The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, commonly referred to as Kew Gardens, are wide-ranging gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is also the name of the organisation that runs Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place gardens in Sussex.
Kew Gardens is a leading centre of botanical research, a training centre for professional gardeners and a visitor attraction. In 2005 Kew received 1.48 million visitors, which was the most since 1949 and is the largest number for any paid entry garden in the United Kingdom. The gardens are mostly informal, with a few formal areas. There are conservatories, a herbarium, a library and eating places. Normally in the winter months there is an ice ring.
The Kew Gardens have much more to offer for families than a pleasant setting for a walk. Kew Gardens’ attraction consists the 18m-high, 200m-long Xstrata Treetop Walkway, which allows visitors to wander through Kew's canopy of trees and see the gardens from a new perspective. This is accompanied by an underground Rhizotron display revealing how roots work.
Elsewhere in the Kew Garden there's the aquarium downstairs in the Palm House, a human-scale badger sett to explore and plants that eat insects or produce the raw material for chocolate to lure kids into the glasshouses.
Key Attractions
Rhizontron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway
At the Treetop Walkway you can see how trees work underground in the Rhizotron, then climb 18 metres high into the tree canopy for a unique birds-eye view of Kew.Palm House
Here at Palm House you can Walk through humid tropical rainforests and discover how dependent we are on the plants that inhabit these parts of the world.Prince of Wales Conservatory
You can take a trip through ten climate zones to see a huge variety of plants, including cacti, ferns, orchids, carnivorous plants, and the famous titan arum.Temperate House
Explore Kew Gradens’ biggest public glasshouse and discover the Chilean wine palm in the centre. It is the world’s tallest indoor plant, reaching up over 16 metres.Kew Gardens Address
Kew Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 3AB
Telephone: 020 8332 5655
Website: http://www.kew.org
Opening Times: Daily 9.30am- 5.30pm (last adm 30 mins before closing)
Admission: £13, concession £12, accompanied under-17s free
Travel: Kew Gardens (Underground Tube Station), Kew Bridge rail
