London’s loveliest lidos and outdoor swimming pools

London has sailed handsomely into late summer time. If the previous few weeks have been marked by inconsistent days and quite an excessive amount of rain, at the moment they’re however a reminiscence: temperatures will high 26ºC this week and the solar is displaying no indicators of letting up, with the minor heatwave anticipated to run into subsequent week.

With London gracefully bounding into August it’s time to take pleasure in this new-found sunshine by diving into one of many metropolis’s greatest out of doors swimming spots.

Fortunately, London is blessed with quite a few lidos, alfresco swimming pools and even a reservoir or two. Most supply greater than only a spot to splash about, with cafes, train courses, solar beds and lots extra in addition to. Seize your cossie and take heed of the most effective of them.

Brockwell boasts an Olympic size pool, well being suite and health centre, so it’s nicely kitted out. You possibly can make the leap within the lido from 6.30am on most days (later for the spa), and there are all kinds of exercise courses out there, from out of doors yoga to zumba. Observe up a dip with a visit to the Artwork Deco Grade II-listed Lido Café.

This heated rooftop pool is simply 5 minutes from Holborn, making it the West Finish’s solely out of doors heated pool open to the general public. It tends to get busy on heat days, although at lower than 30m lengthy it is not the place for an intensive exercise or actually critical swimmers. However the location is ideally suited to weekdays and it is open till 10pm on weekdays, which is useful for these hoping to take pleasure in a spot of night solar, post-office. When you’re achieved within the pool, there are additionally squash courts and a gymnasium.

This 60m unheated pool on Hampstead Heath is usually busy, little question because of its cleanliness and exquisite location. For these eager to get away from small, splashy kids, there are adult-only swimming classes that may be booked by means of the summer time months, from late Might. Regardless of the day, there is a good cafe on website, and Parliament Hill has the excellence of being the one out of doors pool within the UK with a chrome steel liner, which provides the water an uncommon and – in the best mild – a glamorous metallic shimmer. Word too that beneath 16s and over 60s swim freed from cost earlier than 9.30am, and it’s open each day of the yr.

The swimming ponds may be the spotlight of Hampstead Heath. Definitely, they’re well-known. There are three to swim in: one for males, elevated on a hillock; one for girls, veiled by oak timber in a nook of the heath; and a blended pond. When you’re on the lookout for an honest, much less crowded swim, go segregated. Youngsters should be accompanied in any respect ponds and the single-sex ponds are for over-8s solely. Largely, households persist with the blended space.

In wonderful situation because of an £8million makeover, alongside the 50m lengthy pool (additionally a formidable 23m extensive), there are actually new altering areas, lavatory amenities, and reception space and café. There’s additionally a kids’s pool for households. Issues get going at 6.30am every morning and classes will be prebooked on-line. It’s been going since 1926 for good cause.

Having been shut since late 2022 for refurbishments, London’s oldest lido (and the most important freshwater open-air pool in England at simply over 90m lengthy) reopened to the general public final yr with a lot fanfare. Enhancements have been made: there’s each a brand new UV filtration and water purification system in place. Useful too is the on-site store, picnic space and café, whereas there’s designated parking and a hoist for disabled swimmers. It’s open sooner than most, from 6am.

The 50m lengthy London Fields Lido is heated, and contains lane swimming for these critical about their dip and courses for these searching for to enhance their velocity and approach. Examine the timetable, as there are relaxed classes for fogeys and youngsters, or these simply hoping to chill off. Regardless of the train, head to the cafe afterwards, or doze on the solar deck.

These in Lewisham with a penchant for wild swimming ought to head right here, a lake that was refilled after having sat dormant and drained for many years. Lifeguards watch on, with prebooking a spot required. All swimmers should be over 8 and capable of swim 25m unaided. All are requested to respect the wildlife. Duck mites are frequent when the water temperature will get previous 16ºC, and so “swimmer’s itch” is feasible. Paddle boarding and yoga can be found.

Sunbathe right here for probably the greatest views in London, with a pavilion, lush timber and, past these, towering skyscrapers reaching up from our honest metropolis. Typically reserved for members of the Serpentine Swimming Membership, most of the people are allowed to get entangled from mid-Might. Be warned that you’re going to be sharing the water with native geese and swans – however by practically all accounts, they’re pleasant, and the water is repeatedly examined to make sure it is protected. For foods and drinks, strive the Serpentine Bar & Kitchen or the Lido Café and Bar.

Previously often known as the Uxbridge Lido, this Thirties, Grade II-listed spot is actually quite lovely. The heated open-air pool is 50m, with fountains at both finish. The lido is in wonderful form, having been restored in 2010, and there is loads of room to sunbathe and benefit from the poolside foods and drinks. The leisure advanced is packed out with every thing from 3G soccer pitches to a 400m athletics monitor and, if the climate is off, an indoor pool of the identical measurement.

Regardless of maybe not being as nicely often known as some others on this checklist, Hampton is nicely value a visit. There are two heated swimming pools; the first one is 36m, whereas the second is a learner pool for youngsters and their mother and father. They’re open year-round, together with Christmas, and the principle pool is typically divided up into lanes, or cut up down the center for lane swimming on one aspect and enjoyable on the opposite. When you’re achieved right here, head out to Royal Bushy Park, subsequent door.

For a rousing out of doors swim, the Docks are onerous to beat. It’s a welcoming place for every type of outside swimmer, whether or not new to all of it and hoping to take it simple within the informal space, or a seasoned professional prepared for one of many 1500m classes. Organisers examine the water each fortnight to verify it’s all so as. Annual membership (£15) is required alongside the £9.50-per-swim charge, and every thing is regulated. Tea, espresso and sizzling chocolate can be found, simply keep in mind it’s BYOM (deliver your personal mug).

A completely heated 50m pool is the spotlight of Charlton Lido, which is in tip-top situation because of a £5m refurbishment in 2013. There are two solar terraces, a gymnasium and a health studio. They’ve even bought eight tennis courts shut by, that are flood lit, so video games will be loved by means of the night. One of many cleanest swimming pools going and wonderful come night, when the solar units over Shooters Hill, although it’s open from 6am too, for the morning individuals.

Up in Barnet is an unheated and never particularly well-sized out of doors pool. And it doesn’t open until the skin temperature ticks previous 20ºC. That mentioned, when it’s heat, it’s completely value a journey — and after swim, benefit from the bowling alley, the cinema, and the indoor sports activities centre as well. There’s an indoor pool within the gymnasium and a grassy terrace exterior for sun-kissed downtime.

There are two swimming pools right here. The one outdoor, 33m lengthy, is now open yr spherical. The amenities are maybe now slightly drained, although arguably unbeatable contemplating a swim may be mixed with a stroll among the many deer. Unsurprisingly, the skin pool is chillier, saved at a clement 24°C, nevertheless it additionally occurs to be the bigger of the 2. Swimming classes are on supply for all ages and talents, and there’s each a health suite and indoor cycle studio on website as nicely.

One for the actual hardy varieties — those that fancy a correct out of doors dip (nonetheless, do not confuse it with the east reservoir). Naturally, the water isn’t heated, and there are not any lanes or any of that, however there is a large sense of freedom and area abounds.

The Denham waterski membership has marked out an enormous swimming zone — 500m in size — and anybody over the age of 16 is welcome every morning (from 7.30am or 8am, relying on the day, till round 9.45am), with the 2025 season now underway. Wetsuits are suggested and everybody swimming should put on a brightly colored swimming cap for their very own security. A full checklist of guidelines is out there on their website and is a should learn. Being right here looks like being out within the nation for some time. It’s a spectacular spot.