This historic landscape garden features elements that illustrate significant periods of the art of gardens from the 18th to the 20th centuries. The gardens house botanic collections (conserved plants, living plants and documents) that have been considerably enriched through the centuries. Since their creation in 1759, the gardens have made a significant and uninterrupted contribution to the study of plant diversity and economic botany.

Kew Gardens is a botanical garden in south-west London and houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world".

Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, UK, its living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants

The herbarium, which is one of the largest in the world, has over seven million preserved plant specimens. The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants. It is one of London's top tourist attractions and is a World Heritage Site.

There is always lots to see and do at Kew Gardens, but from time to time we have to restrict access to certain areas as we care for our plants and restore important historic buildings. Before you visit, please check our website for opening times and details of any planned closures.

We care for some of the world's rarest plant species. To protect our plants (and our visitors) we have rules around what you can and can't do in the Gardens. Please make sure you read our Garden rules before you visit.