The estate makes a point of it on its own FAQ page: walking, cycling, picnicking and playing are free in the park, all year. Most of what makes Chatsworth Chatsworth (the setting, the river, the view of the house, the villages) is in the park, not behind the ticket barrier.
The walk in
Park in Baslow, where Nether End car park is pay-and-display and cheaper than the estate, or arrive on the 218 bus. The kissing gate at the end of Nether End puts you on the surfaced path through the north park: 1.5 miles to the house, flat, and the house grows in front of you the whole way. It is the Baslow to Chatsworth walk.
The house from outside
You cannot go in, but the two best views of the building are both free. The north front is what the Baslow path delivers you to. The west front, the one from the paintings and the film, is seen across the river from the park on the Calton Lees side: cross the bridge by the house and walk south along the far bank for ten minutes.
The Hunting Tower
Behind the house the estate road climbs into Stand Wood, which is free and open all year. The Hunting Tower walk is a stiff half-hour climb to the Elizabethan tower and the best view on the estate: house, garden, park, Derwent valley and the edges beyond. Carry on to Emperor Lake and the aqueduct if the legs allow.
Edensor
Twenty minutes across the park to the west is the estate village the 6th Duke rebuilt in the 1830s. The church is open and free, with the Cavendish monuments and the graves of Joseph Paxton and Kathleen Kennedy in the churchyard. There is a tea room if the budget stretches to a scone.
Picnic
Anywhere in the park. The riverbank on the Calton Lees path is the classic spot; the slope below the Hunting Tower is the one with the view. No barbecues or fires anywhere on the estate.
Winter
In January and February the house and garden are shut and the park is at its emptiest. The free day is the only day, and it is a good one: frost on the grass, no queue at the Baslow gate, and the estate pubs open as normal at the end of it.
What it costs
Parking in Baslow, or the bus fare. The estate car parks are £7.50–£10 a day without a ticket booking, so unless you are combining the walk with a garden ticket (which makes parking free), start from the village. Full details on the parking guide.