I had been looking forward to going to Kew Royal Botanic Gardens since we got here. We went to Oxford’s last February and, even though it was pretty, I had to confront the undeniable fact that botanic gardens may look nicer in Spring. So earlier this month, we decided to treat ourselves with a nice day outside; it was such a great idea that basically every person in London had the same one… Good thing it is HUGE.
Picture by Gonzalo Mellado
No joke: we were there for almost seven hours and we could only see the half of it. Plus, the Gardens were celebrating the reopening of the Temperate House (the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world) and we completely lost track of time in there, not only watching all those amazing trees and flowers, but also reading about how all of them got to Kew and the great people who made it possible.
Picture by Gonzalo Mellado
Although the variety of plants is a good enough reason to go, I was very surprised by the buildings and the activities there: if you like Asian gardens, you can see the Great Pagoda and the Japanese gateway; if you want to have another perspective you can go to the treetop walkaway (scary but cool, just as it sounds); for Classical culture fans, there are some temples you may want to check out. If I had to pick some favourite parts of the garden, I would say the rock garden and the waterlilies, not to mention the view of the Palmtree from outside.
Picture by Gonzalo Mellado
I wish I had done more sketches, but I guess that gives me an excuse to come back. If you want to go, I would advise you to save the whole day for this. The ticket is a bit pricey (£16 more or less) but it worths every penny.
