Windsor Great Park is a vast and historic royal landscape near Windsor, spanning over 1,000 years of history and covering thousands of acres. Featuring ancient woodlands, lakes, gardens and open grasslands, it offers a perfect mix of nature, heritage and outdoor activities. It’s an ideal destination for families, walkers and anyone looking to explore one of the UK’s most iconic green spaces. 

Visitors can explore a wide range of attractions including the famous Long Walk and Deer Park, scenic Virginia Water lake with its cascade and ruins, and beautiful areas like Chapel Wood and Obelisk Lawn. The park also features The Savill Garden and Valley Gardens with stunning plant collections, along with Adventure Play – a unique woodland playground with treehouses, slides and walkways. Activities include walking, cycling, running, picnics, dog walking and even seasonal events throughout the year. 

Entry to Windsor Great Park is free, with additional costs for parking and attractions like The Savill Garden (from £14.95 for adults, £6.50 for children) and Adventure Play (from £10–£16 depending on peak/off-peak). The park also offers event and celebration spaces, making it a great venue for outdoor gatherings, family events and special occasions. 

With its combination of royal heritage, stunning landscapes and diverse activities, Windsor Great Park offers a truly memorable day out. Whether you’re exploring scenic trails, enjoying family play areas or hosting a special event, it’s a destination that has something for everyone.

Windsor Great Park

• Chapel Wood & Cow Pond: A short walk from The Savill Garden Visitor Centre lies Cow Pond, a serene ornamental lake created in the 1700s. It’s a wonderful place to walk, take photographs or simply enjoy the outside air. Originally designed by the architect Henry Flitcroft, the Pond underwent extensive renovation in 2012 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. Visitors to Cow Pond should also take the opportunity to visit nearby Chapel Wood. Autumn fills this woodland with colour from glorious Japanese maples. 
• Obelisk Lawn and Obelisk Pond: A short walk from The Savill Garden Visitor Centre, you’ll find the Obelisk Lawn and Obelisk Pond. This is a lovely place to stroll or picnic among the cedars. The lawn is centred around the Cumberland Obelisk and offers beautiful views across the Obelisk Pond. There is a small children’s play area and a place to buy drinks and snacks on busier days. If you would like to do a longer walk to Virginia Water take a look at our most popular walks here.
• Queen Anne’s Ride & Stag Meadow: Queen Anne’s Ride is a 2.9 mile ‘avenue’ between Windsor Great Park and Ascot Heath. First mentioned in 1708, the Queen’s Walk (as it was originally known) provided Queen Anne’s horse-drawn carriage (or ‘chaise’) with easy access to the Great Park and forest beyond. The original avenue of trees (elm and lime) did not do well and replanting started as early as 1813. In turn, over the decades many of the replacement trees became diseased and dangerous. 
• Smith’s Lawn: Home to the prestigious Guards Polo Club, Smith’s Lawn is best known for the polo events that include the Queen’s Cup and the Cartier International Day. Smith’s Lawn lies alongside one of the main cycling and riding routes through Windsor Great Park. Aside from sporting events, Smith’s Lawn has been used as an encampment for Canadian Forces in World War I and an airfield in World War II.
• The Long Walk & Deer Park: No view better captures Windsor Great Park’s royal grandeur than The Long Walk. No landscape better reveals its history than the Deer Park. Windsor Great Park has hosted Royalty since William the Conqueror’s victory at the Battle of Hastings. Over the centuries it was enjoyed for its riding, hunting and stunning scenery. It wasn’t until William IV, however, that the Windsor Great Park as we know it was opened to the public, allowing visitors from far and wide to experience its splendour for themselves.
• Virginia Water: Originally conceived as a Royal pleasure ground, Virginia Water lies at the Southern edge of Windsor Great Park. The 2-mile-long lake is a popular destination for families, walkers and wildlife lovers. In addition to tree-lined shores and vistas, its highlights include The Cascade and The Leptis Magna Ruins. A full circuit of the lake is a bracing 5.25 miles, but the Cascade and Leptis Magna Ruins are a much shorter stroll.

The Gardens

• The Savill Garden: Set across 35 acres of beautifully designed gardens, woodland and ever‑changing seasonal displays, The Savill Garden is a peaceful retreat in the heart of Windsor Great Park. Commissioned by King George V and created by renowned horticulturist Eric Savill in 1932, the Garden has been inspiring nature lovers, photographers, friends and families for generations.
• The Valley Gardens: On the northern shores of Virginia Water lies a woodland of twisting trails and seasonal flowers. The Valley Gardens cover 101 hectares (250 acres) of undulating valleys with azaleas, magnolias and exotic blooms from all over the world … including National Collections of magnolia, rhododendron, Glenn Dale azaleas, as well as Himalayan and Chinese birches. 

Children’s play areas

• Adventure Play: Adventure Play is a unique, hand-crafted adventure playground at Windsor Great Park. Hidden within the woodland next to The Savill Garden, you’ll discover a fascinating world of award-winning walkways, slides, sculptures and treehouses. But this is not just for the children. Whether they want to climb among the trees or explore the amazing giant acorns, you can be right there, feeding their imagination and watching their confidence grow. Because this is play like you remember it – getting close to nature, challenging the body and stimulating the senses. 
• Children’s play: With wide open green spaces and dedicated free play areas, Windsor Great Park offers families the opportunity to enjoy relaxed, outdoor fun together. Both Obelisk Lawn and Home Park Public provide welcoming, no‑cost places for children to play, explore and use their imaginations in natural surroundings, all complemented by the adventurous world of walkways, slides, sculptures and treehouses found at Adventure Play, set within the woodland next to The Savill Garden.

Activities

• Cycling: Windsor Great Park welcomes cyclists who use the National Cycle Route (Network 4). There are other designated cycling paths in Windsor Great Park. We want everyone who visits Windsor Great Park to have a safe and enjoyable experience. When cycling in places where sharing with pedestrians, horse riders or horse drawn carriages is permitted, please take extra care and be prepared to slow down or stop.
• Dog walking: The Windsor Estate is home to a vast array of habitats, flora and fauna and, is an internationally recognised example of biodiversity, sustainability, and conservation. Well-behaved dogs are welcome in Windsor Great Park and Forest with our lakes, forests, and fields offering a variety of walks along quality trails and tracks.
• Running: Windsor Great Park offers runners a huge variety of routes, terrains and gradients – as well as a half-marathon each September. Whether you are a beginner or a regular runner, you’ll find the perfect challenge in Windsor Great Park. Here are a couple of recommended routes to get you started.
• Walking: Explore the wonders of Windsor Great Park on foot and lose yourself in the magic of its gardens, lakes and ancient woodland. Regular visitors will have their favourite routes, but here are three of ours, each starting from The Savill Garden.
• Model aircraft: Model aircraft flying at Windsor Great Park is only permitted for Members of the Windsor Great Park Flying Association, and is restricted to the designated flying area found at Stag Meadow. Windsor Great Park Flying Association offers the opportunity to meet and socialise with other fellow model aircraft enthusiasts. 
• Picnics: Relax with family and friends with a picnic in Windsor Great Park. There are plenty of places to take in the fresh air and enjoy the stunning backdrop of the Obelisk Pond and Virginia Water Lake. With close-by facilities at hand you are also never far away from an indulgent treat to add to your picnic from one of our Cafés or gift shops.