Sixteen Romford and Havering days out with prices checked: the £3 museum, free red deer at Bedfords Park, Rainham Hall from £6.50 and the 800-year market.

Romford’s days out divide neatly: a market town centre with an ice rink, a museum and two theatres, and then a ring of proper countryside most Londoners have no idea exists, with a red deer herd, a Georgian windmill, a community forest and a National Trust house before you reach the marshes. Every venue below was checked against its own website for this page, so the times and prices are what actually apply, and each one is linked so you can confirm before you set off.

In and around the town centre

Romford Market is the anchor, as it has been for centuries: around 150 stalls every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 9am to 4.30pm midweek and until 5pm on Saturdays, free to wander, with live music and seasonal events through the year. The Market Place is due a redesign under the town centre masterplan, which we track on our planning news page.

Havering Museum at 19-21 High Street tells the borough’s story from Romford’s brewing years to RAF Hornchurch. Open Wednesday to Friday, 11am to 4.30pm (last entry 3.30pm), plus event Saturdays; adults £3, children up to 16 free with an adult.

Sapphire Ice & Leisure on Western Road is the town’s big indoor day out: a full-sized ice rink, home of the Raiders ice hockey club, plus an eight-lane 25-metre pool, gym and sauna, run by Everyone Active for the council. Open from 6am daily (until 10pm weekdays, 9pm weekends); skating and swimming are priced per session through the online booking portal, and the centre is cashless.

Raphael Park, 44 acres off Main Road, is the classic Romford afternoon: Black’s Lake, a restored bandstand, twelve tennis courts, a large fenced playground and Raphael’s Restaurant by the gates. Free, open 8am to dusk.

Brookside Theatre on Eastern Road is an intimate community theatre with a busy bill of musicals, tributes and comedy (August 2026 alone runs from Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Musical to a Buddy Holly night); tickets are priced per show.

Coral Romford Greyhound Stadium on London Road races Friday and Saturday nights, plus Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday evenings, with packages from £8. Two practical warnings from the stadium itself: car parking is extremely limited, and trackside betting is cash only.

Hornchurch and the Ingrebourne valley

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is the borough’s flagship stage, a producing theatre named London Theatre of the Year 2020, with drama, musicals and a famously big annual panto (Robin Hood runs 18 November 2026 to 3 January 2027). Prices vary by show; book online or on 01708 443333.

Langtons Gardens on Billet Lane are the Repton-designed grounds of a Georgian house, gifted to the public in 1929: serpentine lake, orangery, Victorian greenhouse and a courtyard tea shop. Free, open 8am to dusk; the house itself is the register office, so visit it as a park rather than a stately home.

Fairkytes Arts Centre, across the road, is Havering’s arts centre: classes, holiday workshops, music events and a craft gallery, each individually priced and booked, so check the programme rather than turning up to browse.

Hornchurch Country Park spreads along the Ingrebourne valley on the site of RAF Hornchurch, the Battle of Britain fighter station. The Essex Wildlife Trust’s Ingrebourne Valley Nature Discovery Centre at Squadrons Approach is open daily, 10am to 5pm in summer and 10am to 4pm in winter, with a café and free entry.

Upminster and Rainham

Upminster Windmill is the borough’s showpiece: a Grade II smock mill of 1803, restored and open on roughly monthly open days from spring to autumn (the current calendar lists 8-9 and 23 August 2026). Mill tours are adults £6, children £2* (minimum height 100cm); the gardens and visitor centre are free. Check the homepage calendar for dates before travelling.

Thames Chase Forest Centre at Broadfields, Upminster, is the gateway to the community forest: a visitor centre in converted barns with a tea room, kids’ activities and waymarked trails. Free entry, open 10am to 5pm (10am to 4pm from late October).

Rainham Hall is the National Trust’s Georgian merchant’s house by Rainham village: the house opens Thursday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, on timed slots; adults £6.50, children £3.25, National Trust members free, and the community garden is free without booking. A detail worth knowing locally: RM13 residents and workers get free entry, plus a guest, on showing proof of address.

