Kew Gardens Entrance Ticket

The cafe is a disgraceful expense: eat before you come

The gardens are as ever wonderful. Lots of colour in June and well kept, which keeps me coming back for more time and time again. The cafe is a disgrace and not at all in keeping with the perceived ethos of Kew. The coffee is served in the thickest plastic cups I have come across and it seems a shame. They should be environmentally re-cyclable to fit in with a well thought out sustainability agenda. If Kew can’t do it, how do they expect ordinary citizens to make the right choices for the environment. The sad and distinctly average pains au chocolats were priced at £4.50, easily the most expensive I have come across. I felt ripped off and won’t be eating at Kew again. There’s huge disconnect between Kew the gardens and Kew the cafe and someone in the management team needs to get a grip to restore synergy.

Not as grand as 60 years ago.

Several entrances, short walk from subway station. Lots of roses , but needed they needed care. Lots of manicured plantings and rhododendrons in the wild. There was a green house with several different environments. There is a train that gives an overview of the garden. There is an area that is left in the wild. There are several restaurants. The castle is underwhelming.

A place you must visit

Worth a 4 and a 1/2. Fantastic place for a day out even take a picnic or enjoy the cafes on site. We went as part of a tour but I can imagine spending a full day there and still not seeing everything. We were there for about four hours and only just managed to visit all the glass houses - they were incredible. The 100-year-old Bonsai tree - unbelievable. The outdoor areas unfortunately had either flowered recently or were showing signs of flowering. There's a stunning array of trees in a large expance of grounds. The cafes and shops offered food, drinks, and even plants for sale. We will definitely, be visiting the location again.

Underwhelming

Totally underwhelmed by the gardens Not what I expected No colour at all - lots of green but not the bright vibrant gardens I expected. It’s a vast space and the signage isn’t helpful so you seem to spend much time trying your best to figure of out where you had been already. Cafes overpriced and no staff to assist in the grounds A local park would be as much fun and cheaper

Sunny visit ...

Last visited about 30yrs ago, so while I vaguely remembered the place, it was full of nice surprises this visit. The sun was shining and it was warm, which made a big difference to our day. We followed the map round the whole site and enjoyed every aspect of the diversification of the various gardens and glasshouses. All the team members we encountered were polite and friendly. The exhibitions were interesting and the catering facilities adequate. Lots of benches to sit and watch the world go by. Good toilet provision too.

A feast of colour and shape for the eyes

So much to see at Kew! It was easy to navigate using the map and everywhere we looked and explored was a riot of colours and textures. Staff we spoke to around the plants were all cheerful and knowledgeable. We particularly enjoyed the temperate house, the conservatory and the Hive. Food was good, we ate in the family cafe and there was a fair selection of cold and hot meals and drinks. Finally the shop had a brilliant selection of plants but the plant pots were extortionate! That's really my only criticism of this beautiful place.

Beautiful

Great large estate with landscaped gardens, Victorian conservatories. Tip: use the small train near Victoria Gate (to be paid separately) to visit the gardens. You can then get off wherever you want. Shop where they also sell plants. Recommended for a sunny (or less sunny) day!

Wear comfortable shoes!

Lovely space with great facilities. Recommend 2 days - 1 outside spaces, 1 inside properties/glasshouses Kew explorer train takes you around the site (40 mins) with various hop on / off stops - useful for commentary and a godsend for those with mobility challenges. Lots of eateries, refreshment places and ample places for shade when hot as lots of wooded areas.

Our first visit.

Our first visit to Kew and were pleasantly surprised at the opportunity to visit various enclosures but were blown away by the Princess of Wales greenhouse with a spectacular range of plants from around the world. The grounds and tree top walk were great and we covered a few miles even though it was raining. We will return on a sunny day.

Kew Gardens are Amazing.

Stunning even though the outdoor gardens were just starting to come alive. I went to see the old and very beautiful greenhouses which did not disappoint. Recommend a walk through the gardens mid-week off season. It will feel as if you have the whole place to yourself.

