Today I want to bring you my guide to attending Open Garden Squares Weekend in London. Every June, this annual event sees over 200 of the city’s secluded green spaces open their gates to the public as a fundraiser for the London Parks & Gardens Trust.
Open Garden Squares Weekend
When I first moved to London, I camped out in a hotel in Belgravia for three weeks. Every day on my way to the tube at Victoria station, I would pass the beautiful gardens in Eaton Square, Chester Square, and Belgrave Square.
I always wanted to go inside and enjoy the leafy green spaces and lovely flowers, but the gates were locked and the only ones allowed inside were the residents that lived in the buildings around them.
Undaunted, I waited patiently for Open Garden Squares Weekend, the one time a year the exclusive gardens of London unlatch their gates and let the rest of us inside.
Open Garden Squares in Belgravia
On Saturday I headed down to Belgravia with my boyfriend and my mother, who’s visiting from California. I was excited to finally see the gardens from inside the gates.
Our first stop on Open Garden Squares Weekend was Chester Square, my favorite of all the gardens.
Skinny and rectangular, the green space was all plane trees and roses. Surrounded on all sides by monumental white buildings, it was an oasis of green that felt perfectly peaceful.
From Chester Square we headed to Eaton Square, which was bigger in size but similar in feel. Eaton Square outdid its neighbor by featuring a live Caribbean band, a barbecue, tea and cakes, and sculptures.
After a turn through the garden, we headed towards Victoria for the next stop on our Open Garden Squares Weekend tour.
Soon we found ourselves at the side entrance to The Goring hotel. There we were met by the entire cast of Alice in Wonderland, including two fuzzy pink-flamingo croquet mallets.
While the Mad Hatter served tea and cookies, Alice and the Queen of Hearts battled on the croquet lawn.
We took a turn in the garden, admiring the surrounding buildings and remarking on how it was so peaceful even though it was only a stone’s throw from Victoria station.
Moving on, we headed west again for the next destination on our Open Garden Squares Weekend tour: Belgrave Square.
Much larger on the inside than it looked from outside the gates, the square featured statues, a tennis court, a children’s playground, a rose garden, and so many trees that the entire space was shaded by a leafy canopy.
After a stroll through Belgrave Square, we continued west to Wilton Crescent Garden, a small but well-manicured half-moon of a green space.
An a capella group was just finishing a set as we wandered through the long shadows of the late afternoon sun.
After taking a turn and admiring the tree-like sculptures, we headed off to our final garden of the day: a cafe on Motcomb Street.
This place must have pulled some strings to be included in the Open Garden Squares Weekend brochure.
Open daily and not exclusive in the least, the tiny back garden was nonetheless a nice place to enjoy a cup of tea and some chocolates before we met up with a friend in the not-so-exclusive Hyde Park to relax and finish off our afternoon.
Open Garden Squares Weekend in London
Regardless of exclusivity, we enjoyed our meander through the garden squares of Belgravia during Open Garden Squares Weekend in London.
I’m glad I finally got to see inside the mysterious gates of the secret gardens. Now I feel sufficiently prepped and ready for the exclusivity of the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot tomorrow.
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