Redbridge Museum is free and has the Ilford mammoth; Valentines Mansion opens Sundays only. Nine Green Flag parks, times and prices checked August 2026.

Redbridge is better supplied with days out than its reputation suggests, and almost all of the good ones are free. It has a 400-acre forest, a Queen Anne mansion you can walk into for nothing, the largest boulder park in the country, a Grade II* listed temple that opens one weekend a month, and a museum with the bones of an animal that walked through Ilford 200,000 years ago.

Every opening time, price and operator on this page was checked against the venue’s own site in August 2026. Where something is shut, we say so, because a wasted Saturday is worse than a short list.

The eight free ones

1. Redbridge Museum, Ilford

Free, and the strongest single reason to go into Ilford town centre. It sits on the second floor of Redbridge Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford IG1 1EA, and its permanent exhibition reopened in August 2024 after a full redevelopment. It covers 200,000 years of local history, and the headline exhibit is exactly that old: the Ilford mammoth, whose fossilised bones were dug out of the brickearth here in the nineteenth century, shown alongside a life-size replica mammoth skull. There is a children’s area for under-fives with dressing up and a London bus to sit in.

Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm. The attached Heritage Centre, the borough’s archive, opens Tuesday to Friday and alternate Saturdays, 10.30am to 4pm. Details on the Redbridge Museum page.

2. Valentines Mansion and Gardens, Ilford

A house built in 1696, standing in the middle of Valentines Park, restored and opened to the public. Entry is free, but the days are narrow, and this is what catches people out: the mansion opens Sundays and Mondays only, 12pm to 5pm from March to October and 11am to 3pm from November to February, with extra open days in school holidays. The historic gardens can be visited any day of the week, and the Gardener’s Cottage Cafe in the walled garden is open daily year round.

Address Emerson Road, Ilford IG1 4XA. Nearest station is Gants Hill on the Central line, about five minutes’ walk, or Ilford on the Elizabeth line. Car parking on site is paid via RingGo. Times from the Friends of Valentines Mansion.

3. Valentines Park, Ilford

The park around the mansion, at 52 hectares the largest green space in the borough, and one of nine Redbridge parks that retained their Green Flag Award for 2026/27 in the announcement of 14 July 2026. Lakes, a walled garden, a bandstand and tennis courts. Free, open daily.

4. Foxburrows Farm, Hainault

A small free farm inside Hainault Forest Country Park, with shetland ponies, alpacas, sheep, pigs, goats, geese, ducks, peafowl and rabbits. Free entry, open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 4.30pm and closed Mondays. Address is Hainault Forest Country Park, Romford Road, Chigwell IG7 4QN. Parking is charged: £1.80 up to an hour, £3.10 for one to two hours, £6.40 all day, paid by RingGo, with motorcycles free. Details on the Foxburrows Farm page.

5. Hainault Forest Country Park

400 acres of ancient woodland, grassland and lake on the borough’s northern edge, managed by Vision RCL with the council, and another of the nine Green Flag parks. There is an outdoor adventure play area and the 1856 Café, open 9am to 5pm every day. Entry is free; the same RingGo parking charges apply as at Foxburrows Farm. Nearest station is Hainault on the Central line.

6. Wanstead Park and The Temple

Wanstead Park is Epping Forest land, managed by the City of London Corporation, and it is the remnant landscape of a vanished eighteenth-century palace: ornamental waters, a grotto, and the Grade II listed Temple*.

The Temple is the part that needs planning. It is free and it opens on the second full calendar weekend of every month, 11am to 3pm. The remaining 2026 dates are Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, Sunday 11 October, Sunday 15 November and Sunday 13 December. Inside there are mosaics and finds from the park’s Roman villa, statues that once stood in the grounds, a gift shop and public toilets. Reach it from Redbridge or Wanstead stations on the Central line; parking is Blue Badge only, with limited street parking nearby. Dates from the City of London.

7. Fairlop Waters Country Park, Barkingside

Free to enter, and it has something genuinely unusual: Vision RCL describes its boulder park as the largest in the UK, with nine climbing boulders. There is also a natural play area, a big lake, and The Boathouse bar and restaurant, open 10am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 7pm at weekends.

Address Forest Road, Barkingside IG6 3HN. Parking is £1.80 up to an hour, £3.10 for one to two hours and £6.40 all day, RingGo only, no cash. Barbecues are not permitted in any Redbridge park.

8. The rest of the Green Flag nine

The full list of Redbridge parks that retained the Green Flag Award for 2026/27, announced on 14 July 2026: Clayhall Park, Claybury Woods and Park, Elmhurst Gardens, Goodmayes Park, Hainault Forest, Ilford War Memorial Gardens, Seven Kings Park, South Park and Valentines Park. All free, all open daily. Claybury Woods, on the Woodford side, is the one people who have lived here for years still have not been to.

