Visiting Kew Gardens after lockdown

It’s an odd sensation to return somewhere you’ve visited countless times and feel as if it’s your first visit – but heading back to Kew Gardens after lockdown, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

We live very close to Kew, so it was one of my daughter’s first days out, it was a favourite preschool day out, I’ve had picnics to celebrate my birthday there, I’ve seen it in sun, snow and cloud… but I still wasn’t sure what to expect when Kew Gardens reopened.

So if you’re considering a visit to Kew after lockdown, here’s what we discovered – and given that we spent almost four hours roaming and, as ever, only seemed to explore a part of the botanic gardens’ huge site, it’s perfect to get outdoors safely.

For more tips on visiting Kew Gardens with kids, check out my post

Visiting Kew Gardens after lockdown

Firstly the practicalities. You have to book tickets before visiting Kew – don’t even consider turning up on the offchance as you simply won’t get in – which gives you a 45-minute slot.

If you’re a Friend of Kew, there are a limited number of member tickets available each day alongside the paid tickets and you can expect these to go first.

If you’re not a member, ticket prices have been temporarily reduced to £9 for adults, £3 for children aged four to 15 (younger kids are free, family tickets are also available), in light of the fact that many things are closed.

You can also pay an extra insurance fee if you’re unable to visit, which seems a good idea for larger groups – it’s £1.65 if you book an adult ticket, and increases based on the number of tickets you chose.

We’re not currently friends so paid to enter; I can imagine that the split is to prevent members snapping up lots of tickets (as it’s free) and then deciding not to turn up if it rains or, of course, if they become ill or have to self-isolate.

The first batch of tickets were for dates throughout June, so it’s worth keeping an eye out and booking as soon as July’s batch is released.

Kew reopened on June 1, we visited on June 3 and talking to staff on the day, it’s a work in progress to see how things go, so it’s possible that more visitors will be allowed, or the ratio of member and non-member tickets will be adjusted.

For now, we were told that 1,400 tickets were made available for the first week. By comparison, a normal sunny June day could see as many as 20,000 people visiting Kew Gardens.

Our post-lockdown trip to Kew

So what’s it like in reality? Well, the trees were pleased to see us back – according to the signs which greeted us as we walked in, they’ve missed us! The feeling is mutual.

Having driven around a bit to find a parking space 10 minutes away – the Brentford Gate car park is open but I managed to accidentally drive past the entrance and was happy to save £7! – we ended up getting to the Victoria Gate around 20 minutes into our 45-minute entry slot.

Having 45 minutes to get in is a relief, as finding parking at Kew isn’t always straightforward, especially as there’s none on the main road outside thanks to the creation of a new cycle lane.

For more tips on visiting Kew Gardens with kids, check out this post

After staff checked we had booked, we headed in to the queue, with markings to show safe 2m spaces apart – in fact, there was no queue, and went straight to one of the ticket desks (alternate ones open on our visit).

The staff there are behind glass anyway, so we showed our tickets, declined the offer of a map (as I’d printed my own) and within about 2 minutes we were through.

It’s worth knowing that some gates are entry only (Victoria Gate), some are exit only (Lion Gate and Elizabeth Gate) and only the Brentford Gate allows both, so you can access the car park.

I’ve always found that the area around the Palm House and the lake, leading past the Hive up to the Orangery, White Peaks café and Children’s Garden play area tends to be busiest, so we deliberately headed to the quieter side of the gardens, along Pagoda Vista and up Cedar Vista towards the river.

And as encouraged by those signs at the start, we found a few trees to hug – some have such huge trunks, you could have a couple of people cuddling up and still be socially distanced, I suspect!

Not to mention one tree where we were convinced we could see a face…

We weren’t the only people exploring, of course, but as I’d hoped, we had the gardens to ourselves at times (plus the occasional squirrel, although the peacocks which often roam along Cedar Vista weren’t putting in an appearance).

The other visitors were very spread out and making sure to keep a distance apart so after weeks of dodging the crowds in our local park (and I was still grateful for having that close by), it was blissful to roam around without feeling like a watchful meerkat peering out for danger around every corner.

Almost everything within the gardens is closed still, from the glass houses to the pagoda, the treetop walk, the Children’s garden play area, the Hive (which is half dismantled for maintenance), even the giant badger sett – which, despite multiple visits to Kew, I’ve never properly visited.

There are toilets at the Victoria Gate and near White Peaks, as well as some stands selling hot drinks and ice cream, but otherwise the restaurants and cafes (and shop) are closed too.

With staff off for weeks, you won’t find the blazes of colour that you might ordinarily expect – some flowerbeds are currently empty, with signs giving information on when they’ll be replanted – but there’s always so much to find at Kew that we never felt disappointed.

I’d made a mini treasure hunt for my daughter, spotting the dragons on the pagoda, taking a photo of something beginning with R (redwoods, roses and rhododendrons to start us off), finding particular types of leaf and so on.

With lily ponds to gaze at, the Japanese gateway to spot and the Sackler crossing bridge to wander over the lake, plus various birds to spy, there was plenty more which caught my daughter’s eye.

Even the benches by the river, at the meeting point of Cedar and Syon vistas seemed nicely socially distanced: maybe a shade under 2m – having arranged to meet friends there, it meant we could catch up with a picnic without getting too close.

In fact, there were only a couple of points where we did have to negotiate carefully past people, including the woodland path by the river and past the rhododendrons, so we simply cut across back to the open space of Syon vista.

Having managed to choose a very drizzly weekday (after the sunniest May on record), I wouldn’t be surprised if our visit was a little quieter than a sunny weekend but for a crowd-free escape, a visit to Kew after lockdown is perfect with kids.

To book tickets to Kew Gardens, click here – or for more tips on visiting Kew Gardens, check out my post on Kew with kids

PIN FOR LATER: VISITING KEW GARDENS AFTER LOCKDOWN

Images copyright MummyTravels

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