The same swim in the same pool on the same day costs £5.00 or £8.80 depending on what time you arrive, and the cheap session is the early one.
In summer, the Breakfast session at Parliament Hill Lido is £5.00 for an adult and free for a child aged 5 to 15. The Morning and Afternoon sessions are £8.80 for an adult and £2.70 for the same child.
That is £3.80 saved by an adult and a free swim for a child, for turning up before the main session starts. The Evening session is £5.00 as well, so both ends of the day are £5 and only the middle is £8.80. Swimming in the middle of the day costs 76% more than swimming at either end of it.
It is 60 metres, which is longer than the others
Worth knowing if you are counting lengths. Parliament Hill Lido is a 60-metre pool. London Fields and Charlton are both 50 metres.
So twenty lengths here is 1,200 metres rather than 1,000, and a kilometre is sixteen and two thirds lengths rather than a tidy twenty.
It is also open all year round, as are the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond and the Highgate Men’s Pond. Only the Hampstead Mixed Pond closes for the winter.
Every published price
Valid to 31 March 2027.
Winter, single tickets: adult £5.00, concession and 16 to 17 £3.00, junior 5 to 15 £1.50.
Summer, single tickets:
Breakfast £5.00 adult, £3.00 concession, juniors free
Morning £8.80 adult, £5.20 concession, £2.70 junior
Afternoon £8.80 adult, £5.20 concession, £2.70 junior
Evening £5.00 adult, £3.00 concession, no junior rate
Note that winter swimming at £5.00 costs the same as a summer Breakfast or Evening, so the cold months are never the expensive option here.
There is a sauna, and only in winter
The sauna runs October to May only, at £7.00 for an adult.
It costs more than the swim it accompanies, and it disappears in the months when most people turn up. That is the right way round for cold water swimming and the wrong way round for anyone who assumed a summer visit included one.
Season tickets, and the one that does not pay
Six and twelve month tickets, adult then concession:
Lido: £171.00 for six months, £252.00 for twelve. Concession £102.00 and £152.00.
Bathing Ponds: £83.00 for six months, £157.00 for twelve. Concession £50.00 and £94.00.
Lido and Bathing Ponds together: £216.00 for six months, £348.00 for twelve. Concession £130.00 and £209.00.
The arithmetic, which nobody sets out:
Two consecutive six-month Lido tickets cost £342. The twelve-month ticket is £252. You save £90 by buying the year. That is the single largest saving on the price list.
Two six-month Ponds tickets cost £166 against £157 for the year, a saving of just £9. So the annual commitment is nearly pointless at the ponds and substantial at the lido.
A twelve-month Lido ticket plus a twelve-month Ponds ticket bought separately is £409. The combined ticket is £348, saving £61. At six months the combined saving is only £38, so again the year is where the money is.
And the break-even: a £252 annual lido ticket pays for itself at about 29 summer Morning swims, or 50 winter swims.
Season tickets use a wristband, with accounts managed by Loylap as a service partner.
Cashless since 1 October
From 1 October 2026 the swimming facilities on Hampstead Heath take cashless payments only.
That is recent enough to catch people out. Outside the bookable summer sessions everything is pay on entry, which now means tap on entry.
How the booking works, and when it does not apply
This is the bit people get wrong.
Bookable sessions exist only from late May to early September. Outside that window every session is drop-in.
In summer, Bookable sessions are released online in advance and sell out quickly. Drop-in sessions hold back all their tickets for walk-ups, paying on entry.
Two useful details on the fully booked ones: if a Bookable session is not full, walk-in swimmers are admitted anyway. And where a session shows as fully booked, staff decide on the day whether to let walk-ins in. Their own advice is not to rely on it.
So from September to May you cannot book and do not need to, and in high summer booking is the only reliable route.
The temperature is published every week
The City of London posts water temperatures weekly, more often when they move, and keeps the history. It is the most useful page on the whole site and almost nobody knows it exists.
Monday 5 October 2026: the Lido was 17°C.
For context, from their own published record across 2026: the Lido peaked at 24°C in late June and early August, and bottomed at 7°C in late February. It held 20°C through most of September and fell to 17 by the first week of October.
