Amazing Azaleas: Isabella Plantation & Cannizaro Park

Springtime always means a visit to the Isabella Plantation to see the azaleas in their glory. This year, we’re making it into a longer ride and visiting Cannizaro Park as well, for a double dose of blooms!

From Ealing, we ride up via Chiswick Bridge and Mortlake, to enter Richmond Park by the Sheen Gate. We ride over the Park to the Isabella Plantation, where we lock up our bikes and explore on foot.

Riding on, we leave the Park at the Robin Hood Gate. We use the cycle path alongside the A3, to climb up through Kingston Vale and enter Wimbledon Common, where we enjoy the off-road track to the Windmill Tearooms Café https://www.windmilltearooms.com/ for refreshments.

We continue across the Common, to reach Cannizaro Park, where we again lock up our bikes and explore on foot.

For our return ride, we make our way through Wimbledon Village to join the Wandle Trail, and then skirt around Wandsworth to come down to the riverside at Putney. We turn through Barnes to cross the river on Hammersmith Bridge and ride back to Ealing on Cycleway 9 via Chiswick.

As we are making two stops to look at the gardens as well as the lunch stop, this will be a longer ride in terms of time. We will probably return to Ealing by approx. 4pm. If you want to shorten the ride, you could leave at Putney for train services to Clapham Junction or Brentford/Chiswick.

Ride across Richmond Park to visit the Isabella Plantation and then over Wimbledon Common to visit Cannizaro Park. Return via Wandle Trail to Putney.

Quieter roads where possible. Some traffic-free sections in Richmond Park and on Wandle Trail. Shared tracks on Wimbledon Common, unsealed, can be muddy in wet weather. Some short stretches on busier roads.

Stop at Isabella Plantation and Cannizaro Park to look at the azaleas. Refreshment stop at the Windmill Tearoom on Wimbledon Common.

Lock for your bike. Money/card for cafe. Water & snacks for the ride.

First-timers welcome!