Gardens awesome, Cafe not so much

Kew Gardens are of course wonderful all round. My disappointment was with the cafe food standard vs price. 'Prawn fritters' @ £10.50 turned out to be 3 one-bite size prawn concoction with a slash of mayo across them. Zero else....£10.50. Really. By any standard that is taking the piss! On a semi busy day tables were slow to be cleared, we cleared the debris from ours before we could sit down but even after our food was delivered and server hands were free they didn't take the debris (now on a chair) away with them. I write this as constructive criticism for the cafe so they can improve. I'm not saying don't go to visitors reading this, I'm just hoping Kew read these reviews and act upon them.

Incredibly beautiful!

We walked almost the entire garden. Loved every second of it. Wear comfy shoes and just walk around and enjoy. The Japanese garden was serene. The tropical greenhouse was humid! The kitchen garden was just starting to grow. The roses were a couple of weeks away, but still incredible. LOVED!

A not to be missed experience

Not my first visit to Kew as it is impossible to see everything in one day. However, this visit was blessed with wonderful spring weather and all of the trees in blossom. A great day. Plenty of places to eat and drink and plenty to see and do.. Make sure you are wearing good walking shoes as it does entail a lot of walking.

Take your own food to avoid being ripped-off

The gardens are fabulous. We enjoyed all the zones. However, I suggest you take your own food as the prices in all the food outlets are a total rip-off. And the quality of the food is not that great. And how can a food establishment leave food on open display in a ‘food court’ area, drying out. It’s a disgrace.

Loved it

The gardens were gorgeous. We had tea at the Botanical and it was delicious as well as relaxing. Amazing time!

Loved it

Such a cheap yet stunningly beautiful excursion, so much to see!! Only 9£ for a ticket for hours on hours of sights to see.

Beautiful in spring + jade vines

Cherry blossom season/early spring is the perfect time to visit Kew. Everything is just coming into bloom and are flowering at their most beautiful but everything is in different stages so you have some just flowering and others already in full growth. We were exceptionally fortunate to capture the blossoming jade vines as well which we had never seen before in the Princess of Wales Conservatory which is also my favourite part of Kew - the intermixing of aquatic creatures, different biomes all rolled into one makes it a really fun and interactive conservatory to go to, and is a lot more modern than some of the others.

Fabulous place if you love plants.

Kew is an amazing place to visit if you love plants. The glass houses, gardens, trees and especially their Pinetum are all fabulous. There’s so much to see, and if you take the time to read the signs to explain about the plants in the glass houses, there’s loads to learn too. Just a word of warning - the food and drinks are way overpriced, and I advise you take a picnic. £6.85 for two slices of white bread, a thin slice of ham and a slither of cheese. It was a small sandwich too. And cakes costing £4.50 or more for a tiny slice. What a rip-off. Don’t pay the extortionate prices - take your own. If you follow this advice you’ll have a great day.

I fell in love with Kew!!

My first visit. Absolutely fell in love with the place!! Came primarily for the Orchid Festival (was originally due to come in 2020, say no more!!) What a STUNNING place, even in February!! Wow. I spent a day and a half here but still didn't see everything properly, some things are also closed this time of year. I have mobility difficulties but still managed a slow wander around. Couldn't get up the stairs in the Palm or Temperate Houses which was disappointing, but I was so glad to find everything else easily accessible. I will definitely be back. There is SO much to see!!

Orchid festival

Lovely and helpful staff! Visited this year's Orchid Festival inside Princess of Wales conservatory. This year’s plants are from Madagascar. Make sure to see the movie as well inside by the tiny shop.

Disgusting customer service

I absolutely do not recommend visiting Kew Gardens unless you want the employees to treat you like sh*t on their shoes. Have not experienced such dire customer services in years I was thoroughly surprised. Do not give them a penny of your money, none of it is worth it. Waste of time and money.

Inflated prices and event not available

We paid £49 for two tickets and we couldn't attend the event Orchids Festival because there were no places left. Given that prices were higher because of this event, they should have made it more clear when we booked our tickets (we wouldn't have bought them if we had known it in advance). They speculated on the event raising the price for standard admission which is unfair practice. The rest of the park isn't worth that price in this season. We won't come back.

