All four Hertsmere towns have a free museum, eight parks hold Green Flags and both splash parks run to 13 September. Times and prices, checked this month.
Hertsmere is not a day-trip destination and does not pretend to be. What it has instead is a lot of good free things close together: four volunteer-run museums, one in each town, all free to enter; eight parks carrying Green Flag awards; two splash parks; a hundred-acre country park; and two theatres. Almost none of it is signposted from outside the borough.
Everything below was checked against the venue’s own website or the council’s own pages in August 2026. Opening hours in particular change, so the links go straight to the source.
Four free museums, one per town
The borough’s oddest strength. Each of the four towns has kept its own local museum, every one is free, and every one is run by volunteers. They also open on almost entirely different days, which is either a problem or a way to plan four separate afternoons.
Elstree & Borehamwood Museum, 96 Shenley Road, Borehamwood WD6 1EB. Free. Open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 12pm to 6pm, and Saturday 10am to 3pm. It opened in 2000 out of a community history project and is now a registered charity. The current exhibition, Ribbon of Dreams, is built around the films made a few hundred yards up the same road at Elstree Studios, which is the reason most people come.
Bushey Museum & Art Gallery, Rudolph Road, Bushey WD23 3HW. Free, donations welcome. Open Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm. This is the one with genuine national significance: it holds a large collection relating to Sir Hubert von Herkomer, the portrait painter who ran an art school in Bushey, and to Lucy Kemp-Welch, the best-known horse painter of her generation and the illustrator of Black Beauty. VisitEngland has nominated it as a Hidden Gem two years running.
Potters Bar Museum, inside the Wyllyotts Centre, Wyllyotts Place, Darkes Lane EN6 2HN. Free. Open Tuesday and Wednesday 2.30pm to 4.30pm and Saturday 11am to 1pm, and the museum’s own site is explicit that this is subject to the Wyllyotts Centre being open, so it is worth a check before travelling. The largest display covers the Zeppelin L31, shot down over Potters Bar in 1916, with relics from the wreck. There is also a hoard of Roman silver coins found locally, finds from the motte-and-bailey castle at South Mimms, and a collection of novelty telephones you are invited to touch. The current exhibition runs to October 2026.
Radlett and District Museum, 413A Watling Street, at the rear of the Radlett Village Institute, WD7 7JG. Free admission and free parking. Open Wednesday and Saturday mornings, 10am to 12pm. The newest of the four, opened in October 2020, covering Radlett, Aldenham and Letchmore Heath. The main display since February 2026 has been Radlett and The Railway, and a second exhibition, Radlett’s Streets, is showing off-site in the Apthorp Gallery upstairs at the Radlett Centre.
Aldenham Country Park
Aldenham Road, Elstree WD6 3BA. One hundred acres of countryside twelve miles from central London, run as a not-for-profit. The park is open every day from 9am, and in the week we checked it closed at 4.30pm.
Entry to the park itself is free; you pay for the car park at the exit barrier by contactless card, at a fixed daily charge of £4.50 on weekdays during school term and £5.50 at weekends and in the holidays, however long you stay.
100 Aker Wood is free to explore: a Winnie-the-Pooh themed walk through the woodland by the reservoir. The farm and the Adventure Playground are ticketed and the park recommends booking ahead, which is also cheaper than paying on the day. There are two places to eat, the Clock House Kiosk by the public car park and the Warm Welcome Cafe in the SEND Pavilion enclosure. Dogs are welcome on leads across the park but not in the farm’s signposted areas or any of the children’s play areas.
The parks, and both splash parks
Eight Hertsmere parks were awarded Green Flags in July 2026, the international quality mark for public green space, and the council retained every one it held. All are free.
| Park | Town | Years | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| King George Recreation Ground | Bushey | 28 | The borough's longest-running flag, and one of the two splash parks |
| Oakmere Park | Potters Bar | 24 | The town's largest park, and the site of a Roman kiln |
| Aberford Park | Borehamwood | 19 | A Green Flag park in the middle of Borehamwood |
| Parkfield | Potters Bar | 17 | Roman clay ware from a kiln dug here in the 1950s is in the town museum |
| Bushey Rose Garden | Bushey | 16 | Also holds Green Heritage Site accreditation, supported by Historic England |
| Mary Forsdyke Garden and Warren Lake | Bushey Heath | 9 | Small, quiet, in the heart of Bushey Heath |
| Meadow Park | Borehamwood | 4 | The larger of the two splash parks |
| Fishers Field Nature Reserve | Bushey | 2nd full award | Held the Community Award for the previous 16 years, run by local volunteers |
The splash parks are the best free thing in the borough for young children in summer. Both are open every day from 10am to 6pm until Sunday 13 September this year. The one at King George Recreation Ground in Bushey was refurbished to a tropical island theme and has three zones graded by age, from a gentle labyrinth with sluices and gates up to spinning cannons and dumping buckets. The Splash Zone at Meadow Park in Borehamwood opened in 2022 and has 23 in-ground jets, a circular Hula Spray and a central fountain that throws water over two metres up.
One caveat straight from the council: hot weather and heavy use push the water chemistry out of range, and when that happens the splash parks close until it is back. It is not unusual, and it is not a fault.
