Kew Gardens tickets
Kew Gardens tickets are best booked online, securing full-day entry to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on a chosen date. This 320-acre UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Richmond area of London holds the world's most diverse collection of living plants, spanning Victorian glasshouses, a treetop walkway, a Georgian royal palace and quiet landscaped gardens.
Book your ticket to visit the Kew Gardens
What can you see at the Royal Botanic Gardens?
A single ticket reaches the Victorian glasshouses, a Georgian royal palace and the highlights below, with seasonal colour across the wider arboretum and gardens:
Palm House
Decimus Burton and Richard Turner designed the Palm House, which ironworkers constructed between 1844 and 1848 using glass and wrought iron. Inside, a regulated microclimate replicates a tropical rainforest ecosystem. The glasshouse shelters palms, cycads, and specimens from threatened environments.
Visitors walk along an elevated platform on the upper level to view the vegetation canopy from above. Beneath the main floor, a basement houses an aquarium containing coral reefs and marine life. The collection includes plant species which scientists study for conservation purposes. The architects utilized engineering techniques from the shipbuilding industry to support the iron frame.
Plan your visit in advance
Opening hours
Kew Gardens opens at 10am every day, and closing times shift with the seasons. Through the winter and early spring the gardens usually close around 6pm, while in the height of summer they stay open later, to about 7pm on weekdays and 8pm at weekends and on bank holidays. Last entry is always one hour before closing. The glasshouses close an hour before the gardens, so the indoor highlights are best seen earlier in the day.
General information for visitors
The size of the site and the range of things to see at one of London’s top attractions reward a little planning before a visit:
- Book online before arriving. Online tickets are tied to a chosen date and speed up entry; seasonal features such as the Orchids festival use timed entry, so they are worth securing early.
- Set aside at least half a day. The gardens cover 320 acres, so comfortable shoes and a rough plan help in reaching the highlights.
- See the glasshouses earlier. The glasshouses and galleries close an hour before the gardens, so leaving them until the end of the day risks missing them.
- Use the Kew Explorer to cover ground. The hop-on, hop-off land train loops past the main sights; tickets are bought on arrival and cannot be reserved in advance.
- Know what the ticket includes. Entry covers the gardens, glasshouses, Treetop Walkway and galleries, plus Kew Palace and its kitchens in season; climbing the Great Pagoda is a separate ticket.
- Leave pets at home. Only recognised guide and assistance dogs are allowed; picnics are welcome on the lawns, though ball games and jogging are not.
- Plan around the seasons. Spring brings blossom and orchids, summer the long herbaceous borders and late evenings, and autumn the colour of the arboretum.
- Check accessibility in advance. Step-free routes and an accessibility map cover much of the site, and designated Blue Badge parking sits near Brentford and Elizabeth Gates.
Is parking free at Kew Gardens?
Parking at Kew Gardens is not free. The gardens have one car park, the Ferry Lane car park beside Brentford Gate, where pay-and-display charges apply and a limited number of spaces can be reserved in advance when booking a ticket. The car park is small and fills early, working on a first-come, first-served basis and unreliable at busy times. Parking is not permitted along Kew Road, and the surrounding residential streets carry tight restrictions, so checking the local council's rules before driving helps. Designated Blue Badge spaces sit near Brentford Gate and beside Elizabeth Gate on Kew Green. Given how limited parking is, most visitors reach Kew by train, Underground, bus or river instead.
How long does it take to visit Kew Gardens?
Most visitors spend three to four hours at Kew Gardens, enough to take in the main glasshouses, the Treetop Walkway and a few of the themed gardens at a relaxed pace. With 320 acres and more than 50,000 plants to explore, keen gardeners and families making a day of it can fill a full day. Half a day is a sensible minimum for a first visit, and the Kew Explorer land train helps cover more ground for those short on time.
