Visiting Kew Gardens with a baby

A few years ago, before I’d thought much about starting my own family, I remember wandering around Kew Gardens and noticing that almost everyone seemed to be pregnant or have kids. Sadly they don’t hand out free entry with child benefit but if seemed only appropriate that I should revisit with Minnie and discover just what it was like at Kew Gardens with a baby.

Some friends of ours are ‘friends’ of Kew which entitles them to free guest passes – although the system has since changed so only immediate family can use them. Before that happened, they invited us along to make the most of it.

On the only sunny day of the bank holiday weekend, Minnie and I, plus my ever willing driving husband met them, armed with picnic rug – and they brought the provisions.

I’d already warned them that we might not be able to stay too long, despite our previous successes at venturing out, still wary of just what we could achieve with a baby of less than six weeks old.

But after feeding Minnie straight before we left, and knowing it was a much shorter drive home if we did need to make a sharp exit, we managed a promising three and a half hours munching baguettes and even a mouthful or two of rose, strategically timed around my second al fresco feed.

There was even chance to meander the paths past the Palm House, by the lake and under a score of interesting trees, which I gave far less attention than they deserved.

As ever, the grounds were full of families, although if you don’t have an annual pass to rely on, it’s well worth spending the whole day exploring to make the most of everything to do at Kew Gardens with kids.

And as I trundled the buggy round while Minnie dozed, it started to feel like days out are already within our grasp – and then longer travel can’t be too far behind.

That was only the beginning of many many visits to Kew – for my tips on visiting Kew Gardens with kids (trialled with a baby, toddler, preschooler and primary school age girl), I’ve combined everything I’ve learned into this post

Image courtesy Depositphotos