Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 3AB
England
Website
Telephone
24 hour information line
020 8332 5655
Fax
020 8332 5197
Explore glasshouses, landscapes and 250 years of history at the world's most famous garden. Climb to the treetops on the Xstrata Treetop Walkway, delve into rainforest inside the iconic Palm House or discover more on a guided tour.
Venue Type:
Science centre, Environmental or ecological centre, Garden, parklands or rural site, Heritage site
Additional info
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is spread over 132 hectares of landscaped gardens and attract over one million visitors per year. Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and represents over 250 years of historical landscape. The site houses over 40 listed buildings and other structures including the Palm House, Temperate House, Orangery and Pagoda as well as two ancient monuments, Queen Charlotte's Cottage and Kew Palace. RBG, Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world.
Children: Children visiting the Royal Botanic Gardens are now able to learn about plants through play in a unique interactive learning area, Climbers and Creepers.
Parking: Three dedicated parking bays are available for disabled drivers near the Main Gate. There are also several spaces in our car park right next to the Brentford Gate which are free of charge throughout the year for disabled drivers. Parking on Kew Road (A307) provides easy access to Victoria Gate (restricted before 10am).
Large-print map: A large-print map, produced with the advice of the RNIB, is available at Ticket Offices and at the Victoria Plaza Information Desk.
Wheelchairs: These can be borrowed free of charge from all the entry gates and can be booked in advanced for Mondays to Fridays (tel: 020 8332 5121). Due to high demand at weekends and Bank Holidays we do not accept prior bookings, but on a first come first served basis. Attendants to push wheelchairs around the gardens are not available. Owners' electric wheelchairs of the type permitted by the Disabled Persons Act 1970 are allowed into the gardens for use on the footpaths.
Access: The footpaths and the majority of buildings in the Gardens are suitable for wheelchairs. There is, however, no wheelchair access to the Marine Display in the Palm House basement.
Toilet facilities: There are a number of disabled toilets within easy reach of all the main attractions and gates. These are indicated in the Discover Kew map (provided on arrival).
Collection details
Archives, Natural Sciences
Key artists and exhibits
- Plants & seeds
- Botanical specimens, herbarium seed collections and mycological specimens
- Economic botany collections
- Glasshouses
- Marianne North and the Marianne North Gallery
- Cambridge Cottage and Kew Gardens Gallery
Get Inspired, Grow Your Own...
Visitors can admire the work of the students from the school of horticulture and get inspired to go home and get planting themselves. Students and apprentices will encourage visitors to grow their own by offering advice about seed sowing, transplanting and demonstrated techniques to get the most out of your vegetables. Students will also answer any questions that visitors may have
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£12.50-£16 (free for under-16s). Every Saturday and Sunday, 11am-4pm
IncrEdibles at Kew Gardens
Take a ride on the Tutti Frutti Boating Experience with Bompas & Parr and enter the secret banana grotto, beneath Pineapple Island!Take a ride on the Tutti Frutti at Kew Gardens this summer
See food differently with ‘architectural foodsmiths’ Bompas & Parr
This summer, Bompas & Parr are transforming Kew's Palm House Pond into a giant fruit salad boating lake and participatory artwork, featuring a magnificent floating pineapple at the centre!
Hire one of our unique Tutti Frutti boats and cross the pond to reach Pineapple Island. Enter the secret banana grotto beneath.
If boating isn't your thing, stroll over the Tutti Frutti walkway and explore Pineapple Island. Watch small rowing boats drift lazily past you - each one uniquely decorated.
This surprising installation explores the experiential possibilities of edible fruit and inspires you to think again about the food you eat every day. Pineapple Island is also symbol of Kew's extensive bromeliad collection.
Suitable for
Admission
A limited number of boating tickets will be available from the lakeside kiosk. We strongly recommend that you buy boating tickets online before your visit, to avoid disappointment.
How much does it cost to hire a boat? - £4.50 adults, £2.50 children (16 and under). Tickets must be purchased in addition to Garden admission
A Voyage through Surprising Edible Plants
This festival will showcase the sheer number of edible plants growing in the Gardens. Visitors will be inspired to broaden their relationship with what they eat by taking part in or observing the banquet of offerings that make up this fantastic festival
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£12.50-£16 (free for under-16s)
Global Kitchen Garden
Explore the stunning kitchen garden which features over 90 edible plants from every corner of the globe. Discover where some of our best loved food plants have travelled from and meet some of our more obscure incredible edibles!
Suitable for
Admission
Free with admission
Horticultural Appetisers
Plant Family Beds, Grass Garden, and Princess of Wales Conservatory - The area that today contains the Plant Family Beds was originally a kitchen garden, supplying fruit and vegetables to the royal family. For the festival, Kew is once again highlighting the importance of these food families, which are arranged according to their relationships with one another
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£12.50-£16 (free for under-16s)
Rose Garden Tea Party
Visitors are invited to Kew's tea party, where a huge variety of different edible plants will grow out of plates, goblets, dishes, jugs and platters. Interactive riddles will give visitors the chance to guess what ingredients are needed to go into your favourite treats
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£12.50-£16 (free for under-16s)
Rose Garden Tea Party
Come to Kew’s tea party! See a huge variety of different edible plants, growing out of beautiful plates, goblets, dishes, jugs and platters. Tease your brain with the interactive riddles, and see if you can guess which ingredients go into your favourite treats...
Suitable for
Admission
Free with admission
The Global Kitchen Garden
The Global Kitchen Garden, situated on the Great Lawn opposite Kew Palace, will feature more than 90 edible plants from every corner of the globe. Two semi-circular inner beds will be dedicated to herbs while five outer beds will represent different regions of the world including South America, West Asia and Europe. Grapes, pomegranate and olive trees will be planted in a circular design, and beautiful arches planted with climbers will make this a stunning space to explore
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£12.50-£16 (free for under-16s)
The Picnic Garden
Feeling fatigued from all that globe-trotting? Next to the Global Edible Garden, visitors can relax on a bench under a hop umbrella, after picking up their picnics from one of Kew’s onsite restaurants. Five steel planters will be placed in the garden and hold the ingredients for your favourite summer drink
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£12.50-£16 (free for under-16s)
Palm House: The Tropical Larder
Home to 60 edible plants, visitors will stumble into a tropical larder, with volunteer guides on hand at weekends (11am -2pm) to hold sessions looking at just how many of the everyday foods we eat have their roots in the rainforest. They can uncover the plants' fascinating historical and cultural histories, and learn about how their survival is protected by vital conservation work around the world, a large amount of which is carried out by Kew Scientists and their partners
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£12.50-£16 (free for under-16s)
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