Things to Do in Ealing: Free Museum, £5 Zoo, 26 Parks

Ealing has one genuinely unusual advantage over most of outer London: almost everything worth doing here is either free or costs less than a cinema ticket. The council’s own Green Flag list runs to 26 parks and open spaces, the borough museum charges nothing, and the zoo is £5. This page gives what each place actually costs and when it is actually open, checked against the operator’s own site in August 2026.

What a day out costs

The five free ones

Gunnersbury Park Museum, Popes Lane, W5 4NH, is the borough museum and it is free. It opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4.30pm, closed on Mondays except for booked school visits. The park around it opens daily from 7am until dusk. It is run jointly by Ealing and Hounslow councils, which is why it serves two boroughs and sits on the boundary of both.

Northala Fields, Kensington Road, Northolt, is the strangest park in west London and the best free view in the borough. Its four conical mounds were built from the demolition waste of the original Wembley Stadium and the old White City shopping centre, and a spiral path takes you to the top of the tallest, at 22 metres, for a 360-degree view that takes in central London and Canary Wharf. The park opened in 2008, covers 27.5 hectares and holds six fishing lakes, a model boating lake, three wildlife ponds and two playgrounds for under-14s. The visitor centre has a café, toilets and a fishing office. There are two car parks on Kensington Road and the A40 slip road, both locked at park locking times, and Northolt station on the Central line is about 800 metres away.

Horsenden Hill, Perivale, is the borough’s high point at 84 metres above sea level and its largest single nature conservation site at 100 hectares. It splits into three: Horsenden East is woodland and grassland, Horsenden West is wildflower meadows, hedgerows and ponds, and Paradise Fields is reed beds and lagoons. From August to November the council grazes five or six rare or traditional breed cattle on the meadows instead of mowing them. Perivale on the Central line and Sudbury Town on the Piccadilly are the nearest stations, buses 92, 94, 384 and 487 stop nearby, and there is parking off Horsenden Lane North.

Walpole Park, Mattock Lane, W5, is the town-centre park, wrapped around Pitzhanger Manor with a lake, an ornamental bridge and the café that comes with the gallery. It is on the council’s Green Flag list and it is the venue for the Ealing Summer Festivals.

Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Guru Nanak Road, Southall UB2 4NP, describes itself as the largest Sikh gurdwara institution outside India and says it receives around 50,000 visitors a week. It is open to visitors from 3am to 9pm every day, and it is busiest on Sundays and during major Sikh festivals. Visitors are asked to dress modestly, cover their heads (scarves are available at the entrance) and remove their shoes before entering the prayer hall.

Pitzhanger Manor, and the Ealing resident discount worth knowing

Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, Ealing Green, W5 5EQ, is Sir John Soane’s own country house, restored and reopened as a house museum and a contemporary gallery. It opens Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, plus the first Thursday of the month until 8pm, and it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The part most Ealing residents miss: Pitzhanger runs a Pay What You Can offer for people who live in the London Borough of Ealing, where you choose to pay £7, £5, £3, £1 or nothing at all. It applies at two specific times, Open Sundays, every Sunday from 10am to noon, and Thursday Lates, the first Thursday of each month from 5pm to 8pm. You have to create an account with an Ealing postcode, book the “Ealing Resident Pay What You Can” ticket in advance, and bring proof of address. The free option is online only and subject to availability, so walk-ins without a booking have to pick £1 or more.

The current exhibition is Clare Woods: Garden Without Seasons, 29 July to 8 November 2026. It is followed by Peter Blake: In the Studio, 25 November 2026 to 18 April 2027.

Hanwell Zoo

Hanwell Zoo sits inside Brent Lodge Park on Church Road, W7 3BP, and is run by Ealing Council. It is a small community zoo, home to meerkats, flamingos and a porcupine called Hatari, and it is the cheapest ticketed attraction in the borough.

It opens 10am to 5pm with last entry at 4pm from 1 April to 11 September, and 10am to 4pm with last entry at 3pm from 12 September to 31 March, every day except Christmas Day. An adult season ticket pays for itself on the fifth visit, which for a family within walking distance is the obvious buy.

