Kew Gardens is one of London’s must-see destinations. Where else can you explore acres and acres of beautiful gardens, come face to face with plants that you (sometimes quite literally) won’t find anywhere else on the planet, climb a giant Chinese pagoda and walk among the treetops all in one day? Here’s my guide of the best things to see at Kew Gardens and everything else you need to know to plan a trip.
A quick history of Kew Gardens
Before I dive into the top things to see at Kew Gardens, let’s start by briefly touching on its history – which goes back centuries. The oldest building in modern-day Kew Gardens is the palace, which was built in the 1600s and became a royal estate in the 1700s. The gardens themselves were founded in 1759 by Princess Augusta (mother of King George III) and within ten years had developed a collection of more than 3,400 plant species.
Over the decades its collection grew both in size and fame, and it developed a reputation as an important place for scientific research. In 1840 Kew Gardens was transferred from the royal family to the government and opened to the public. Shortly after, two of its iconic glass houses (Palm House and the Temperate House) were built. The gardens also have a deep and complex links to the British Empire and colonialism. In the Victorian era, plant collectors would travel around the world bringing seeds back to add to Kew’s collection.
The top things to see and do at Kew Gardens
There’s so much to see at Kew – it covers a space of more than 300 acres, and can feel a bit overwhelming when you walk through the gate and look at the map. My main advice is: don’t rush it. Pick a few things you really want to see, and then take it easy and take it all in. These are some of the most beautiful gardens and glasshouses you’ll find anywhere and I think the best way to enjoy it is to simply explore. Here are some of Kew Garden’s highlights and the top things look out for as you walk around.
Kew’s iconic glasshouses
The most iconic sights at Kew Gardens are its huge glasshouses. There are three main ones, and you can quite easily see all of them in a visit. They all offer something a bit different. If you’re pushed for time or don’t want to visit them all, the Temperate Glasshouse is, in my opinion, the most stunning and architecturally impressive. The Princess of Wales Conservatory has by far the biggest variety of plants.
Palm House
Arguably Kew’s centrepiece is Palm House. Built in 1848, it’s the oldest glasshouse in the gardens, and an astonishing achievement of architecture. It was the first glasshouse built on this scale, and its architects borrowed techniques from the ship-building industry to achieve it.
It’s designed for plants from rainforests and at times really can feel like you’re walking through a jungle, filled with lush vegetation and a collection of endangered and extinct-in-the-wild tropical plants. It gets very humid and warm inside – especially on hot days. My advice is to go up the spiraling (slightly rusty) iron staircase: the views at the top are worth the effort it takes to get up!
Temperate House
Palm House might be the most famous, but for architecture, Temperate House was my favourite. It was built slightly later than the Palm House (1863), and it’s twice the size, making it the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world.
The glasshouse received some restoration work in 2014-15, bringing it back to its former glory. The main entrance is just classic Victorian exuberance. Inside, it’s another masterpiece in glass and iron-work, expansive and bright, and home to more than 10,000 plants. Like the Palm House, a staircase will take you to a balcony to look down. And like the other glasshouses, it houses some of the world’s rarest and most threatened plants, including six species considered extinct in the wild.
Princess of Wales Conservatory
The newest of the glasshouses, this one opened in 1987. It’s also the most sustainable, and in my opinion the most interesting. It has 10 different climate zones, so you can go from arid desert-plants, to carnivorous plants, to tropical orchids. It’s a bit of a maze, filled with a whole host of lovely plants (just look at these stunningly beautiful luminous jade vines), as well as giant water lilies, sitting in a pond alongside the world’s smallest.
As you stroll around you’ll come across a number of other smaller glasshouses. The include the Davies Alpine House, showcasing Alpine plants; the Waterlily House; the Bonsai House, and a number of others.
The Treetop Walkway
My favourite thing to do at Kew Gardens was the Treetop Walkway. It’s 18 metres off the ground (with slightly see-through flooring, so don’t look down if you’re scared of heights!) and 188 steps up (there is a lift). You’re rewarded with a unique experience, walking through a treetop canopy and observing a world that usually goes on well above our heads, teeming with birds and insects. Being at the same height as the top branches of these ancient trees also gives you a sense of just how tall they are. The views from the Walkway are also excellent – both over the gardens (particularly the stunning Temperate House), but also into the city of London, its skyline looming in the distance.