Take your walking legs

I went to Kew with my daughter and grandchildren. On the whole we had a great day even though it was a rainy cold day. I have just one complaint. I need a gluten free diet. At lunchtime I had a delicious butternut squash curry which I and my daughter really enjoyed. Later in the afternoon we decided to stop for coffee and cake..there was no GF option, I was told there had been but they had sold out. There wasn’t even a GF ready wrapped biscuit. Poor show I’m afraid and the chocolate muffins that my GC had were dry and hard..shame

Family visit to Kew

Good day out with a teen and a 10 and 6 year old. Reasonable prices, and car park was good, right next to the entrance. The site is large, so use your map to plan your day. Good children's area and the food is not overpriced for the venue. Would happily go back again

Overall pleasant, but won’t rush back

Nice walk around and loved the greenhouse. Only negative was the coffee and cake - coffee far too hot and lemon cake had come out the fridge and was very unpleasant, and definitely not worth £4.50 a slice

Lacklustre orchid exhibition

No parking since government put in place a cycle lane along the perimeter so not easy to get to. Orchid exhibition lack lustre this year. Food overpriced.

Heaven on Earth

Keep Gardens was the first place I visited at a jet lagged child visiting London from Australia and I’ve returned every trip since. We arrived just in time for the last entry, but we still had plenty of time to see the stunning gardens. We missed out on some of the indoor areas as they closed earlier, but we have seen them before. The gardens were quiet and peaceful. We had a day entry ticket before returning around an hour and a half after closing for Christmas at Kew.

Great day out

Wow. Not our first visit but really quite an amazing place, especially the glasshouses and the orchid display. Not cheap, but worth the price of the entrance ticket for sure. Be sure to climb the upper levels.

Terrible experience

What a load of crap this day was. Don’t be fooled by the tour of the grounds in a train cart thing, it’s cramped and overpriced, as are the restaurants and cafe’s - seriously can’t believe we spent the best part of £50 to look around a massive garden. Absolute ripoff, would have a better time waking round St James or Hyde Park for free. Won’t be coming back again!!

This kind of place heals your mind and lights your soul.

We are very lucky to live nearby and often go to Kew Gardens. It's an amazing place whether you want to visit with your family and children or just by yourself. This kind of place heals your mind and lights your soul.

Expensive and disappointing

We have been to Kew many times over the years and have seen a steady decline in quality and value for money. The orchid festival used to be a spectacular event with orchids covering every surface of the conservatory. This year was a much poorer experience, what there was wasn't awful just inferior to previous. The catering has become odd. There used to be an accessible restaurant near the temperate house which was good for families. A mix of light meals, salads, cakes etc. now there is the pavilion bar and grill. This offers more selective meals at a hugely inflated price. £18 buys you a burger meal, ok you might think that's London prices and, if it's good, you'll accept that and move on. What came out was a small burger that wasn't very tasty with some cheese and the usual toppings. All of which could have come from the local budget supermarket. McDonald's would be embarrassed to serve it. Plus about 12 chips in a small bowl. Honestly, i thought that they had given us children's meals by mistake. The moral of the story is don't come without a picnic unless you want to be poorer and disappointed.

Extortionately Expensive

Outrageously expensive! Especially the cafe which offers a small selection of junk food at extortionate prices. A family day out cost about £160!

Pleasant day, despite the weather although surprised Feb is classed s peak for admission prices

Never been to kew before and we were staying near Heathrow to meet up with a friend for a dinner so decided to spend the morning and afternoon at kew. Weather wasn't the best and obviously with the time of year a lot of the plants weren't at there best. Despite the the weather enjoyed walking round, bit disappointed the hive wasn't accessible due to the conditions, and the treetop walk would be much more impressive if the surrounding trees had been green. Would be nice maybe if the off peak period was slightly extrnded as there were quite a few things not open like the japanese house and the pagoda.

Kew Gardens - a joy to visit, and fascinating too

After an absence of 2 years, it was just lovely to visit Kew Gardens again. We spent most of our time there, strolling around the gardens, covering over half of the area in a couple of hours, at a leisuely pace, reading every information board, (a must!). Then an equally-relaxed 45min in the massive Temperate House, including ascending the wrought-iron spiral staircase, to walk at tree-top height, looking down on the fabulous collections of plants. Again, I just love ready every information board, sign, etc. These explain some of Kew's efforts to conserve and protect rare or endangered species. (More signeage please!) A light lunch of coffee and sandwiches in the main cafe, and a visit to the huge gift shop, just in from the main entrance. Excellent access throughout, decent toilets, wonderful staff - and of course amazing plants, shrubs, trees, wild areas, conservation stories, and so much more. Just wonderful. Great value too!

