Things to see and do Kew

An exceptional garden. You could easily spend the whole day visiting it, with over 50,000 species of living plants. Every season brings its own surprises, and of course it's at its most beautiful in spring and summer. A Unesco World Heritage Site since 2003, it offers a breathtaking botanical world tour. The palm grove lets you discover tropical and humid environments. The Princess of Wales Conservatory takes you on a discovery of arid zones and all kinds of cacti and succulents. The Mediterranean garden presents all the varieties of plants and flowers found in southern Europe and southern France. The temperate house is another greenhouse, featuring all manner of exotic and tropical plants. Queen Charlotte's cottage recreates a ^17th-century garden at a time when cultivated plants were mainly used for their medicinal virtues. The bamboo garden, the pagoda and the Japanese house are all references to Asia and its exotic plants. And that's not all: there are dozens more places to discover, including a lake, an azalea garden, a rhododendron garden and a rose garden. To the northeast of the garden, Kew Palace rounds off this magnificent excursion in style. And let's not forget the sublime Temperate House, the world's largest Victorian glasshouse, which reopened in 2018 after 5 years of renovation.

This palace was built by Samuel Fortrey in 1631. The building was originally a manor house of moderate proportions, situated opposite the old Kings' Palace. It belonged to the Levett family, who inherited it from King George III. The property remained in the family for a long time, and was rented from time to time to royalty, notably Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales, who was particularly fond of coming to Richmond. George III briefly took up residence here, and had a Gothic palace built. The new palace was still not ready in 1810, and the king's madness forced him to withdraw from public life and leave the palace. His successor did not like the design of the new palace, and had part of the project dismantled and destroyed, moving the staircase, for example, to Buckingham Palace. George III's wife, Queen Charlotte, died at Kew in 1818. Queen Victoria, on her accession to the throne, donated most of the gardens to the nation, retaining only a small summer pavilion for her personal use. The building, restored and reopened in 2006, was used to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday. The history of the building can be retraced inside the palace, which is open to the public. Visit the royal kitchens, unchanged for 200 years, and discover the culinary secrets and gourmet habits of the crowned heads of the ^18th and ^19th centuries... A treat in the heart of sublime Kew Gardens. In April 2020, the 300th anniversary of the death of George III was commemorated here.