From Wikitravel

Richmond-upon-Thames [1] (most commonly, 'Richmond') is an outlying suburb and area of London, located in the south-west sector of Greater London, and the centre of its own London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, including the suburbs and villages of Ham, Kew, Teddington and Twickenham, amongst others.

[edit] Understand

Originally a separate town, and before 1965 a part of the county of Surrey, Richmond's inhabitants often view themselves (as do others) as something vaguely separate from the metropolis as a whole. This is perhaps due in part to Richmond's location on a large loop of the River Thames (surrounding most of the area), its enveloping by several vast royal parks and its previously independent identity. Although strictly speaking part of South London, lying as it does on the south bank of the river, Richmond perhaps has much more in common with West London.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By Car

• Richmond is only a few miles away from Heathrow Airport, from where taxis to Richmond can be caught. Richmond is also close to the A316, accessible from the M3 and M4 motorways. From the direction of London, Upper Richmond Road becomes Sheen Road, which courses right through the town centre of Richmond.

[edit] By Train

• Richmond is well serviced by public transport. South West Trains' services from London's Waterloo station stop at Richmond. The journey takes 20-30 minutes, and trains depart every 15-30 minutes or so.

[edit] By Tube

• Both the District Line (depicted on the London underground tube map as the green line) and the London Overground line from Stratford terminate at Richmond.

[edit] By Bus

• Richmond has a large bus station. The 337 bus from Clapham Junction, the 391, 33, 419 buses from Hammersmith, and the N10 night bus from Kings Cross all stop here, amongst others.

[edit][add listing] See

• The remains of the once magnificent Richmond Palace, home to English kings since Edward I, adjoins Richmond Green, a pleasant open green space and historic cricket ground. Only the Gate House and Wardrobe, now converted into flats, remain.
• The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew ('Kew Gardens') [2] - Probably England's most famous botanic gardens. As well as containing thousands of species of trees, flowers and plants from all over the world, Kew Gardens also contains Kew Palace [3], the recently restored smallest palace in England, and home to King George III's family.
• Hampton Court Palace [4] Historic home to English kings such as Henry VIII, now open to the public. (via the R68 bus from Richmond station). There are many attractions which can occupy a whole day visit, including 60 acres of gardens with the famous maze, the Tudor kitchens, the Chapel Royal, the Great Hall, Mantegna's Triumphs of Caesar paintings, and various exhibitions about Henry VIII.
• Ham House [5] The Duke of Lauderdale's elegant 17th century manor house, a mile or so upriver from Richmond riverside (via 371 bus from Richmond bus station). Free to members of The National Trust.
• Marble Hill House [6] Over the river from Ham House, this was home to King George II's mistress, with well-manicured lawns by the riverside. Free to members of English Heritage.
• Strawberry Hill House [7] Eccentric Gothic home of 18th century poet and author, Horace Walpole, son of England's first prime minister.
• Richmond Park [8] The largest open space in London, covering almost 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) and home to a huge array of wildlife, including 400 wild deer. Also contains the Royal Ballet School, seen in the film "Billy Elliot". Popular with cyclists, both for the on-road perimeter circuit and the off-road trails. There are several car parks for walkers and picnickers.
• Bushy Park [9] - the second largest of the London Royal Parks, covering an area of 450 hectares (1,099 acres). Lying north of Hampton Court Palace, the history of of the park is inextricably linked to the palace, yet it has always had its own distinct rural character.
• View from Richmond Hill [10] From town centre walk up Hill Rise, which becomes Richmond Hill. The view from the top of the hill (between Friar Stile Road and Nightingale Lane) is protected by an act of parliament and takes in the river, the meadows at the bottom of the hill. Much painted by JMW Turner. Well worth the short walk up the hill and it's on the way to Richmond Park if you are walking from the town.

