Where to go in Richmond upon Thames

12 places in Richmond upon Thames, each one on the Guide on merit.

Barnes

• Harty's Wine & Charcuterie Bar

  Wine bar

  Barnes does a neighbourhood wine bar properly here, cheese rotating and charcuterie local. Easy to lose an evening.

• The Waterman's Arms

  European

  A restored riverside pub in Barnes cooking everything over coals, with a wood-panelled dining room and balcony doors onto the Thames. The Infatuation rates the sharing roast the best in London and almost nobody makes the trip.

Hampton

• Hampton Pool

  Heated outdoor pool

  A heated open-air pool in Hampton, famous locally for its moonlight and Christmas swims. Charming and characterful, if a trek from the centre.

Richmond

• Dropkick Jonnys

  Cocktail bar

  A 25-seat pub within a pub above Tap Tavern's main bar in Richmond, with an extensive whiskey list. Open three nights a week.

• Gelateria Danieli

  Ice Cream shop

  Gelateria Danieli is a family business making its gelato on site from natural ingredients and local milk. The thick Italian hot chocolate is ground in-house and steamed with milk to order. Its chocolate shop, Danieli on the Green, sits on the same lane.

• Ham House and Garden

  Stuart house and garden

  A 17th-century house on the Thames, built in 1610 and remodelled in the 1670s by Elizabeth Murray, Duchess of Lauderdale. The interiors preserve baroque ceiling murals by Antonio Verrio, Caroline plasterwork, and rare damask wall hangings. The library from the 1670s is one of England's earliest purpose-built country house libraries, and the Duchess's bathroom is one of the earliest private bathrooms in the country.

• Isabella Plantation

  Woodland garden

  A 40-acre woodland garden hidden in the middle of Richmond Park, streams and ponds banked with evergreen azaleas. Peak colour late April into May.

• Marianne North Gallery at Kew

  Gallery

  A tiny Victorian gallery inside Kew, hung floor-to-ceiling with 800-plus botanical paintings by one extraordinary woman. Worth going in for this alone, even if you skip the rest of the gardens.

• Mignonette Bistro

  European

  Proper French bistro cooking from a serious chef, priced so you can actually go back.

• Tower House

  European

  A riverside restaurant in a 19th-century clock tower by Richmond bridge, from the team behind Gold in Notting Hill. The dining room has trees growing through the floor, chandeliers, and a terrace overlooking the Thames. The Mediterranean menu includes Gold classics like wood-roasted chicken with nduja tomato sauce.

Twickenham

• Strawberry Hill House

  Gothic Revival villa

  Horace Walpole's Gothic Revival fantasy in Twickenham, all painted glass and pinnacled white turrets. Take the guided tour for the stories; the house is full of surprises.

• The White Swan

  Pub

  A tiny 17th-century riverside pub in Twickenham, hidden down a lane: open fires in winter, a Thames-side terrace in summer. Worth finding.