Kew Palace – the gardens’ oldest building
The oldest building in Kew Gardens is this handsome, Georgian Palace. As palaces go, it’s pretty modest (though this is partly because it’s the only surviving part of what was once a much larger estate). Still, it’s the smallest of all the royal palaces, and was originally built in the 1630s – not for the royals, but as a mansion for a wealthy London silk merchant.
Kew Palace was first used as a royal residence in the 1720s, and over the years was used as a retreat by generations of Georgian royalty. It has a darker history, too: it was here that King George III – of Hamilton fame and known as the king “who lost America” – spent time away from the public eye due to his perceived ‘madness’ (or in other words, was incarcerated). Contemporary research suggested he suffered from a severe form of mental illness. You can learn about King George III and his illness in exhibitions on the inside of the palace, included in your ticket.
Sometimes the palace is known as the Red House or Dutch House and it’s easy to see why: its most striking feature is its lovely, bright red-orange brickwork. The other thing I noticed was the huge number of chimneys. Most rooms would have had a fireplace, the only way to heat the home in those times.
The Hive
One of the best things about Kew Gardens is how it often blurs the line between science and art – and there’s no better example than the Hive. This towering LED installation designed by Wolfgang Buttress is inspired by honeybees, and meant to mimic stepping into a beehive. It’s over 17m tall and made up of over 1,000 LED lights that glow according to the vibrations of real-life bees living in the Gardens. It’s really quite something – though the constant aeroplanes flying overhead (Kew is right below a Heathrow flight path) ruin the effect a little bit.
See the world’s most interesting (and weirdest) plants
Of course, Kew Gardens is filled with interesting plants. Across the gardens (and especially in the glasshouses) you’ll find some of the planets most endangered plants, as well as some of its weirdest. From carnivorous flytraps to giant (and tiny) waterlillies, there are literally thousands to discover: there are more than 50,000 living plants at Kew. Some of them really are unbelievable. Here are two of my favourites that we came across.
Pagoda Tree
This pagoda tree was planted in 1760, a relic from the original exotic garden created by Princess Augusta. It once stood at over 15 metres tall – but now it’s held up by brickwork and poles. The tree we see today is actually just the lowest branch (the only survivor) of the original tree. It’s still a mystery why it grew this way!
Titan Arum
Found in the Princess of Wales Conservatory, this plant is quite a remarkable sight. Apparently, when in bloom, it smells of rotting flesh and is known as one of the smelliest plants on earth. The purpose of this is to attract pollinators from miles away. It only emits this smell for a short time – sometimes just a day – and it’s quite unpredictable. Even when it’s not in bloom (as on my visit, see picture), it’s awesome.
Botanical art galleries
Kew is, of course, most famous for its gardens and botanical collection. But it’s also home to two interesting art galleries.
The Marianne North Gallery is the most unique, and a strong reminder of Kew’s roots with Victorian explorers. Marianne North was a wealthy explorer, who travelled around the world during the 19th century, painting loads (I mean, loads – more than 800 paintings cover these walls, floor to ceiling). After more than a decade of travelling, she offered to build a gallery at Kew if it displayed her life’s work – Kew, after all, was where she had discovered her passion years earlier. Kew agreed, and the gallery opened in 1882. After 140 years, it’s still displaying her work!
In my opinion, you’ll find a more artistically interesting (if less immediately visually striking) gallery next door. The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art was the world’s first public gallery dedicated to classic and contemporary botanical art, and through its permanent collection it shows an excellent range of titanic art – including contemporary pieces. It also holds regular temporary exhibitions with interesting pieces, often blurring the line between science and art.
Both galleries are included in your admission to Kew Gardens. They’re also both quite small, so can be visited in a short amount of time.