Getting there matters here. The zoo is a ten-minute walk from Hanwell station on the Elizabeth line, and its own advice is blunt about driving: there is a small free car park nearby which is often full by 11am, and limited paid on-street parking beyond that.

Theatre, and the festivals in the park

The Questors Theatre, 12 Mattock Lane, W5 5BQ, is one of the largest amateur theatre companies in the country and runs two auditoriums, the 350-seat Judi Dench Playhouse and a 90-seat Studio. Its autumn 2026 season opens with a Harold Pinter double bill, The Lover and A Slight Ache, from 18 to 26 September, followed by Michael Frayn’s Noises Off from 25 September to 3 October and the pantomime Dick Whittington from 4 to 31 December.

The Ealing Summer Festivals take over Walpole Park each summer. In 2026 the Comedy Festival ran on 23, 24, 30 and 31 July, the Jazz Festival on 25 and 26 July, and the Blues Festival on 1 and 2 August. Tickets are tiered, so they are cheapest when they first go on sale. Dates for 2027 have not been published.

What it means for you

If you are out with small children, Hanwell Zoo at £5 an adult and £4 a child plus the playgrounds at Northala Fields is a full day for under £20 for a family of four.

If you live in the borough, book a Pitzhanger Open Sunday. Fourteen pounds becomes whatever you choose to pay, and it is the one genuinely national-standard building in Ealing.

If you want a walk rather than a ticket, Horsenden Hill and Northala Fields are the two that reward the trip, and both are free and open all year.

Getting to any of them is straightforward on public transport: the Elizabeth line and the Central line between them reach Hanwell, Ealing Broadway, Perivale and Northolt. If you are driving, check the current roadworks first, because Boston Road in Hanwell and Uxbridge Road in Southall are both restricted into December.

Frequently asked questions

What is there to do in Ealing for free?

Gunnersbury Park Museum (Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4.30pm), Northala Fields in Northolt, Horsenden Hill in Perivale, Walpole Park in Ealing and the gurdwara at Southall, which is open to visitors from 3am to 9pm daily. The council’s Green Flag list runs to 26 parks and open spaces.

How much is Hanwell Zoo?

£5 for an adult and £4 for a child, with under-3s free. An adult season ticket is £21 and a child or concession season ticket £16.

Is Pitzhanger Manor free for Ealing residents?

It can be. Ealing residents can book a Pay What You Can ticket, choosing £7, £5, £3, £1 or free, on Open Sundays from 10am to noon every Sunday and on Thursday Lates, the first Thursday of the month from 5pm to 8pm. You need to book online with an Ealing postcode and bring proof of address. Everyone else pays £14 as an adult, and under-16s are free at all times.

What is the best view in Ealing?

The top of mound three at Northala Fields, 22 metres up a spiral path, which gives a 360-degree view including central London and Canary Wharf. The borough’s highest natural point is Horsenden Hill at 84 metres.

Is Gunnersbury Park in Ealing or Hounslow?

Both. The park and museum are run jointly by Ealing and Hounslow councils, and Gunnersbury Park House has a W5 postcode.

What is on at the theatre in Ealing?

The Questors Theatre on Mattock Lane has a Pinter double bill from 18 to 26 September 2026, Noises Off from 25 September to 3 October, and Dick Whittington from 4 to 31 December.

Sources

• Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, ticket information and visit pages for admission prices, opening hours and the Ealing resident offer.
• Hanwell Zoo, plan your day for prices, opening hours and travel advice.
• Gunnersbury Park & Museum, plan your visit for free entry, opening hours and the joint council arrangement.
• Ealing Council, Northala Fields for the park’s size, mounds, lakes and facilities.
• Ealing Council, Horsenden Hill for the site’s area, summit height, habitats and grazing.
• Ealing Council, Green Flag parks for the 26 award-winning parks and open spaces.
• Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall for visiting hours, address and visitor guidance.
• The Questors Theatre for the autumn 2026 season and the two auditoriums.
• Ealing Summer Festivals for the 2026 festival dates and venue.

Prices and opening hours change. Confirm with the venue before you travel, especially for Pitzhanger, which lists several short partial closures for private events.