Royal Botanical Kew Gardens.
That morning when I woke up, the weather was so hot, I certainly didn’t want to spend it in the city. And Royal Botanical Kew Gardens was a good option for a city escape.
Royal Botanical Gardens, are less than an hour’s ride from home, in Richmond. It is well connected by the tube and by train.
Upon our arrival at the Kew Gardens tube station, we stopped for a coffee and for a matcha opera cake at a really cute place just outside the station called Neighbourhood Café Yukari.
When we arrived at Kew Gardens. the line was so big we had to wait for 40 minutes before we get in. The admission ticket was 17 pounds per adult and we were given a map of the Botanical Gardens with the highlights. It was extremely hot that day, so walking under the sun wasn’t making it any easy.
But it was worth it. With 132 hectares of amazing landscapes (it’s London’s largest UNESCO World Heritage Site) and home to the world’s most diverse collection of flora species and plants, it certainly is worth it. For a person that hardly recognises the names of the trees and the plants, I was impressed by the signposting. Every plant and flower had a small plate with the name on it. Everything. Even the trees around the Gardens! Everything is unique!
The first highlight we visited was the Temperate House -the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse- which had been shut for refurbishment and it was just the previous day that had opened to the public again. It houses some of the world’s rarest temperate zone plants, and while we were there, all of a sudden, a choir which had already being gathered in the centre started performing. It was so beautiful! ♥
After the Temperate House, we went towards the Chinese Great Pagoda, a ten-storey octagonal tower visible by far. By the time we were visiting it was closed for restoration, but this summer it will reopen to the public. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to take a good picture.
Very close to the Pagoda, is the Japanese Gateway which consists of three garden areas: Garden of Peace, Garden of Activity and Garden of Harmony.
After this beautiful garden, we walked towards Treetop Walkway. And we thought it would be fun to walk through it. It’s 18 meters above the ground and 200 meters long. The whole structure was moving, making me very uncomfortable. At least the view was breathtaking!
Then we visited the Sackler Crossing, Kew’s main lake in the Arboretum. A very beautiful walking bridge and a lake, which is inhabited by wildlife such as the red-crested pochard, tufted duck, widgeon and mandarin duck. The area is planned to provide different sceneries across the year throughout the colours of the plants and the species which are emphasised by the reflections in the lake. We sat on a bench to rest and admire the really beautiful scenery.
We then visited the Bamboo Garden and Minka House. Mink House is a Japanese traditional farmhouse.
It’s so beautiful how all these places in the Gardens are so unique and yet so harmonic with each other.
Time passed so quickly we started getting hungry so we tried to find our way to the restaurant. We passed through the beautiful Azalea Garden and Magnolias before we made a stop to eat at the White Peaks Café. We ordered a baguette sandwich, a salad, a coke and two cakes for a dessert. I found the prices expensive compared to the quality so next time -weather permitting – will do picnic!
Even though we didn’t get to experience the Hive, we took pictures of it. The Hive is an open-air installation aluminium structure. A unique, multi-sensory experience that is designed to highlight the extraordinary life of bees.
Palm House, is one of the world’s most iconic Victorian glasshouses. Full of tropical plants, it recreates a rainforest climate. It felt like a jungle to me! I really enjoyed it along with the Princess of Wales Conservatory which has plants from 10 different climate zones.
Last but not least, we visited the Waterlily House. It houses the giant Amazon waterlilies and it’s really impressive. It’s by far the hottest place and most humid I have ever visited – but it is worth it!
Overall, Kew Gardens is a unique experience. I got to see great greenhouses, beautiful landscapes that house over 14,000 trees some of them ancient, over 2.000 specimens, tropical plants… rare plants… all in one unique relaxing place!
Until next time ♥
