Kew Gardens

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a sprawling botanical garden in southwest London and a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its scientific plant collections and historic glasshouses. The site combines living collections, historic buildings and scientific institutions across a large landscaped estate.

Key highlights include the Victorian Palm House, the restored Temperate House, the elevated tree-level walkway, and Kew Palace; the gardens contain tens of thousands of plant species across beds, arboretum and glasshouses. Visitors commonly spend several hours to a full day exploring themed glasshouses, special exhibitions and the arboretum.

Kew’s role has extended beyond public display to scientific research and conservation since the 18th and 19th centuries, with living collections assembled for study and plant exchange. Many of the major structures date to the mid-to-late 19th century and have been conserved and restored in the 20th and 21st centuries.

The gardens are located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, on the west bank of the River Thames, about 7 miles west of central London and accessible by rail and Underground services.

• Best time: Best visited in spring for magnolia and cherry blossom displays or in summer when the Temperate House and Palm House have peak plantings.
• Size and status: The site covers roughly 300 acres and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its historic landscape and scientific collections.

What to See #

• Palm House: A large Victorian glasshouse completed in 1848 that houses a collection of tropical plants and is one of the first major cast-iron and glass structures in botanical horticulture.
• Temperate House: The Temperate House, a restored late 19th-century glasshouse and the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world, housing temperate-climate plants from several continents.
• Kew Palace: Kew Palace, a small royal palace on the site dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, historically used as a royal residence.
• Treetop Walkway: An elevated walkway that runs through trees and provides views over the arboretum and parts of the gardens.