Victoria Tower Gardens FAQs

The pedestrian gates open from 7am and close at dusk each day, which varies throughout the year. This week's opening hours, and any public notices relating to temporary closures (due to park events or maintenance, for example) can be found on the Victoria Tower Gardens web page.

2025 opening times
You can view the 2025 opening times for Victoria Tower Gardens here.

Victoria Tower Gardens is well served by a range of different public transport services:

Train
The closest mainline stations are Vauxhall (22 minutes walk) and Waterloo (30 minutes walk) - both located on the opposite bank of the River Thames, and both served by services from South Western Railway.

Tube
You can travel to Victoria Tower Gardens via the Circle (Westminster) underground line. Slightly further afield, are the Bakerloo (Waterloo) and Victoria (Vauxhall) underground lines. These are a half-hour walk from the park.

Bus
There are plenty of options for getting to the park by bus. Use an online planner from TfL or Google to prepare for your journey.

Cycle
Cycling to Victoria Tower Gardens has never been easier. There are a wealth of marked cycleways around the park, and full details can be found on the TfL website.

Victoria Tower Gardens is approximately 0.08 hectares (0.19 acres) in size, and is the smallest Royal Park. It's perimeter is approximately 760m long. You an view or download the park map here.

In 1867 the Government acquired the northern part of the gardens, to reduce the fire risk to the Palace of Westminster, but there was disagreement about whether it should remain an open green space or be built on. William Henry Smith (founder of W.H. Smith) stepped in, and donated £1,000 to preserve it as an open space – on the condition that it would be a place for recreation, particularly for the children of Westminster. The Government agreed – and matched his donation.

In 1913 the gardens were redesigned in a more natural landscape, with tranquil paths and a central shrubbery. This remained until 1956, when the shrubbery and trees standing in the lawns, were removed to give the small gardens a parkland atmosphere. This opened up the view, particularly of the Houses of Parliament.

More information on the park's history can be found here.

Victoria Tower Gardens has no on-site car parks, so if you plan to arrive by car you will need to find alternative locations nearby. To the north-west of the park there is an underground car park (accessed from Great College Street) which is run by Q-Park. Other locations can be found on information sites such as Parkopedia, and will charge for the duration of your stay.

No. Cycling is not permitted within Victoria Tower Gardens.

There is a 20p charge to use the public toilets in the parks. We have recently installed a contactless system which accepts credit/debit cards, prepaid cards and mobile wallet payments like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Cash is no longer accepted.

Victoria Tower Gardens has one kiosk at the park's southern end. You can find the location on the park map.

Victoria Tower Gardens serves as a tranquil retreat from the bustling city, and has no dedicated facilities for organised sport.

Generally, dogs do not need to be kept on a lead in Victoria Tower Gardens. Areas where dogs are not allowed are listed in our Dogs in The Royal Parks policy document.

Commercial dog walkers
Commercial Dog Walking Licences are not available for Victoria Tower Gardens.

No. Feeding birds and animals in the parks does more harm than good. You can learn more about why this is, and how you can help us in caring for their wellbeing here.

Getting in touch with park offices is quick and easy and all enquiries are handled by our dedicated Visitor & Park Support team.

Online
Simply complete the short online enquiry form and your question(s) will be passed to the most appropriate staff member. To ensure an efficient service, please check that you have provided the following information:

• Park 
• Subject
• Your name
• Your email address
• Your enquiry

Telephone
You can also contact the park offices by telephone using the following numbers:

• Hyde Park 0300 061 2000
• Kensington Gardens 0300 061 2000
• St. James's Park and The Green Park 0300 061 2350
• The Regent's Park 0300 061 2300
• Greenwich Park 0300 061 2380
• Richmond Park 0300 061 2200
• Bushy Park 0300 061 2250

Contacting the police in an emergency
For police assistance, please call 101 for non-emergencies, and 999 for emergencies. You can also report a crime online.

To report lost property, please contact our Visitor and Park Support Team via their online contact form with the following information:

• Your contact details
• A description of the item
• Date and time when the item was lost
• Location (if known) where the item was lost

If the property has been found by staff or handed in to us we'll let you know.

To report criminal activity in the park you should contact the police. For non-emergencies call 101, and for emergencies call 999. You can also report a crime online.

No. Victoria Tower Gardens is not available as a location for personal training or group fitness sessions.

Fitness training licences are only available for Hyde Park, The Regent's Park, The Green Park, Greenwich Park, Richmond Park and Bushy Park. They are not available for St. James's Park, Kensington Gardens, Victoria Tower Gardens or Brompton Cemetery.

Detailed information about fitness training licences can be found here, along with an online application form.

If you are filming/photographing by yourself on a mobile phone or action camera for purely personal use then no you don't need a permit to film/photograph in the park. However, for all other purposes you will need to obtain a filming or photography permit from The Royal Parks charity. Full information and online application forms can be found here.

Yes, we welcome informal picnics in the Royal Parks. Please read our guidance document for maximum group sizes and what is and isn't permitted. Please note that barbecues are not allowed.

Every year, we welcome hundreds of small and medium events to the Royal Parks, including walks and runs, large picnics, concerts and community sports. Applications for such events are considered by our dedicated Parks Events team. To find out more, and submit an application click here. At least six weeks’ notice is required.