Terrible options for dietary requirements

Kew gardens will ALWAYS get 5* from me. As a horticulturalist and biologist you really can't beat it! HOWEVER they need to do some serious work on their food offerings. Not only are NO allergens listed (unless you queue and ask at the tills), the offerings for coeliacs are limited to an overpriced salad, which consisted of 5 slices of essentially raw butternut squash, with nothing else. It cost £8.50. This was disappointing as we would have loved to stay longer, but had to leave early to find appropriate food.

A magical place

Kew Gardens is the perfect day out. The various Glass Houses are spectacular, the Treetop Walk is a very special experience with breathtaking views. Whatever time of year you visit the trees, plants and wildlife are so uplifting, you may even spot a peacock ( they wonder around the gardens ). Lovely onsite restaurants and cafe’s, vegetarian and plant based options. Free gallery entrance to current exhibitions. Spring is my favourite time to visit. It’s a very healing place and you will leave uplifted and relaxed buy its beauty and calmness.

Overpriced, poor experience

Considering the cost of the ticket and the prices associated with travelling to Kew Gardens from outside of London, it was disappointing to find many parts of the gardens closed, and furthermore to be treated disdainfully by rude staff. Not worth the price of the ticket and a very disappointing experience.

Beautiful Botanic Gardens

Many visits to London, but never made it to Kew Gardens, so this trip it was on the bucket list. It really is an amazing place. I was a little disappointed that there weren't more "flower" gardens, because I always associate England with beautiful flower beds and hanging baskets. The peace was somewhat impeded by the planes coming in to land overhead, the park like surroundings and airports doesn't seem right. The tree top walkway was enjoyable, as was the waterlily Houes. it was nice being able to walk around Kew palace and learn more of the history.

Incredible ,stunning 🌹🌺🌷🌻🌼💐🪷

The flowers… everything was stunning ,we go all the time, we go to see Kew at Christmas every year and it is more magical every year!

Amazing evening.

We went to Kew on Thursday with two adult children and their partners. We haven't been to the lights trail for several years as we now live further away, but I am so glad we went ! It has always been worth seeing, but they have really upped their game. It was longer and more varied than I remember with beautiful, colourful displays, all different, round every bend of the walk, lots of food options and a small fairground. The experience finishes on a high with the wonderful display of holograms, laser beams and dancing fountains in front of the palm house above the lake. It is also incredibly well organised with no long queues for anything. We were all so impressed. The only thing that could have been better was the weather . The paths were flooding ankle deep, and it poured with heavy rain continuously. Nothing beats flying round on a carousel in a rain storm !!

Christmas at Kew’s

I absolutely love Kew Gardens all year round but at Christmas it is magical! So much thought goes into the displays and they are all so emotive with the accompanying music. The only downside for me was the lack of vegan food. I must say last year I felt let down by the food too- the quality of the buffet was very poor. But this wouldn’t put me off the overall experience. Thank you Kew 🫶🏻

Lovely gardens, good playground for kids

Really lovely gardens, they have a really cool park section for kids too. Just dropping a star as price is quite expensive and the food options are also expensive and not the best.. so bring a packed lunch! And definitely visit the Princess of Wales greenhouse.

During winter the gardens...

During winter the gardens are particularly stark. While there are things to do the bulk of the gardens are not in bloom. the hot houses are good, the kid's area is great for the kids, not necessarily for the adults.

A visit of contrast

Christmas at Kew was an evening of contrast! On one hand we had the excellent light display on a clear and crisp winters evening , and on the other hand we had massively overpriced sub standard food served by rude and uninterested teenage staff. The Christmas trail was excellent and the fountain display was fantastic, lots of thought and planning has gone into this display and I was very impressed with it. However the “ family Kitchen “ is clearly a cash grab designed to fleece the weary walker of any remaining funds in their bank account. A small thin crust pizza £15 for what was in essence cheese on toast was shameful and the hog roast baguette was the worst I have experienced, low quality meat in a stale baguette - prices are horrendous The staff in the family kitchen are disinterested and very young with little to no supervision, they lack any customer service skills whatsoever! To sum up - fantastic display on the Christmas trail , awful quality food sold at a horrendously expensive price. Go for the lights and leave before the food.

over priced and not visitor friendly...especially for families with young children...most of whom were screaming.

