Kew Gardens is a huge botanical garden that is located in Richmond, Surrey. The gardens is easily accessible either on the District line tube, South West trains from London Waterloo or the Number 65 bus which stops at Richmond. Within the gardens, there is a variety of glasshouses, garden beds, forests and lakes as well as a Japanese Pagoda.

To get to Kew Gardens from London, it is advisable to catch the South West Train from London Waterloo Station to Richmond, then catch the Route 65 bus to the visitor centre from the bus stop opposite the station to Kew Gardens, making sure that you keep a lookout for the main garden gates and ticket office. The Twickenham, Kingston, Windsor and Eton Riverside and sometimes Reading services pass through Richmond Station. Catching the District Line Tube to Kew Gardens tube station is another option, but the travel time will be longer although services are more frequent and it is just a short walk to the Visitor Centre.

In Kew Gardens, the Kew Museum just after the ticket office is one place worth visiting. The museum contains various exhibits on how man uses plants for everyday life. As it is small, it is pretty easy to get through the museum in under an hour.

Arguably the numerous glasshouses around Kew Gardens are worth the visit. They include the Palm house opposite the Kew Museum, the Temperate house just Princess of Wales conservatory, the Temperate house and the Palm House which is just opposite the Kew Museum.

As the name implies, the Palm house is filled with palms not to mention being hot and humid. In addition there are tropical plant species such as Bromeliads, Creepers and Cycads. While the brilliant colours of the bromeliads made the green undergrowth interesting and colourful, the various palms, creepers and trees give the illusion of a cool environment in the house. There is also an underwater plants exhibit, which is accessible by descending the staircase near the middle of the Palm house. This area contains a number of tanks with both marine and freshwater plant and animal species were present. Some of the most fascinating displays included the kelp and seaweed tanks which had some cod and trout swimming around as well as coral reef displays. Although the area was small, this area under the Palm house was a real treat - almost like being at the London Aquarium.

The Temperate house displays plants that grow in cool to temperate climates such as woodlands and forests as well as some vegetables. There are some plants and shrubs from Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. Arguably the most attractive feature is the running stream and waterfall running through the middle section of the house. Excellent views of the stream can be obtained by going up the staircase near the end of the stream.

The Princess of Wales Conservatory is one of the newer glasshouses that have been built. The house is divided into a number of controlled environments - the Japanese Garden, the Aquatic garden and aquatic wildlife displays, the Desert garden, the Orchid Garden and the Fern Garden.

The Japanese Garden is the nearest to the entrance and contains a water feature, a miniature rice paddy and ponds of water lillies. This is followed by the Aquatic garden which has a large pond that is full of fish and has giant water lillies growing. There is also a viewing area to see the various fish swimming in the pond which include catfishes and river pacus (a relative of the Pirahna) and some terrariums where various frogs and other amphibians can be seen. On leaving the aquatic garden, you will enter the desert garden, where the climate changes to a hotter and dryer environment and Cactuses and other desert plants from around the world flourish. Finally the Ferns and orchid section provide a cooler, wetter environment where various forest plants such as ferns and orchids can be seen growing here.

Kew provides lots to see and do and also publishes what kind of flowers bloom at certain months. In addition, visitors can purchase season tickets to experience Kew Gardens at various times of the year. With the abundance of things to see and do at Kew Gardens, it is definitely worth the visit, if you have the time to make the trip from Central London to Kew.