The park’s museum burned down in 2025. It is open again, on Fridays and Sundays, and nothing else.
“The Museum is now open every Friday and Sunday from 10am-4pm.”
Two days a week. Founded in 1990 by volunteers and run by them for 35 years, it closed after a fire in 2025 and has reopened under the Crystal Palace Park Trust as its new custodian.
Two things to know before you plan around it. There are no refreshment facilities in the museum, though there are toilets and baby changing. And access is via a steep flight of stairs and is not suitable for wheelchair access, which the Trust says it is seeking funding to fix.
It covers both Crystal Palaces, the Hyde Park original and the Sydenham one, with large scale models, images and ceramics.
The dinosaurs are free, and they are the first ever made
The reason most people come, and the fact worth having straight.
Created between 1853 and 1855 by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, the sculptures “represent the first attempt to model extinct animals at full scale based on fossil evidence.”
First unveiled in 1854, more than 170 years ago. Around 30 figures, including amphibians, reptiles and mammals as well as dinosaurs, set across islands in the lakes on the Penge side of the park.
They are completely free to visit.
They are also wrong, on purpose and interestingly so: they do not match modern depictions because they show what Victorian scientists believed. Made in clay, cast in cement, and many of the larger figures are hollow with brick interiors.
One constraint on the visit: because of their Grade I listing and lakeside position, the dinosaurs are meant to be viewed from a short distance. You do not get up close.
After restoration they have been removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, which is the first good news they have had in decades.
The playground kiosk keeps school hours, backwards
A small timing trap for families.
The Dinosaur Playground Kiosk opens 10am to 3pm Monday to Friday during term time, and 9am to 5pm at weekends and in the school holidays.
So in term time it opens later and shuts earlier, by three hours in total. A weekday after-school visit at half past three finds it closed.
The rest of the food:
Grand Centre Walk Café, run by Brown & Green Life, for pastries, full breakfasts, butties and salads with vegan and veggie options.
Concert Platform Café, beside the Concert Platform.
An ice cream van, open every day.
Grand Centre Walk Market, 10am to 4pm every Sunday, and every Saturday throughout October, with street food, fruit and veg, bread, deli goods, natural wines and craft beer.
That October Saturday addition is worth catching, because for one month the market runs twice a week.
The Subway is free but needs a timeslot
The best thing in the park that most people have never seen.
The Grade II* listed Crystal Palace Subway opened in 1865 to give railway passengers a direct and less hilly route to the Palace. It has since been an air raid shelter and a venue for illegal raves.
Phase 1 of the restoration completed last year, with a new roof over the East Courtyard and repairs to walls, floor, steps and entrances, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
It opens for occasional free open days. The next, checked on 6 October 2026, is Saturday 10 October 2026, 10:00 to 12:00, with last admission at 11:30. Entry is free and self-guided, but via a pre-booked timeslot every 15 minutes, booked in advance.
Access is poor and stated plainly: no step-free access, two flights of stairs with handrails, uneven flooring, changing light levels, no seating and no public toilets.
The entrance is at the top of the steps and ramp from Crystal Palace Parade, near the Bus Station, at what3words ///cliff.chops.lift. From Crystal Palace Station it is a 15 minute walk including a steep hill.
Two hundred acres, four car parks, and Blue Badge free
The park covers approximately 200 acres and is a Grade II* listed landscape with multiple entrances.
There are four car parks, reached from Thicket Road, Anerley Hill and Crystal Palace Park Road. Blue Badge holders park free of charge.
By train: Crystal Palace and Penge West are both a 5 to 10 minute walk, on the London Overground Windrush line and Southern. Anerley and Penge East are also walkable.
Buses: 157, 358, 410 and 432 for the train station; 3, 157, 227, 322, 358, 410 and 417 for the bus station; 176, 197 and 227 on Crystal Palace Park Road; 354 on Thicket Road; and 122, 227 and 450 on Westwood Hill.
What the regeneration has and has not fixed
The Trust is candid about this, which is unusual.
Done: a step-free route at the Italian Terraces, and a new Dinosaur Playground with integrated accessibility features.
Not done: the Trust states there is “much more work to do to all the venues, landmarks and wayfinding”, and the museum stairs remain.
What to expect across the park: wide surfaced pathways in many areas, some gravel and compacted paths, areas of uneven ground, steeper gradients in parts, and seasonal changes after wet weather. Most entrances are step-free but gradients vary.
A Changing Places toilet is at the Penge end, close to the Penge Gate car park and the Visitor Centre.
Live music returns in 2027
The Trust has confirmed that live music is coming back to Crystal Palace Park in 2027, with festival details to follow.