[edit][add listing] Do

• Explore Richmond's history at The Museum of Richmond [11], near the river bank.
• See a pre-West End play at the pretty Victorian theatre, The Richmond Theatre [12], near Richmond Green.
• The Orange Tree Theatre [13] offers "theatre in the round", where the audience surrounds the stage.
• Richmond has two cinemas, the Odeon [14], which shows mainly mainstream Hollywood films from its two locations, one, with a beautiful art deco front, opposite Richmond Bridge and the other on Red Lion Street. There is also an arts cinema, the Curzon [15], on Water Lane, a narrow cobbled street which runs down to the river at the crossroads of Hill Street, George Street and Red Lion Street.
• In summer months, a boat ride either upriver to Teddington Locks or Hampton Court Palace, or downriver to Westminster, offers a good way to relax while enjoying the riverside scenery. Some boats offer a commentary service. The boat ride to Hampton Court takes about an hour and a half, to Teddington Locks about 45 minutes, and to Westminster about 2 hours. Boats depart from a dock close to Richmond bridge. You can also hire rowing boats next to the bridge.
• The Richmond Adult Community College [16] offers short- to medium-term courses on subjects such as cooking, foreign languages, IT, and business.

[edit][add listing] Buy

• Richmond's high street (George Street) contains a few boutique clothing stores and all the standard high street chains, such as Habitat, Marks & Spencer's, WH Smith, HMV, Boots, Uniqlo, Robert Dyas, etc. For more boutique clothes shops, such as Matches, and small art galleries and antiques shops, follow the road up the hill called Hill Street, which turns into Hill Rise.
• There is one department store, the House of Fraser (although many locals still call it by its old name, Dickens & Jones) found on the corner of George Street and King Street.
• There are a couple of independent bookshops in the town; the best known is the Open Book on King Street, it's rather cramped, but stacked with a very good selection of new books. Almost directly opposite is the children's bookshop the Lion & the Unicorn [17]. On an alleway called Church Walk off George Street (up the side of Tesco) is Houben's, which has new (particularly literature, art, history and philosophy) books as well as second-hand books in the basement. There is also a branch of the big chainstore, Waterstone's on the corner of Hill Street and Red Lion Street.
• There are two supermarkets - Tesco and Waitrose (which has a car park) in the town centre. A large Sainsbury's is located near North Sheen station.
• Catch the Farmer's Market in Heron Square off Hill Street, on Saturdays 11am-3pm, for local produce.

[edit][add listing] Eat

• Pizzeria Rustica [18] near Richmond station offers award-winning pizzas.
• Don Fernando's, also near Richmond station, offers decent Spanish cuisine, such as tapas.
• The Dragon Inn on Sheen Road offers Chinese cuisine and very friendly staff. Nearby NDK offers a Japanese-style karaoke diner.
• The Thai Elephant opposite the Richmond bus station, and the Thai Cafe on Hill Rise (heading towards Richmond Park) and Hilltribe on Red Lion Street all offer Thai cuisine.
• A floating restaurant called H2O is docked close to Richmond bridge, offering mixed European cuisine (currently closed).
• Chez Lindsay on Hill Rise offers French cuisine.
• A German bierhaus-style restaurant called Stein's operates on the riverside, offering authentic German dark beers and food.
• A large number of British chain restaurants are open in Richmond. Pizza restaurants include Strada and Pizza Express. Other restaurants include Tootsie's, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Miso, Nando's, Wagamama, Zizzi's and Giraffe. The Argentinian steak-style restaurant Gaucho Grill is on the riverbank, a little downriver from Stein's.
• Gelateria Danieli, Brewer's Lane (alley between George Street and Richmond Green. From George Street it is the alley down the side of TopShop and jewellers Courlander's). Great ice cream shop as the queues on sunny summer weekends indicate.  edit

