Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens Review

Enter Kew Gardens and you are enveloped by blazes of color, extraordinary blooms, hidden trails, and lovely old follies. Beautiful though it all is, Kew's charms are secondary to its true purpose as a major center for serious research. Academics are hard at work on more than 300 scientific projects across as many acres, analyzing everything from the cacti of eastern Brazil to the yams of Madagascar. First opened to the public in 1840, Kew has been supported by royalty and nurtured by landscapers, botanists, and architects since the 1720s, and with more than 30,000 species of plants, there is interest and beauty in spades.

Although the plant houses make Kew worth visiting even in the depths of winter (there's also a seasonal garden), the flower beds are, of course, best enjoyed in the fullness of spring and summer.

Highlights

Two great 19th-century greenhouses—the Palm House and the Temperate House —are filled with exotic blooms, and many of the plants have been there since the final glass panel was fixed into place. The Temperate House, once the biggest greenhouse in the world, today contains the largest greenhouse plant in the world, a Chilean wine palm rooted in 1846. You can climb the spiral staircase to the roof and look down on it. Architect Sir William Chambers built a series of temples and follies, of which the crazy 10-story Pagoda, visible for miles around, is the star turn. The Princess of Wales conservatory houses 10 climate zones, and the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway takes you 59 feet up into the air.

Tips

Free guided tours by garden volunteers leave daily from the Guides' desk inside Victoria Plaza at 11 and 1:30, and a seasonally-themed tour leaves at noon. Come early as tours are limited to 15 people.

The Kew Explorer bus runs on a 40-minute, hop-on, hop-off route around the gardens every hour from 11am. Tickets cost £2.

Discovery Tours are specially adapted and fully accessible, aimed at disabled visitors. Options include walking tours designed for deaf or blind visitors, or bus tours for those with mobility problems. Walking tours are £5 per group, bus tours £30 per group. They're only available on certain days, though, so call to book.

Fresh air and natural beauty made you peckish? Treat your taste buds to a light tea at the Victoria Terrace Café or a meal at the far more elegant Orangery, or dine outside at White Peaks.

You can download the official Kew Gardens guide as an app for your mobile phone, free on the Web site.