A walking trail in Sydenham Hill Wood

©Will Jones/Lonely Planet


Sydenham Hill Wood is an intriguingly incongruous patch of wilderness that has an air of secrecy about it, despite being surrounded on all sides by the urban sprawl of south London. It’s stitched through with easy walking trails and is full of wildlife, making it popular with families.

Transportation

  • train: Sydenham Hill

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Horniman Museum

0.3 MILES

This 1901 art-nouveau building, with its clock tower and mosaics, was specially designed to house the collection of wealthy tea merchant, Victorian…

2. Dulwich Park

0.76 MILES

With its hectares of green space and much-loved bicycle hire putting fleets of novel, low-slung bikes under the feet of enthusiastic kids, Dulwich Park is…

3. Dulwich Picture Gallery

0.99 MILES

The world’s first purpose-built public art gallery, the small Dulwich Picture Gallery was designed by architect Sir John Soane and opened in 1817 to house…

4. Crystal Palace Park

1.25 MILES

Named after the prodigious glass-and-iron palace erected for the Great Exhibition in 1851 and moved here from Hyde Park in 1854, this huge park makes for…

5. Crystal Palace Museum

1.36 MILES

This small museum affords a look at the history of Crystal Palace and local history. A guided tour takes place at noon on the first Sunday of each month,…

6. Brixton Village & Market Row

2.56 MILES

This revitalised covered market, once the dilapidated 1930s Granville Arcade, has enjoyed an eye-catching renaissance. More than 130 traders have set up…

7. Black Cultural Archives

2.58 MILES

The Black Cultural Archives is the only centre in the country devoted to preserving and telling the stories of African and Caribbean people in the UK…

8. Brixton Windmill

2.72 MILES

Quite a sight (and terrific photo-op) and built for John Ashby in 1816, this is the closest windmill to central London still in existence. Later powered…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "england/london/brixton-peckham-and-south-london/attractions/sydenham-hill-wood/a/poi-sig/1582779/1342804",
      "position": "superzone"
    }