The best lido in Britain is in south London

After enduring the sweltering heat that has descended upon London this summer, there’s only two places that anyone wants to be: in an air-conditioned room, or in the water. Nothing is better on a sunny day than lathering on your suncream and cooling off in a pool – even better if it’s outdoors. Luckily, there are dozens of brilliant lidos in the capital so that you can get that beach-feel in the city centre, and without leaving sand in your socks for months to come.

Lidos often require pre-booking (unless you fancy an hours-long queue – or getting turned away entirely), so you want to make sure you’re going to the best of the best. That’s why the AA has decided to do some serious research to figure out the best lidos in the country. The good news? The best lido in Britain is right here in London.

The AA was pretty thorough in its search for the nation’s favourite outdoor pool. The company combined data from Google searches, Google review scores, amount of Instagram hashtags used, entry and parking fees, average temperature, and hours of sunlight in summer. All that info was then combined to give each lido an average score out of 100.

So where should you be heading next time a heatwave strikes? According to the AA, Brockwell Lido, which achieved an overall score of 82.9/100. We’re not surprised – it’s only been a couple of weeks since we at Time Out reached the exact same conclusion, saying Brockwell is the city’s top pool. So what’s the fuss about? 

Regulars love that the lido doubles up as a great spot to sunbathe, and that it features a Grade II-listed art deco building, dating back to the 1930s. It’s also home to a cute café you can pop into once you’ve done enough swimming in the bright blue 50m long pool, and boasts a sauna.

The next London lido on the AA’s chart was also south of the river: Tooting Bec Lido got a score of 76.4 and placed second overall. Coming in at a whopping 91m, TBL is the UK’s longest freshwater outdoor swimming pool, and it’s set against a wall of gorgeous colourful changing huts. You will also need to book ahead here to get a swimming slot. 

Securing fourth best in the country, and third in the capital, was London Fields Lido. Its score of 71.3 was largely due to being one of the warmest in the country, due to it being one of the few heated outdoor pools in the city. Although that may not be necessary at present, it makes for a very pleasant swim most of the time. 

Hampstead Heath ponds and Hampton pool also made it into the nation’s top 10 at sixth and eighth place respectively. Clearly, we’re spoiled for choice for great lidos here in the capital.

The best lidos in London, according to Time Out.