Family Day Out In London: Kew Gardens

For Fathers day, yes I did mean to say Fathers day, I'm aware this was forever ago (you are now aware of how backlogged some of my posts are) but with a birthday and a nasty virus since then a small unintentional break has meant a slight delay in content. Nonetheless, todays post is about our day at Kew Gardens and why I think this London hotspot is perfect for keeping everyone happy and entertained.

The usual question crossed my mind on the run up to any celebrations orientated around my dad, what on earth am I going to get? With the normal response of 'I don't want anything' can only have so many outcomes. The poor guy has an endless supply of socks, aftershave and gimmick tee's to last him so this year my sister and I opted for an experience. Both of my parents are fond gardeners, my dad in particular since retiring has taken up the interest since starting his own little vegetable patch a few years ago. We had a very good season of courgettes and he was so happy we had them for dinner almost every night until we were all fed up and ran out of ways to make them taste any different. Anyway, I'm getting slightly off topic but where better in London to go than Kew, a World Heritage site. Although my Dad had been before it was a while back and the rest of us had never visited before, so was all completely new and exciting for us.

Kew has a collection of living plants and fungi which is the largest and most diverse in the world, making this a truly special place in the middle of this busy city. The beauty of what they do is to understand, value and conserve what this world has to offer all in one magical place. With iconic glasshouses, historic buildings, formal gardens, arboretum, water features and art galleries there is much more than you would expect to explore.

We managed to see the following attractions on our visit:

The Hive is a calming space designed as a multi-sensory experience to highlight the extraordinary life of bees. With a gentle hum, beautiful setting of the wildflower meadow below and the metal caged structure a few people used this spot to meditate. It stands 17 metres tall and walking up the winding steps to the clear platform had to be one of the most peaceful moments. To get there we walked along the Great Broad Walk which has the longest double herbaceous border in the country, stretching an impressive 320 metres. For 360 views right across London you must go to the Treetop Walkway which is 18 metres above the woodland floor. Designed by Marks Barfield architects, who also created the London Eye this allows you to see Kew's beauty from another angle. One of Kew's most recognisable buildings is the Palm House. The victorian glasshouse has a rainforest climate which supports everything from palms to other tropical plants...Probably wasn't the best place to be on the hottest day this year so far. One of the first places we stopped off at was the Japanese Landscape a highly manicured garden created to complement the Chokushi-Mon (Japanese Gateway). The Rock Garden features a wide range of species, mostly containing mountain plants. The waterfall feature there makes that section a worthwhile trip.

The earth laughs in flowers.

With tickets priced at £14.00 for an adult I certainly can vouch that this is somewhere you have to visit. I believe that Kew offers something for everyone to have a good time. My family and I left with cheshire smiles after spending some quality time together there. Give the banana ice cream a try too, it was so yummy!