Love tulips? Us too. The perky flowers — closely associated with the Netherlands — come into bloom in London in mid-April, often lasting into May. While you won't find sprawling tulip fields here in the capital, there are still plenty of parks and gardens, from palaces to Royal Parks, where you can get your fill of tulip-mania. And if you're willing to travel a little beyond London? Even better! Here's your guide on where and when to see tulips in 2025.
Hampton Court Palace Tulip Festival
Over 100,000 bulbs have been planted for the annual Tulip Festival in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace. The event was recognised as Britain's Largest and Greatest Tulip Heritage Garden at the World Tulip Summit in 2024, so if you're into tulips, it's a good place to be.
For a select few weeks each year, the gardens surrounding the palace are flooded with colour, with both formally planted and freestyle tulip displays — think regimental rows skirting the edges of lawns, and 'floating' tulip bowls in the Great Fountain.
The Hampton Court Palace Tulip Festival takes place 11 April-5 May 2025, and is included in palace admission. There are tulip talks in the Wine Cellar 11.30am and 2.30pm, 2 April-5 May.
Tulips at Eltham Palace
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In previous years, Eltham Palace in south-east London has held its own tulip festival to celebrate the start of spring. There's no such special event this year, but we're still promised tulips in the flower beds in the Inner Court. Definitely one to add to your springtime list.
Tulips in St James's Park
The Royal Parks' gardeners do a sterling job all year round, but for our money, the parks are at their best in spring. In particular, St James's Park shows off its floral colours; head to the the formal flower beds in the area around the cafe — enter via the north-east corner, closest to Admiralty Arch. The tulips co-mingle with other seasonal blooms for very colourful (yet immaculately orderly) displays.
It's also worth wandering a few minutes over towards Buckingham Palace, where the public flower beds flanking the Victoria Memorial are often planted up with tulips this time of year.
Other Royal Parks have their own tulip displays, of course. In Regent's Park, the large stone vases on either side of the Broad Walk, to the south of Chester Road, are usually laden with tulips. Parts of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park put on a decent show too.
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Tulip patch at Hobbledown Heath
Fancy roaming among flowers with the whole family? Head to Hobbledown Heath! This fantastic adventure park, zoo and indoor play in west London now boasts a brand new tulip patch, featuring an impressive 100+ varieties of the colourful blooms.
Here, you’ve got 40,000 square feet of floral displays to explore, which means photo ops galore — on top of all those glorious tulips, there’s a giant love heart, oversized clogs and other fun backdrops to strike a pose in front of.
You can really make a day of it at Hobbledown Heath Tulip Patch. Let the kids indulge in some active play on the waterpillow, or unleash your competitive side with classic carnival games. And if all that’s not enough for you, grab a ticket that combines Tulip Patch entry with all-day access to the whole of Hobbledown Heath — home to a huge array of animals and one of London's largest play barns.
Hobbledown Heath Tulip Patch opens on 4 April, with prices starting at just £5. Find out more about all that's on offer at the Tulip Patch and across Hobbledown Heath site here.
Tulip display in Whitehall Gardens and Embankment
Down by the river, to the south of Embankment and Charing Cross stations, enter Whitehall Gardens at the gate on the corner of Northumberland Avenue. During tulip season, the lawns surrounding the park's statues are usually edged with flowerbeds rich in tulips — and we're no horticulturalists, but we've spotted what we think are some rather unusual varieties here before.
Also head to Victoria Embankment Gardens, just the other side of Embankment station, for further tulip action in this part of town.
Tulips in the Dutch Garden in Holland Park, Kensington
Now we think about it, it makes perfect sense that the Dutch Garden within Holland Park would know its way around a tulip display. Head for the centre of the park, behind the cafe and in front of Holland House, where a large enclosed area of the garden is divided into hedged flower beds with colourful tulips.
There are plenty of pavements carving up the tulip gardens, so you can wander among them and get ever so close for snapping photos. Plenty of benches around the edge too, if you fancy packing a picnic and enjoying lunch with a tulip view.
Tulip displays at Ham House and Garden
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The tulips at National Trust-managed Ham House and Gardens take two forms — formally-planted in the Kitchen Garden, where they mingle among daffodils, lavender and fruit trees; and a more casual style at The Plats, the lawns right outside the house. Here, 500,000 bulbs spanning crocus, muscari and tulip varieties carpet the ground each spring.
Other, smaller parks around London which usually have their own tulip displays include The Rookery in Streatham, and Peckham Rye Park in Peckham (which is also an excellent wisteria spot).
Tulip fields and farms close to London
If you're willing to travel a little further afield to get your tulip fix this spring, consider the following gardens and farms near London.
Tulleys Tulip Fest, West Sussex
Known for its sunflowers fields in summer, its pumpkin patch in autumn and its Christmas experience in winter, Tulleys Farm in West Sussex (near Crawley) has found a way to crack the spring events market too: Tulleys Tulip Fest. Held for the second time after a sell-out season in 2024, the event promises 1.5 million tulips in bloom in its fields, along with Dutch street food stalls, and a windmill for photo ops. New for 2025 is Tulip Nights, an illuminated, tulip-themed walkway through the woods after dark. It's expected that the tulips will start to bloom from the end of March.
Tulip Festival at Pashley Manor, East Sussex
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One of the best spots for a bit of tulip-bothering in the south-east is Pashley Manor, on the Kent/East Sussex border. Its annual Tulip Festival sees the gardens burst into colour: 40,000 of them are expected to bloom in 2024, for an event running 21 April-5 May. They're planted in colour themed garden 'rooms' throughout the grounds, as well as in pot displays, and cut flowers can be seen in a marquee too. The bluebells on the estate are often in bloom at the same time.
Hever Castle tulips, Kent
We're fans of the magnificent Hever Castle all year round, but it looks its finest in spring. In recent years, it's hosted a Tulip Festival, but for 2025, there's a more general Celebration of Spring in the gardens (31 March-5 May). We're still promised thousands of tulips, along with cherry blossom, magnolias, hyacinths, bluebells and other vibrant flowers.
Arundel Castle tulips, West Sussex
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One of the finest castles in Sussex — indeed, if we may be so bold, in the whole country — the Hogwarts-esque Arundel Castle reopens to visitors each spring with a Tulip Festival (2025 dates TBC) with 110,000 bulbs scattered through the gardens and grounds, from formal gardens to hillsides. An absolute riot of colour, and well worth making the trip for.
