stembe

Hello Everyone,

We are going to attend the Chelsea Flower Festival on May 23 at the Royal Hospital grounds & planning to spend approx. 5 hrs from 09:00am. I was wondering what we could do after that. Are there any good places to visit nearby where we could spend the rest of the day?

Thanks,
Suhas

Tulips

Depends on what you want to do! You are very close to the King's Road and Sloane Square with lots of shops and restaurants.

janis

The Hospital is very close to the river and the Physic Garden.

I would wander along Cheyne Walk (fabulous riverside houses) and through the Physic Garden.

The Physic Garden is wonderful. It has old and heritage plants in traditional plantings and does a lot of research. It is usually a refuge from the busy city around it. (But I don't know if it gets crowded during the run of Chelsea - normally it is lightly visited)

ron

The Thomas Carlyle House on Cheyne Row is not far away, nor is the National Army Museum. You could walk across the Albert Bridge and wander through Battersea Park.

starspinners

If you are strolling along Cheyne Walk you might be interested in stopping at Chelsea Old Church .
The chapel was built by Sir Thomas More for his own private worship.
Henry VIII is said to have married Jane Seymour in this church .

CarolLA

Fair warinig. I did the flower show a few years ago planning for a half day (I am not a gardener) I spent about 7 hours and still did not see everything. My mother was there ALL day.

Elizabeth

If a play called "Hitchcock Blondes" or something like that is still playing at the Royal Court Theatre, read up on it (at London Time Out, for example) and if it sounds good to you, go. It is right near there. I think it closes 5/24. I live in NYC (as a reference point re: my experience as a theatre-goer) and I thought it was one of the best things I've ever seen.

It was a Time Out top recommendation. The theatre is right there near the garden, same tube stop I think, Sloane Square.

Howard

We will be at the Chelsea Flower show the same day, but plan to be there at 8 am when the doors open. Although we normally wouldn't do this (attend two "big events" back-to-back), we have tkts for the Art Deco show at the nearby Victoria and Albert at 2 PM. We will be in London for only from the 21st thru 26th, and didn't want to have another day where we'd tie ourselves down to be at a particular place at a predetermined time. The V&A is quite close, we are only going to see that one exhibit - it is open until 5:45 PM.

Anyone have fun - perhaps I'll see you at the show.

stembe

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for all your ideas & suggestions. Atleast now I have a better idea of what we can do after the flower show.

Thanks again.
Suhas

CarolLA

I drug my mother to the flower show at around 7 or 7:30. She kept saying we had time, but I had this feeling from all the media that this was just like Disney only with flowers. I was right. When we got there we found quite a line, but we were in fairly quick. If you have not been before, my recommendation is to grab a map and find out where the grand gardens are and HUSTLE to them. They get packed quick and it gets hard to get a nice view.

I would love to go back, I am thinking of trying to take my mom again next year.