RSPB Rainham Marshes, the Thames-side wetland reserve, remains open daily for the birds, the boardwalk trail and seasonal events. The RSPB closed the café and shop in 2025 and has been reviewing how it runs the visitor centre, so check the RSPB website for current facilities and times before making the trip.

Havering-atte-Bower: the green north

Bedfords Park is 215 acres of meadows and woodland with the borough’s best surprise, a captive red deer herd you can watch year-round near the Essex Wildlife Trust’s Nature Discovery Centre. Free, with a free car park; the park opens 7am in winter (to 4.30pm) and 6am to 8pm in summer.

Havering Country Park next door holds 100 giant sequoias, the second largest Wellingtonia plantation in England, on 165 acres of open access land. Free at all times, but plan ahead: there is no car park and no toilets, with buses 365, 375 and 294 the practical route in.

One to hold back for now: the Upminster Tithe Barn museum is closed for structural and roof restoration, with its 2026 open days still to be confirmed on its own site.

What a day out costs

Most of this list is free, which is Havering’s quiet advantage. The paid entries are modest:

Adult entry prices for paid Havering attractions, 2026 Horizontal bar chart of adult prices. Havering Museum 3 pounds, children free. Upminster Windmill tour 6 pounds, children 2 pounds. Rainham Hall 6 pounds 50, children 3 pounds 25, National Trust members free. Romford Greyhound Stadium packages from 8 pounds. Everything else listed on this page is free to enter. Sources: each venue's own website, checked 8 August 2026. What the paid days out cost (adult, 2026) Each venue's own published prices, checked 8 August 2026 Havering Museum £3 (children free) Upminster Windmill £6 (children £2) Rainham Hall £6.50 (NT members free) Greyhound racing from £8 Sapphire Ice & Leisure, the two theatres and Fairkytes price per session or per show, so they are not charted. Everything else on this page, the market, all five parks, Thames Chase and the windmill gardens, is free to enter.
A family can fill a Havering weekend for almost nothing; the priciest fixed ticket on this list is £6.50.

Getting between them is easy without a car in the town centre, and most of the outlying sites are on borough bus routes; if you are coming from further out, the Elizabeth line lands you a two-minute walk from the market, and current parking options and roadworks are covered separately.

Frequently asked questions

What can you do in Romford for free?

A lot: Romford Market (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday), Raphael Park, Langtons Gardens, Hornchurch Country Park and its Nature Discovery Centre, Bedfords Park and its red deer, Havering Country Park’s sequoia avenue, Thames Chase Forest Centre and Rainham Hall’s community garden all cost nothing.

What are the best things to do in Romford with kids?

Ice skating at Sapphire Ice & Leisure, the deer at Bedfords Park, the playground and lake at Raphael Park, children’s activities at Thames Chase, and Havering Museum, where under-16s go free alongside a £3 adult. The Queen’s Theatre panto is the big Christmas fixture.

Is Romford Market open on Sundays?

No. The market trades on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 9am to 4.30pm midweek and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays.

Where can you see the deer in Havering?

Bedfords Park in Havering-atte-Bower keeps a captive red deer herd near the Essex Wildlife Trust centre; entry and parking are free and the park is open from 7am (winter) or 6am (summer).

When is Upminster Windmill open?

On monthly open days from spring to autumn rather than daily; the current calendar lists 8-9 and 23 August 2026, with tours at £6 (children £2). Check the windmill’s homepage before you go.

Is the RSPB Rainham Marshes visitor centre open?

The reserve is open daily, but the RSPB closed the café and shop in 2025 and has been reviewing the visitor centre’s future, so check the RSPB website for current facilities before visiting.

Sources

Opening times and prices were checked against each venue’s own website on 8 August 2026 and will drift, especially seasonal ones; confirm with the venue before a special trip.