The practical reading is that the lido is above 20°C for roughly three months, June to mid-September, and in single figures for about six weeks around February. Temperatures are also displayed at the facility itself.
Getting there
The lido sits at the Gospel Oak end of Hampstead Heath. Gospel Oak is the nearest Overground station, with Hampstead Heath station a short walk and Kentish Town the nearest Underground.
There is a swimming mailing list run by the Heath for closures and notices, which is the fastest way to hear about a shut pool before you travel.
How to plan it
Cheapest summer swim: the Breakfast session, £5.00, and free if you are bringing a child aged 5 to 15.
Second cheapest: the Evening, also £5.00.
Avoid: Morning and Afternoon at £8.80, unless the time is the point.
Swimming often: buy twelve months, not two sixes, which saves £90 at the lido.
Wanting the sauna: come between October and May, and budget £7 on top.
Checking before you travel: read the weekly water temperature page, which is published every Monday.
Paying: card only since 1 October 2026.
Parliament Hill Lido
- Address
- Parliament Hill Fields, Hampstead Heath, London NW5
- Nearest
- Gospel Oak, with Hampstead Heath station a short walk and Kentish Town the nearest Underground
- Hours
- Open all year round. Seasonal hours set by the City of London, shifting roughly every two to four weeks. Bookable sessions run late May to early September, and all other sessions are drop-in
- Booking
- Pay on entry outside the summer. Bookable sessions released online in advance from late May to early September and sell out quickly. Cashless only since 1 October 2026
- Price
- Winter single tickets 5 pounds adult, 3 concession, 1.50 junior. Summer Breakfast 5 pounds with juniors free, Morning and Afternoon 8.80, Evening 5. Sauna 7 pounds, October to May only. Season tickets 171 pounds for six months and 252 for twelve. Prices valid to 31 March 2027
- Standing
- A 60-metre outdoor pool on Hampstead Heath, longer than London’s 50-metre lidos and open every month of the year
How to get in
The Breakfast and Evening sessions are 5 pounds while Morning and Afternoon are 8.80, so the middle of the day costs 76 per cent more. Juniors swim free at Breakfast and pay 2.70 later. A twelve-month season ticket saves 90 pounds against two consecutive six-month ones. Water temperature was 17 degrees on 5 October 2026 and is published weekly.
Where to go next
The three bathing ponds are the other half of swimming on the Heath, and cost £5.00 all year with no session pricing at all.
The lidos page compares the rest, and Hampstead Heath covers the ground around it.
Questions we get asked
How much is Parliament Hill Lido?
In winter, £5.00 for an adult, £3.00 concession and £1.50 for a junior aged 5 to 15. In summer it depends on the session: Breakfast is £5.00 with juniors free, Morning and Afternoon are £8.80, and Evening is £5.00. Prices are valid to 31 March 2027.
What is the cheapest time to swim at Parliament Hill Lido?
The Breakfast session, at £5.00 for an adult with children aged 5 to 15 swimming free. The Evening session is also £5.00. Morning and Afternoon are £8.80, so the middle of the day costs 76% more than either end of it.
How long is Parliament Hill Lido?
60 metres, which makes it longer than London Fields Lido and Charlton Lido, both of which are 50 metres. Twenty lengths here is 1,200 metres.
Is Parliament Hill Lido open in winter?
Yes, all year round, as are the Kenwood Ladies' Pond and Highgate Men's Pond. Only the Hampstead Mixed Pond closes outside April to October. Winter swimming costs £5.00, the same as a summer Breakfast session.
What temperature is the water at Parliament Hill Lido?
It was 17°C on Monday 5 October 2026. The City of London publishes the figure weekly and keeps the history: across 2026 the lido peaked at 24°C in late June and early August and fell to 7°C in late February.
Do you need to book Parliament Hill Lido?
Only in summer. Bookable sessions run from late May to early September and sell out quickly. Outside that period every session is drop-in with payment on entry. If a bookable session is not full, walk-in swimmers are admitted anyway.
Is there a sauna at Parliament Hill Lido?
Yes, but only from October to May, at £7.00 for an adult. It is not available in the summer months.
Can you pay cash at Parliament Hill Lido?
No. Since 1 October 2026 the swimming facilities on Hampstead Heath take cashless payments only.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 265 in the guide.
Last checked 5 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
