Today we visit Kew Gardens with Clare. We’ve been to the beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens (and UNESCO World Heritage Site) just outside London before and enjoyed it a lot to stroll around the huge area and to discover many interesting plants along the way.

First, we pick up our pre-ordered picnic right next to the park, as we did before. We know the Maids of Honour Bakery thanks to Jamie Oliver, who featured it on one of his shows years ago. It’s just the best thing to take with and eat on a park bench or in the grass. We ordered quiche, a sausage roll, an afternoon tea with sandwiches, salad, scones, and a Maids of Honour tart. Per person of course.

The “Hive” is a totally exciting art installation inspired by a beehive. In the past, you could feel the bees’ music holding a wooden stick between your teeth. But they seem to have removed this bit during the pandemic.

The Palm House, built in the mid-19th century, houses large palm trees and tropical plants from all over the world – one more exotic than the other. Spiral staircases lead to a walkway 9 metres above the ground.

The Chinese Pagoda from 1762 looks even more beautiful since its total renovation!

In the other large greenhouse, the Temperate House, there are also many beautiful plants that I have never seen before. For example, a curled fern.

Here are a few more impressions from Kew Gardens. We didn’t have enough time for the Treetop Walkway, a circular path at tree-top height. The time really flew by.

We’re not hungry again until late. We get a cheeseburger from the hotel restaurant and it in our room at 9pm and then enjoy the remaining scones.