Kew Gardens, London’s botanic gardens, were first on radar last holiday season during Christmas at Kew. On a Sunday afternoon in late November, I ventured out to Chiswick with a few friends for brunch, cocktails and then a night enjoying Christmas lights and cheer at Kew.
I’ll share more about that experience when I post my favourite things to do in London over the holidays later this year, but let’s just say I was hooked on Kew- it was beautiful.
So, in early March, when I was in West London and someone close to me suggested I head over to Kew for a few hours to check out the orchid festival, I knew it’d be good.
Kew Gardens used to be the private playground of the royal family, but was transformed into a botanical garden in the 1840s. Now, Kew is home to over 30,000 plants spread across lawns, greenhouses and flower beds- it’s the largest and most diverse collection of living plants anywhere in the world.
Each year, Kew puts on an orchid festival. For this year’s festival, the Princess of Wales Conservatory was taken over by 1,100 species of orchids representative of Thailand.
The festival was incredible, a vibrant celebration of Thailand’s culture and plant life.
And, a terrific way to beat the winter blues.
Sadly, the orchid festival is over for the year but knowing Kew, they’ll be back with some more great events soon. The best part: Kew is easy to get to from central London- a short tube ride takes you a ~10 minute walk from the entrance.
If you’ve visited London, what are your favourite things to do, outside of the touristy norms?
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