Very disappointing. The welfare of the visitors was not considered. Queuing in the pouring rain, walking round with very few places to shelter. Very little choice of food..mainly alcohol. There should be food at the entrances..especially Elizabeth Gate which is badly lit and sign posted. There should be signs at underground and bus stops. Shop was the only welcoming place ...wonder why? At the exits, why is there no information for folks to walk to buses/tubes? If you want to experience London at Christmas, stay in town. Hammersmith shopping centre had more christmas lights. Why aren't tree species that were illuminated, identified? Why no leaflet for visitors?

Disappointed

I heard this is the best xmas light experience. It really isnt Way to many people it was a constant flow of people with no room to move . You couldn't stop to take photos as someone will bash into you. I wouldnt say the lights where amazing and i normally love lights. It may of been different if there wasnt so many people. We went at 6.30pm sun night. Food was overpriced but that's what you will expect at places like this.took 2hrs to walk round as there was to many people

Amazing gardens, poor cafe.

We had a great time in these wonderful gardens. It’s a real gem of a place and well worth a visit. The only let down was the food. We had sandwiches and sausage rolls/spinach rolls from the cafe near the entrance. All a bit poor and tasteless. Cafe seemed chaotic and we had to ask several times for the food we’d ordered and paid for. Very disappointing.

Communing with Nature - visiting old friends.

I could well be prejudiced as I'm a long time Kew member and have been visiting since it was 3d (old British pennies) to get in and I was in short trousers. It has somewhat changed in that it always has been (and trust always will be) Great Britain's foremost Botanical Institution - the primary place for the science of plants. The Royal Botanic Society has been at the heart of plant research and understanding forever and that work continues with such things as genetic fathoming involved in PAFTOL (Google that) and practical stuff like helping to ensure that we still have big yellow bananas to eat. Changes that I've seen are more to do with visitor numbers - some of these I feel are rather naff! But at the same time, I have to bear in mind that I'm getting - no, have already become - a whinging senior citizen. Kew has to compete for visitors with a great many alternatives and I do realise that wandering around a 300 acre park with 14,000 trees isn't everyone's idea of fun - especially when you can't climb any of them! However; there is now a burgeoning number of young mums visiting the wonderful children's area (use the Brentford Ferry gate ) there's also an indoor playroom and cafe that's open most of the time. Kew has a great website where you can check what's open and when - also the things to see - special displays in the glasshouses or plants in flower. Unless you are on a mere attraction box ticking trip - allow at least FOUR HOURS inside the gates - this will allow even slow walkers to amble around a good selection of features. If you know nothing about plants or Botany - there are some very good information boards written in accessible language - please do read a few. Remember parking at any time around Kew is fraught with difficulty - meters and ULEZ everywhere. DON'T MOAN about the entrance fee - just be satisfied that it's going to a good cause - Kew has to stand on its own roots! Trains young botanists and sponsors world class science. Also DON'T MOAN about the catering - it's expensive - as are ALL attractions - grin and bear it or bring your own sarnies and remember to take yer trash home! Remember also that Kew now has another garden - Wakehurst Place with another amazing collection of mature trees - well worth a trip out beyond Gatwick.

Treetop walk shut again

I’ve only ever managed to see the treetop walkway once because it’s always shut! This time you can see about 10 metres of it and all the rest blocked by electrical equipment. This presumably for weeks and weeks since it is because of the light show, which doesn’t even start for a fortnight. Everything indoors was either never open or shut early too - at best 3:30pm but some as early as 2:30pm, even though it was a busy weekend day. Kew is now a light show attraction with grudging daytime opening, and none of the closures are made clear on admission or on the map. The priority, year round and certainly in autumn, should be allowing visitors to see actual plants and trees. It’s sad because this is exactly when the treetop view is at its best.

Great day out

It is many years since we visited Kew, so it was almost like a first visit. We met our friends in the quiet cafe near the entrance before spending 2-3 hours wandering around the various gardens and glasshouses. There is so much to see that you could easily spend a full day here. Plenty of places to eat and rest with facilities.