London: Kew Gardens

We always find it difficult to decide what to do on the day we come back from a break away, especially when you have to drive back home. As a family enjoy National Trust places and there are quite a few on our journey back to the Midlands; however, on this occasion we decided to do something in London before leaving in the afternoon.  As we stayed in Chiswick we were not far from Kew Gardens and having heard so many good things about it we decided to give it ago.  

We brought our tickets the night before online as they were slightly cheaper, and doing my own research found that in the car park can get quite busy.  So we decided to head to Kew for 9.30 as it opened at 10.00am. 

Although we were there 30 minutes too early, we spent this time plane spotting as Kew is in the flight path for planes landing at Heathrow.  This kept Titch and the Husband good until the entrance opened.  As we had pre booked we just needed to scan our tickets from my phone and we were in.  

One thing we did not realise was how big Kew Botanical Gardens is.  There was so much to do that , even though we had been there for 5 hours, we could not fit everything in.  

If you are worried about what there is for kids, Kew is very kid friendly.  After a bit of a walk alongside the waterside path, we came cross 2 areas for kids. 

The first was a log climbing area. The husband and Titch couldn't resist this. Logs from trees and trucks of trees were laid out as an obstacle course that your could walking around - or run, jump and hop like Titch did.  

Next to this there was also a man made badger set, which we all decided to explore. Titch loved exploring the different tunnels and appearing in different places.  We could have definitely spent more time here than we did, but as we had never been before we wanted to explore.  

Along with the gardens outside there are also a few Temperate houses.  These were great to explore and we all loved looking at the different species of plants.  You can even walk up stairs to a veranda that covers the perimeter of the house so that you can view the plants from a different view. 

There is also a tropical house and although extremely humid inside is worth the visit. We loved exploring and examining the different patterns of the leaves in here and we even managed to spot on Iguana that was lay on a branch.  

Do you want to venture up 253 steps? Well we did.  We paid to climb the Great Pagoda to see the spectacular views across London - 18 miles I think.  As we queued up the member of staff advised us to climb to the top straight away and not to stop on any floor, instead to do them as we come back down.  Oh my... we climbed the 253 steps and we were shattered. It was hot and sticky but definitely worth it as it gave a 360 degree view of London around you. Titch was exceptionally happy that he could spot the London landmarks that he had visited or seen in previous days.  

Kew Gardens as so much to explore that we found it hard to decide what to visit.  We did though visit  The Hive - which Kew Gardens describe as ' a unique, multi-sensory experience designed to highlight the extraordinary life of bees.' We were all fascinated. The sounds that you hear inside are stimulated by actual bees in Kew.  
You will also find at Kew, a treetop walk, a play centre for children, Kew House, Cafes and food vans and they are currently building a children's sensory garden. There are plenty of places for a picnic too. 
We had such a wonderful day, and if we loved closer would definitely purchase the yearly pass to visit as we would never get bored.