MARCH 2020
First of all: I am probably going to have to cancel my upcoming travel plans because of the Corona virus. I had some small trips planned and Hielke and I also booked tickets to go to Uzbekistan, but we had to cancel that holiday. Luckily we were treated very kindly by Turkish Airlines! I still have some upcoming blogs regarding previous trips, so for the next weeks there will still be blogs, but after that it will become difficult… I am already having a difficult time staying at home and let’s see how that progresses in the next couple of weeks… I hope everybody stays safe in the current crisis!
I discovered the Royal Botanic Kew Gardens as they popped up on my Instagram feed with their Christmas lights show in 2018 and ever since I have wanted to go to Kew. When we visited London in February I didn’t expect this to be a good timing to visit Kew, however I was very wrong. From February – Half March Kew hosts the Orchid Festival in one of the glasshouses, which offered much added value to our visit in winter time. As Kew has three large glasshouses, it is possible to visit the gardens year-round. Of course there are more flowers once you visit in spring or summertime, but the greenhouses are more quiet during the wintertime, which came in handy when taking pictures.
Practical information
The Royal Botanic Kew Gardens are open year-round and tickets cost £ 16,50 for adults. With this entrance fee you support the maintenance of the beautiful gardens but you also support the research that Kew does.
The Kew Gardens are located in the west part of the city and are easily accessible with public transport via the train station Kew Gardens. Kew has two restaurants, one where you can have a quick sandwich and one where you can have a full sit-down meal. However when you visit in summertime it is best to bring your picnic gear, as there are some spaces where you are allowed to have a picnic.
Always make sure to check the official website of Kew before your visit, Kew often has special exhibitions for which you sometimes need to reserve a timeslot or need to buy an additional ticket (Kew Christmas Lights). You don’t want to miss out on these special exhibitions, so make sure to prepare!
Orchid Festival
When we visited in February the Orchid Festival was being held in the Princess of Wales Conservatory. For 1,5 months Kew has displays with orchids representing the nature of Indonesia. Besides flower installations, Kew also built a volcano and displays of animals. Orchids might not sound like the most interesting flowers, but Kew had a lovely colorful collection, which even featured flesh-eating plants… Overall, we were very impressed by how stunning the displays were. To visit the Orchid Festival you need to reserve a timeslot via the official website, but we visited during the weekdays and were lucky to get in without a reservation. Apparently, these special exhibitions can sell out weeks in advance, so make sure you arrange everything timely for your Kew visit.
The greenhouses
I personally think the greenhouses are the absolute showpiece of Kew Gardens. Kew has three large greenhouses of which the Palm House was my favorite. The Palm House is the first greenhouse that you see when you enter Kew via the main entrance. It’s a stunning piece of architecture that is filled with super high palms and other plants. The inside of the greenhouse is a bit run down at some points, but I think that only adds charm. The Palm House was built in the 1840’s and the fact that it has withstood the test of time for this long is super special. This greenhouse features two large spiral staircases and luckily I was able to do a quick twirl on this special location. The Palm House obviously was quiet warm and humid, so make sure you dress appropriately.
The Temperate house re-opened in 2018 and is more modern than the Palm House. It is absolutely massive and it is a lot of fun to walk around, even though I favored the old look of the Palm House. The third greenhouse is the Princess of Wales Conservatory, as discussed in the paragraph about the Orchid Festival. The combination of these greenhouses makes that Kew offers an amazing variety of plants, like I have never seen before in a botanical garden. Amsterdam eat your heart out 😉 I also found the botanic gardens very accessible, as in Vienna you are not allowed to take the spiral staircase up into the greenhouse of the botanical garden.
Blossoms & gardens
When we visited some trees just started to blossom, so I couldn’t hide my excitement and walked around all day with a big smile on my face 🙂 I can imagine the gardens being even more lovely in spring, but I was super happy spotting cherry blossoms, magnolias, daffodils, snowdrops and crocuses. The gardens were incredibly well maintained, even though a storm had just passed England, so you knew very well where you were paying for.
Museums
Kew also features two little museums: The Marianne North Gallery and the Economic Botany Collection. I was pleasantly surprised by the collections of these museums. Marianne North was a pioneer in botanical art, she traveled the world in the 19th Century and created an extensive collection of artworks of plants and landscapes. Her artworks are incredibly detailed as well as artsy and I love the way they are presented (two rooms are fully “wallpapered” with her works). Unfortunately I was not allowed to take pictures in the Marianne North Gallery, but I would absolutely recommend walking in.
The Economic Botany Collection was really pretty as well, I can remember that botany painting was really popular during my youth and walking around the museum was like a blast from the past!