Redbridge days out by cost and by when they open A three column decision helper. Free and open most days: the nine Green Flag parks, Hainault Forest which is open daily with a cafe from 9am to 5pm, Fairlop Waters which is open daily, and Wanstead Park. Free but only on set days: Redbridge Museum open Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 5pm, Valentines Mansion open Sundays and Mondays only, Foxburrows Farm open Tuesday to Sunday and closed Mondays, and The Temple in Wanstead Park open the second full weekend of the month from 11am to 3pm. Costs money: parking at Hainault Forest and Fairlop Waters at one pound eighty for an hour up to six pounds forty all day, Redbridge Cycling Centre where a one to one learn to ride hour is forty pounds and a Strider session is five pounds, Fairlop Outdoor Activity Centre paddlesports and sailing, and Cineworld Ilford. A footnote records that the Kenneth More Theatre auditorium is closed because of RAAC. Where to go in Redbridge, by what it costs and when it is open Checked against each venue's own website, August 2026. Parks and forests are free to enter everywhere in the borough; parking is not. Free, open most days Free, set days only Costs money Nine Green Flag parks Valentines, South Park, Goodmayes, Seven Kings, Clayhall, Claybury and more Hainault Forest, 400 acres 1856 Cafe 9am to 5pm daily Fairlop Waters, Barkingside UK's largest boulder park, 9 boulders Wanstead Park Epping Forest land, open daily Redbridge Museum, Ilford Tue to Sat, 11am to 5pm Valentines Mansion Sundays and Mondays only Foxburrows Farm, Hainault Tue to Sun 10am to 4.30pm, shut Mondays The Temple, Wanstead Park 2nd full weekend of the month, 11am to 3pm Park parking, RingGo £1.80 an hour to £6.40 all day Redbridge Cycling Centre Learn to ride £40 an hour, Strider £5 Fairlop Outdoor Activity Centre Sailing, kayaking, paddleboarding Cineworld Ilford Clements Road, next to the museum Do not turn up expecting a show: the Kenneth More Theatre auditorium is closed after RAAC was found in the structure. Its bars, foyers and studio spaces are still open and still hosting smaller events.
Four of the borough's free attractions open only on set days, which is the single most common way to waste a trip here.

Things worth paying for

Redbridge Cycling Centre, Hainault

Locally known as Hog Hill. Purpose-built road, BMX and off-road tracks in a car-free environment, at Forest Road, Hainault IG6 3HP. Open Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday to Sunday, 9am to 4pm, closed Mondays and Fridays except for organised events. Last entry to the tracks is 4pm and last bike hire 3pm. A one-to-one learn to ride session is £40 an hour, two participants £72, and Strider balance bike sessions for small children are £5. Helmets are compulsory and it is card or Apple Pay only, no cash.

Fairlop Outdoor Activity Centre, Barkingside

On the same site as Fairlop Waters, Forest Road, Barkingside IG6 3HN. RYA sailing courses, Paddle UK kayak and canoe courses, and stand-up paddleboarding for adults on Wednesday evenings, 6pm to 8pm, May to October. Water sports camps for ages 8 and up run in school holidays, and there are adapted sessions for disabled participants. Prices are pay as you go or an all-inclusive annual membership, quoted on booking rather than published, so ring 020 8708 2858 before you plan around a figure.

Cineworld Ilford

At I-Scene, Clements Road, Ilford IG1 1BP, next door to the library and museum. Worth knowing what it is: Cineworld describes it as “the number one Bollywood site in the UK”, and the programme reflects that alongside the usual releases.

What is closed

The Kenneth More Theatre’s auditorium is shut. Structural inspections found RAAC, the lightweight concrete used in mid-twentieth-century construction, and the theatre closed the auditorium as a precaution. There is no reopening date. The bars, foyers and studio spaces remain open and available for hire, and smaller events are being staged in the foyer instead. If you are looking at a listing for a show there, check it is not an old one.

Getting to all of this

Almost everything on this page is reachable without a car:

  • Redbridge Museum and Cineworld: Ilford station, Elizabeth line, 18 minutes from Liverpool Street. Both are on Clements Road, two minutes from the station.
  • Valentines Mansion: Gants Hill, Central line, five minutes’ walk.
  • The Temple and Wanstead Park: Redbridge or Wanstead, Central line.
  • Fairlop Waters, the Outdoor Activity Centre and Hog Hill: Fairlop or Hainault, Central line, all on Forest Road.
  • Hainault Forest and Foxburrows Farm: Hainault, Central line, then a walk or the bus along Romford Road.

Every one of those stations is in zone 4, so a whole day of travelling around the borough is capped at £12.80.

Frequently asked questions

What is there to do in Ilford for free?

Redbridge Museum on Clements Road, Valentines Mansion on Sundays and Mondays, Valentines Park and the eight other Green Flag parks, Foxburrows Farm at Hainault Forest, Hainault Forest itself, Fairlop Waters and Wanstead Park, plus The Temple on its monthly open weekend. Entry to all of them is free; parking at the country parks is not.

Is Redbridge Museum free?

Yes. It is on the second floor of Redbridge Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford IG1 1EA, and opens Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm.

When is Valentines Mansion open?

Sundays and Mondays only. March to October it is 12pm to 5pm, November to February 11am to 3pm, with additional days in school holidays. The gardens are open every day.

What is there to do with children in Redbridge?

Foxburrows Farm at Hainault Forest is free and closed only on Mondays. Redbridge Museum has an under-fives area with a London bus. Fairlop Waters has the natural play area and the boulder park, and the Redbridge Cycling Centre runs £5 Strider balance bike sessions for small children.

Is the Kenneth More Theatre open?

The auditorium is closed after RAAC was found in the structure, with no reopening date announced. The bars, foyers and studio spaces are open and smaller events are being held in the foyer.

How much is parking at Hainault Forest and Fairlop Waters?

£1.80 for up to an hour, £3.10 for one to two hours and £6.40 all day, paid through RingGo. There is no cash option, and motorcycles park free in the designated bays.

Sources

Opening times and prices were checked in August 2026. Seasonal hours change, so confirm with the venue before you set out.