The Concert Platform is the historic venue for it, and it has a café beside it.
How to plan it
Museum: Friday or Sunday, 10am to 4pm. No other day, no refreshments, stairs only.
Dinosaurs: free, always there, on the Penge side. Viewed from a distance.
Subway: free but pre-booked, on occasional open days, and not step-free.
Term-time weekday with children: the kiosk shuts at 3pm.
Sunday: the food market runs 10am to 4pm, plus Saturdays through October.
Driving: four car parks, free for Blue Badge holders.
Arriving by train: Penge West is as close as Crystal Palace and avoids the hill.
Crystal Palace Park
- Address
- Crystal Palace Park, London SE19 and SE20, with entrances on Thicket Road, Anerley Hill, Crystal Palace Park Road and Westwood Hill
- Nearest
- Crystal Palace and Penge West, both a 5 to 10 minute walk, on the Overground Windrush line and Southern. Anerley and Penge East also walkable
- Hours
- The park is free and open daily with seasonal closing times. The Museum opens Friday and Sunday 10am to 4pm. The Dinosaur Playground Kiosk opens 10am to 3pm weekdays in term time and 9am to 5pm at weekends and in school holidays. The Grand Centre Walk Market runs 10am to 4pm every Sunday, and Saturdays through October
- Booking
- None for the park. The Subway requires a pre-booked timeslot in advance
- Price
- The park and the dinosaurs are free. Four car parks charge, with Blue Badge holders free. Subway open days are free but need a pre-booked 15 minute timeslot
- Standing
- A 200 acre Grade II* listed landscape holding around 30 Victorian dinosaur sculptures from 1853 to 1855, the first full scale models of extinct animals ever made, plus a museum, the Grade II* Subway, a dinosaur playground and a concert platform
How to get in
The Crystal Palace Museum reopened after a 2025 fire and now opens on Fridays and Sundays only, 10am to 4pm, with no refreshments and access by a steep flight of stairs unsuitable for wheelchairs. The dinosaurs are free and have been removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register after restoration, but their Grade I listing means they are viewed from a short distance. The Subway, an 1865 passenger tunnel later used as an air raid shelter and a rave venue, opens free on occasional days by pre-booked timeslot with no step-free access. Live music returns to the park in 2027.
Where to go next
London’s parks covers the rest, and Greenwich Park and Richmond Park are the other big south London landscapes.
Free things to do in London covers what else costs nothing, and the Natural History Museum has the dinosaurs that got it right.
Questions we get asked
Are the Crystal Palace dinosaurs free?
Yes, completely free to visit. There are around 30 figures across islands in the lakes on the Penge side of the park, created between 1853 and 1855 by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and first unveiled in 1854. Because they are Grade I listed and sit in the lakes, they are meant to be viewed from a short distance rather than close up.
When is the Crystal Palace Museum open?
Friday and Sunday only, 10am to 4pm. It reopened under Crystal Palace Park Trust after closing due to a fire in 2025, having been founded by volunteers in 1990. There are toilets and baby changing but no refreshment facilities, and access is via a steep flight of stairs that is not suitable for wheelchair users.
Can you visit the Crystal Palace Subway?
On occasional free open days, by pre-booked timeslot every 15 minutes. The Grade II* listed subway opened in 1865 as a route from the railway to the Palace and was later an air raid shelter and a rave venue. Phase 1 of its restoration finished last year. There is no step-free access, entry is via two flights of stairs, the flooring is uneven and there are no public toilets.
How do you get to Crystal Palace Park?
Crystal Palace and Penge West stations are both a 5 to 10 minute walk, served by the London Overground Windrush line and Southern, with Anerley and Penge East also within walking distance. Many bus routes serve the park's various entrances. There are four car parks reached from Thicket Road, Anerley Hill and Crystal Palace Park Road, and Blue Badge holders park free.
Is there food at Crystal Palace Park?
Yes. The Grand Centre Walk Café run by Brown & Green Life, the Concert Platform Café, a daily ice cream van, and the Dinosaur Playground Kiosk, which opens 10am to 3pm on weekdays in term time and 9am to 5pm at weekends and in school holidays. The Grand Centre Walk Market runs 10am to 4pm every Sunday, and also on Saturdays throughout October.
Is Crystal Palace Park accessible?
Partly, and the Trust is open about the limits. The regeneration added a step-free route at the Italian Terraces and an accessible Dinosaur Playground, and most entrances are step-free, but there are areas of uneven ground, steeper gradients in places and seasonal conditions after wet weather. A Changing Places toilet is at the Penge end near the Penge Gate car park and Visitor Centre. The museum remains stairs only.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 351 in the guide.
Last checked 6 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
