London · Richmond · UNESCO World Heritage Site
Kew Gardens: tickets, opening times and visit guide
Victorian glasshouses, a walkway among the treetops and a garden that changes with every season. Pick your ticket and plan the day.
Today
Opening hours for every month are on the Opening hours page.
Checked against the official website on 31 October 2026 · Official source
In short
- The Kew Gardens entry ticket covers the gardens, Kew Palace and the permanent exhibitions, with a map and a guide to the highlights of the season. You choose the day, the ticket arrives on your phone straight away, and you simply walk in.
- The gardens open at 10:00. Closing time follows the seasons, from 15:15 on winter afternoons to 19:00 in summer, and last entry is about an hour before closing. They are closed on 24 and 25 December.
- Kew Palace is part of the ticket, but it is closed in winter. The Kew Explorer land train and the Orchids After Hours evenings are not included.
- Short on time? The entry ticket is all you need. Want to add London? Choose the Kensington Palace combination or the Westminster walking tour.
The Palm House: a rainforest under a glass hull
The Palm House is the building everyone remembers. It was built between 1844 and 1848 by Decimus Burton and Richard Turner, and it was the first large-scale use of wrought iron in a glasshouse. Inside, tall palms push up against the curved roof, and the air is warm and wet the moment you step through the door.
On a cold day it is a good first stop. You warm up before you walk on.
The Temperate House: palms and tree ferns on a grand scale
The Temperate House was commissioned in 1859 and has twice the floor area of the Palm House. It reopened in May 2018 after a long restoration, and a paved path now leads you between palms and tree ferns under the glass.
Walk the whole path slowly. You pass plants from many corners of the world, and the light changes with the clouds.
The Princess of Wales Conservatory: ten climates in one building
Diana, Princess of Wales, opened the conservatory in 1987. A computer controls ten separate climate zones, so you go from dry desert to humid tropical air in a few steps.
The Treetop Walkway: the gardens from the height of the branches
The Treetop Walkway opened in 2008. It runs for 200 metres, 18 metres above the ground, on supports that rise among the trees. From up there you look straight into the canopy.
In summer it is open from 10:00 to 18:00, with last entry at 17:45. Choose a dry, clear day, because the view is the whole point.