[edit] Cafes

• Austin's overlooking Richmond Green, does coffee, smoothies, soup and sandwiches and good falafel and tabouli pitta wraps (not listed on the board).
• Tide Tables under the arches of Richmond Bridge has a great location with a large outdoor area overlooking the river; it does rather average coffee, juices etc and food such as foccacia and quiches.
• The Hollyhock Cafe in the Terrace Gardens between the Richmond Hill and the river; has a great location in the gardens. It sells mainly coffee and cakes and a few lunch dishes.
• Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park has a cafe, which sells rather average food and drinks but has a lovely view if you sit outside on the terrace.
• Chain coffee shops such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee and French patisserie/cafe Paul are also available in the town centre.
• Petersham Nurseries a little further afield, off Petersham Road, Petersham, is an upmarket garden centre with a very upmarket and expensive lunchtime restaurant (closed Mondays & Tuesdays) as well as a cafe (closed Mondays), which sells great soup and sandwiches at lunchtime in a really lovely setting amongst the greenhouses. They have some problems with too many cars upsetting the locals so they encourage people to walk (about 30 mins from centre of Richmond) or take a 65 or 371 Kingston bus to Dysart Arms pub stop. See their website for details [19]

[edit][add listing] Drink

• Pubs on the Richmond riverside include The White Cross (often surrounded by water at high tide), Edwards, The Slug and Lettuce, and the Pitcher and Piano which has a large outdoor terrace. The White Swan [20] is set further back on Old Palace Lane between the river and the Green, and The Waterman's Arms, which serves Thai food, is on Water Lane, nearer the town centre.
• In town, The Old Ship offers pub grub. The Richmond Arms attracts a gay crowd and offers karaoke nights. Near the bus station is a wine bar called One Paradise Road [21], which also serves food. The chain wine bar All Bar One [22] is on Hill Street and also serves food.
• Near Richmond train station, The Bear, the Sun, the Orange Tree, and O'Neills, a popular Irish-themed chain bar, are close by.
• Around Richmond Green, the Cricketers Arms, and the Prince's Head offer food and drinks while watching the action on the Green, with the Britannia slightly set back from the green.
• Heading up the hill, the Victoria Inn on Hill Rise has a cosy atmosphere and further up the top of the hill is the Roebuck, from which you can take your drink across the road to the Terrace which overlooks the famous view from Richmond Hill. Nearby is the Marlborough on Friar Stile Road, a family friendly pub with a large beer garden out the back (with a children's play area) and the Lass O'Richmond Hill on Queens Road.
• Further towards Sheen, the White Horse (off the main road behind the Red Cow) has a gastro-pub menu and is family-friendly with a gate opening onto a children's playground, while the Red Cow offers sports television, and has a popular Tuesday night pub quiz.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

• The Richmond Gate Hotel, Richmond Hill, Richmond Upon Thames, TW10 6RP, Surrey, ☎ 0844 855 9121 (fax: (0)20 8332 0354). [23]  edit
• Quinns Hotel, 48 Sheen Rd, Richmond, TW9 1AW,, ☎ 020 8940 5444.  edit
• Richmond Inn Hotel, 50-56 Sheen Road, Richmond TW9 1UG, ☎ 020 8940 0171. [24]  edit, opposite Quinns Hotel
• Richmond Park Hotel, 3 Petersham Road, Richmond Upon Thames, Surrey, TW10 6UH, ☎ +44 (0) 20 8948 4666 (fax: +44 (0) 20 8940 7376). [25]  edit
• Bingham Hotel, 61 - 63 Petersham Road, Richmond Upon Thames, Surrey. TW10 6UT, ☎ +44 (0) 20 8940 0902 (info@thebingham.co.uk). [26]  edit
• The Red Cow, 59 Sheen Road, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey TW9 1YJ, ☎ 0208 940 2511 (tom@redcowpub.com). [27]  edit

[edit] Contact

• The Richmond tourist office is available in the Museum of Richmond building [28].
• The Richmond police station is located near the Odeon cinema, on Red Lion Street [29].

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