Shenley Park, near Shenley Chapel WD7 9EZ, sits outside the council’s list and is run by its own trust. It has a walled garden, an orchard, tennis courts you can book online, and a summer programme that this year included a jazz afternoon and an outdoor comedy night. Some events are free, some are ticketed; the site lists them all.
Theatres
Wyllyotts Theatre and Cinema, Wyllyotts Place, Potters Bar. A 425-seat venue running both live shows and films, with a cafe and bar. Hertsmere Borough Council notes it is a three-minute walk from Potters Bar station and five minutes from junction 24 of the M25. Box office 01707 645 005.
The Radlett Centre, 1 Aldenham Avenue, Radlett WD7 8HL. A private theatre in the middle of the village, programming drama, comedy, music, children’s shows, workshops and youth productions, with the Apthorp Gallery upstairs. Box office 01923 859 291, open Monday to Saturday 10am to 4pm.
Swimming and sport
Three leisure centres serve the borough, all run by InspireAll, a registered charity working in partnership with Hertsmere Borough Council:
- The Venue, Borehamwood WD6 1JY
- Bushey Grove Leisure Centre, Aldenham Road, Bushey WD23 2TD
- Furzefield Leisure Centre, Potters Bar EN6 3BW
All three have pools, gyms, classes and children’s activities. Pricing is by membership or pay as you go and is set per centre, so check the one you plan to use.
Battlers Green Farm
Common Lane, Radlett WD7 8PH. A working farm that turned itself into a shopping village. The Haworth family moved here from Lancashire with a dairy herd in 1960 and opened the farm shop the same year; what grew around it is now a courtyard of independent shops, food and drink, and services. The gates are always open and parking is free. It is a browse rather than an attraction, but it is the closest thing the borough has to a destination high street with a car park attached.
Just outside: the de Havilland Aircraft Museum
Salisbury Hall, London Colney AL2 1BU, about ten minutes north of Radlett. Not in Hertsmere, but close enough that it belongs on this list and good enough that it earns its place: it is the first aviation museum in the United Kingdom, home to three de Havilland Mosquitos including the prototype, and to the Comet 1A, the first jet airliner.
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm in summer, last entry 4pm, dropping to 4pm closing in winter. Admission is £12 for an adult, £10.90 concessions, £6.50 for a child aged 5 to 16 and £31.50 for a family, or £14, £12, £8 and £35 if you add Gift Aid. There is a cafe, a shop, wheelchair access to the main display buildings, and an outdoor play area in decent weather.
Frequently asked questions
What is there to do in Borehamwood for free?
Quite a lot. The Elstree & Borehamwood Museum on Shenley Road is free, as is the Splash Zone at Meadow Park, open daily 10am to 6pm until 13 September, and Aberford Park and Meadow Park themselves, both Green Flag winners. Across the borough there are four free museums and eight Green Flag parks.
Is Aldenham Country Park free?
The park is free to walk in, including 100 Aker Wood. You pay a fixed daily car park charge at the exit barrier of £4.50 on weekdays in school term and £5.50 at weekends and in the holidays. The farm and the Adventure Playground are separately ticketed and cheaper if booked in advance.
When do the Hertsmere splash parks close?
They run every day from 10am to 6pm until Sunday 13 September 2026. Both King George Recreation Ground in Bushey and Meadow Park in Borehamwood can close at short notice in very hot or very busy weather while the water chemistry is brought back into range.
Can you visit Elstree Studios?
The studios on Shenley Road are a working production site rather than a visitor attraction. The place to see their history is the Elstree & Borehamwood Museum a short walk along the same road, which is free and whose current exhibition is built around the films made there.
What is there to do in Potters Bar?
Potters Bar Museum in the Wyllyotts Centre is free and holds the Zeppelin L31 collection; the Wyllyotts Theatre in the same building seats 425 for shows and films; and Oakmere Park and Parkfield both hold Green Flags. Furzefield Leisure Centre has the town’s pool.
Which Hertsmere museum is open on a Sunday?
Bushey Museum & Art Gallery, which opens Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm. The other three are all closed on Sundays.
Related
- Trains to London from Borehamwood, Bushey, Potters Bar and Radlett: getting in and out without the car.
- Parking and roadworks in Hertsmere: where the council car parks are and what they cost, including free Sundays.
- Borehamwood house prices: what living near all this costs.
Sources
- Elstree & Borehamwood Museum, Bushey Museum & Art Gallery, Potters Bar Museum and Radlett and District Museum for admission and opening times.
- Hertsmere Borough Council, Hertsmere parks fly the prestigious Green Flag, 17 July 2026, for the eight awards and the years held.
- Hertsmere Borough Council, Splash Parks for the season dates, hours and what is in each one.
- Aldenham Country Park, FAQs and opening times for the car park charge, booking and dog policy.
- Hertsmere Borough Council, Local theatres and Radlett and District Museum for venue details.
- InspireAll leisure centres for the three Hertsmere sites.
- de Havilland Aircraft Museum, Visit Us for admission prices and opening hours.
- Battlers Green Farm FAQs and Shenley Park.
Opening hours at volunteer-run museums change more often than most. Every detail here was checked in August 2026; check the venue’s own page before you set out.
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