Camden Town (Northern line), approximately 600 metre walk from the station to the park.

Below are two maps to help you decide the tube station that suits you best. The first map includes the nearest tube stations to The Regent’s Park with walking routes from the stations to the park, and the second map highlights the tube stations on the London Underground map.

Cafes in Regents Park

Once you are done walking around, enjoying nature and art or even taking selfies, and are in a need of a beverage and foodstuff, you can explore further by visiting The Regent's Park cafes. Here is more information on some of the cafes and what they offer.

The Hub Café

This is one of my favourite spots on a warm day with low winds. The café is positioned on a hill and you can see a long way ahead, all the way across the sports grounds. The café features transparent glass walls and doors so you can enjoy the views of the park inside the café as well as outside.

The Hub Cafe in Regent’s Park serves hot and cold beverages, sandwiches, snacks and yoghurt ice-cream.

There are free toilets available here that customers can use.

Smokehouse Bar & Grill

This is one of my personal favourite places for food and drink in Regent’s Park. It has a large garden space with lots of tables, so there is plenty of space for everyone.

You can come and simply come and enjoy a drink, such as a coffee, or you can check out their barbecue menu and get some food. The restaurant makes pretty decent burgers, and the smell of the burgers is divine. You can buy hot and cold beverages, including beers. There is ice cream and a variety of other things on offer.

The café also has free toilets available for use by it's customers. However, they only have three toilets, including one disabled toilet, and on a busy summers day the queue to these toilets can be massive. Also, sometimes some of these toilets are either closed or not working or in a very unclean state. Be warned.

The Boathouse Cafe

This is a superb spot to relax with a beverage and a snack overlooking the boats and the boating lake. Check out our guide on rowing boat and pedalo hire in London. The views from this café are great. However, the café is best enjoyed for its outdoor space so pleasant weather is a must on the day if you wish to sit at the cafe. Alternatively, you can get beverages and snacks to take away.

There are no public toilets at this coffee shop, however there are paid public toilets a very short walk away from the café. You can ask for directions at the café if it is not immediately clear where the park loos are.

The Boathouse Cafe's opening times vary based on the time of the year. For opening times and more information visit their webpage here.

Public Toilets in The Regent’s Park

Keep some coins handy as there is a small charge to use the public toilets in the park. The list below includes toilets that can be used by adults and does not include children toilets situated in the playground areas.

The public toilets include the Boat House toilet, the Chester Road toilet, the Queen Mary Rose Gardens toilet and the Primrose Hill toilet. There is a small fee to pay to use these toilets, so keep some coins with you.

There are a number of cafes and restaurants in Regent’s Park with toilet facilities for customers. Garden Café, The Hub and The Broad Walk Café offer toilets to customers only.

Here are the toilets listed on the Google map.

Frieze Sculpture in Regent’s Park 2019

We have moved the content on Frieze Sculpture in Regent's Park to a another page where you will find the names of exhibiting artists as well a photos of their sculptures.

Did you know that...

1. Geese are to be banned from Regent's Park Boating Lake for fouling because visitors keep slipping over.

2. The Regent's Park Pond was found to contain antibiotic resistant genes that provide resistance for bacteria to common antibiotics such as penicillin, erythromycin and tetracycline.

3. Recently, a long-lost giant Ice House dating from the 1780s has been uncovered during building works under the Regent's Crescent in Marylebone, just off Regent’s Park. The structure is the earliest-known large-scale commercial ice store, which has led to it being designated a scheduled monument by Historic England.

4. A man’s body was discovered and pulled from the boating lake in Regent’s Park in 2018.

5. Speaking of disasters, on 15 January 1867 hundreds of Londoners gathered for a bit of an ice skating session over a frozen bit of lake in the Regent’s Park. Unfortunately, the ice cracked, and 200 skaters plunged into the water.

At the time ice skating was popular and frozen ponds and lakes were advertised in the papers.

This incident resulted in many fatalities, around 40 bodies were recovered, and since then the depth of the lake was reduced to 4 or 5 feet to making drowning less likely.

Frequently Asked Questions

What postcode is The Regent’s Park?

The postcode for The Regent’s Park is NW1 4NR. You can use this for guidance only as the park is very big. For directions of how to get to the park using the London Underground check out the page section on how to get to The Regent’s Park by tube.

How big is The Regent’s Park?

Regent's Park is very big, and more specifically it is 166 hectares, or 410.2 acres, in size.

Can you picnic in Regent’s Park?

Yes, you can picnic in Regent’s Park as long as your group is no larger than 40 people (for larger group picnics you need to contact the park). But keep in mind that collecting or soliciting money or corporate advertising and leaflet distribution is not allowed in the park. Also, no barbeques or cooking in the park!

If you’re over 18 years of age you can bring alcoholic drinks to the park, but use plastic cups and bottles where possible to avoid broken glass. And of course, ball games are only permitted in certain areas in the park.

Every picnic goer is expected to act responsibly and in consideration of other people and wildlife. Be considerate of others when playing music, bringing balloons to the park that can get stuck in the trees, and always pick up your trash when you’re done!

What is The Regent’s Park Barracks?

The Regent's Park Barracks, or the Albany Street Barracks, is a British Army barracks located on Albany Street, London, near Regent's Park. The barracks were constructed in 1820-1821 as cavalry barracks for the Life Guards and the Royal Artillery as part of John Nash's original design for Regent's Park. For further information visit Wikipedia.

Can you rollerblade in Regent’s Park?

Yes. You can use any foot propelled devices including rollerblades, roller skates, freeline skates, roller skis, skateboards, waveboards, etc. on the roads including the Inner and Outer Circles.

Can you run in Regent’s Park?

Yes! The park offers lovely running routes with great scenery. In fact you can download the park’s own map of the running routes for light runs (1.35km and 1.97km routes), intermediate runs (2.81km and 4.45km), and an advanced run (6.36km) here.

Can you BBQ in Regent’s Park?

No. Barbequing or any other form of cooking in The Regent’s Park is not permitted as they can be a hazard to other visitors and wildlife.

Where is Regent’s Park Mosque and the Islamic Centre?

The London Central Mosque and The Islamic Cultural Centre are located by The Regent's Park. Here are the Google map coordinates for the mosque and the cultural centre.

Where is Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Here are the Google coordinate for The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

Is Regent’s Park in the congestion zone?

Although The Regent’s Park is very close to the congestion zone, it is not in the congestion zone. Here is a downloadable PDF map of the congestion zone provided by The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Can you swim in Regent’s Park?

No, there are no swimming facilities in Regent’s Park. However, you can enjoy the Regent’s Park boating lake in another way, by renting a pedalo or a rowboat.

Who lives in Regent’s Park?

The party loving US ambassador Matthew and his wife Brooke Barzun, artist Damien Hirst, the second wife of Qatar’s former emir Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al missned, a nephew of the King of Saudi Arabia who Prince Khaled Alwaleed, Property mogul Christian Candy and his wife, Russian oligarch Andrey Goncharenko, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, and property tycoon Sir John Ritblat, as reported by The Evening Standard.