Ming Dynasty-era Guardian Lions
You’ll find lots of lovely statues around Kew Gardens. Two of the finest and most interesting are these two Guardian Lions, looking over the lake outside the Palm House. According to a sign next to the statues, they were made in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), making them two of Kew Gardens’ oldest residents.
The Great Pagoda
As if Kew Gardens needed another iconic landmark, it’s also home to an astonishing, 163 ft tall Great Pagoda, fitted with 80 fearsome dragons. It was originally designed in the 18th century by Sir William Chambers as a gift to Princess Augusta, inspired by his visits to China. The dragons have an interesting history: originally the pagoda was adorned with 80 wooden dragons. But these were removed in 1784 when repairs were made to the roof. The ones we see today were part of a restoration project in 2018. Eight of the dragons (the ones that are lowest down) were made in the traditional way and hand painted. Most of the others are made using 3D printing. But they’re still an incredibly impressive sight, eight of them guarding each of the Pagoda’s 10 roofs. To climb to the top you have to pay an additional fee on top of your entry to the gardens.
When William Chambers built the pagoda it was the most ambitious of a ‘royal circuit’ of 16 structures. Each of the structures represented styles from across the world, and you can still see some of these throughout the gardens, including the nearby ruined arch (picture below).
Explore its many peaceful gardens
Kew can get busy, but it’s so big and has so many different gardens that there’s always a quiet one to explore. The Rose Garden (outside the Palm House) is lovely, but can get quite crowded. Elsewhere you’ll find a pretty rock garden (around the back of the Princess of Wales Conservatory), and just along from this is the Grass Garden which has a monument to someone sowing the garden – a nice touch.
Close to the Pagoda is the lovely Japanese Landscape. At its centre is the Japanese gate, a replica of a gate in Kyoto which was created for the Japanese-British exhibition of 1910 and featuring intricate wood carvings.
What you need to know to visit Kew Gardens
Is Kew Gardens worth visiting?
Kew Gardens is a fair distance out of the centre of London, so if you’re staying or mostly exploring the central areas, you may be wondering if it’s worth trekking out to visit. My advice is, if you’ve got time, it’s well worth taking some time to explore Kew Gardens. Spanning over 300 acres, it offers a breathtaking blend of botanical diversity, historical architecture, and modern art installations – and it’s also quite different to most of London’s other key attractions.
How much time should you spend at Kew Gardens?
You could spend a whole day (or more!) exploring Kew Gardens. It takes quite a long time to walk around the main sights, and even after several hours there were huge sections of the site that we weren’t able to explore. I’d recommend at least 3-4 hours – or longer if you want to see more sights, or to spend some time in the cafes and restaurants.
How to get to Kew Gardens?
Kew has four different gates where you can enter the gardens. In most cases, the easiest to reach is Victoria Gate – which is about a 5-10 minute walk from Kew Gardens station. The station is served by Overground and District line trains – from Victoria, it’s about half an hour on the District line.
From Westminster you can also get a Thames River Boat to Kew Gardens. The boat also goes on to Richmond and Hampton Court.
When to visit Kew Gardens?
Kew Gardens is surely at its loveliest in the Spring and Summer months. But at other times of the year, there’s still plenty to explore. The iconic glass houses are worth visiting all year round, and as long as it’s dry the gardens will be beautiful in any season (to be honest, you might get less out of Kew Gardens on a rainy day – a lot of its sights are outdoors, and the glasshouses and other indoor bits are a fair walk apart). At Christmas it hosts an excellent Christmas lights trail.
How big is Kew Gardens? Is there a lot of walking?
At more than 300 acres, Kew Gardens is absolutely massive. It even has its own police force – the Kew Constabulary, who’ve been in operation since 1845. A lot of this is woodland, and some of the main sights and attractions are relatively concentrated. That being said, there is quite a lot of walking involved in a day out at Kew. They do also offer a Land Explorer train, which offers a guided tour stopping at several of the main sights. It currently costs £6.50 for adults and £2.50 for children.
How to book tickets for Kew Gardens
You can book tickets on Kew Gardens’ website, or on the gate. If you’re definitely planning to visit, it’s a couple quid cheaper to book tickets online in advance.
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