artparkland

Forest Hill & the Horniman Museum

A Victorian collector's obsessions housed in an Art Nouveau building, with a terraced garden overlooking the city.

Distance

3.5 km

Time

~ 70 min

Start

Forest Hill

End

Honor Oak Park

Best at

afternoon

Right now

28°C· Clear

12 nearby transit lines disrupted — Waterloo & City, District.

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

The Horniman Museum is one of the best free days out in London, and almost nobody from north of the river goes. Frederick John Horniman was a tea trader who collected everything he found interesting — musical instruments, ethnographic objects, taxidermy — and gave it all to the public in 1901 along with his house and garden.

The building is Arts and Crafts by Harrison Townsend; the collection inside ranges from a giant stuffed walrus to a library of global musical instruments. The gardens are terraced into the hillside with a view north over south London that on a clear day reaches to the Shard. Come on a weekday when the school groups aren't in.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 61 m·↓ 50 m·49–103 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Forest Hill station
The overground from London Bridge is 12 minutes. Come out into the high street and walk uphill through the residential streets to the museum.
01
Forest Hill station
The overground from London Bridge is 12 minutes. Come out into the high street and walk uphill through the residential streets to the museum.
02
2
Horniman Museum
Frederick Horniman's collection of musical instruments, world cultures, and natural history, free and housed in a magnificent 1901 Art Nouveau building. The walrus is the most famous exhibit.
02
Horniman Museum
Frederick Horniman's collection of musical instruments, world cultures, and natural history, free and housed in a magnificent 1901 Art Nouveau building. The walrus is the most famous exhibit.
03
3
Horniman Gardens
The terraced gardens behind the museum have one of the best views north toward the city. The sunken garden and the bee garden are at the lower levels.
03
Horniman Gardens
The terraced gardens behind the museum have one of the best views north toward the city. The sunken garden and the bee garden are at the lower levels.
04
4
London Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve
Adjacent to the gardens, an ancient woodland and meadow managed as a nature reserve. The contrast with the surrounding suburb is complete.
04
London Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve
Adjacent to the gardens, an ancient woodland and meadow managed as a nature reserve. The contrast with the surrounding suburb is complete.
05
5
Honor Oak Park
The overground station back to London Bridge. The park itself — One Tree Hill — is worth the extension if you have another thirty minutes.
05
Honor Oak Park
The overground station back to London Bridge. The park itself — One Tree Hill — is worth the extension if you have another thirty minutes.

Forest Hill & the Horniman Museum

On the map.

Things to notice.

Forest Hill station

Forest Hill station

Horniman Museum

Horniman Museum

Horniman Gardens

Horniman Gardens

London Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve

London Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve

Honor Oak Park

Honor Oak Park

Two more, on similar days.

Dulwich Village & the Picture Gallery

Crystal Palace Park & the dinosaurs