Kew Gardens parking

[alnmr]

Hi all,

We?re visiting Kew Gardens on Sunday and will be travelling by car. Does anyone have any suggestions for parking? I know there?s a car park we can go to and pay for, but we?re a bit worried it might be full by the time we arrive!

Any help would be fab!

[Sue]

Suggest you phone Kew and ask.

There is limited parking on the road by the Lion and Victoria (?) gates but that is also likely to be full if you think the car park might be full by the time you arrive.

Kew on Sunday at this time of year is likely to be absolutely rammed. A friend of mine gave up and left recently because the queues to get in were so long.

Do you absolutely have to drive there? You can get the district line from Victoria to very near the main gate (the car park is near a gate quite a way away from the main part of the gardens, I think).

Alternatively, we recently got a train from Vauxhall to Richmond and then a bus to the main gate. We had two kids with us and they didn't moan too much about the length of the journey :))

ETA: Vauxhall to Richmond is only a few stops.

[alnmr]

Thanks Sue, that?s super helpful! In that case, we might change our plans so that we don?t have to drive. It means dragging ourselves out of bed a bit early on Sunday but definitely worth it if it?s going to be rammed!

[Sue]

If you go on to the Kew website, there is a map you can download and print off (make sure you set the printer to landscape to get a decent size map!) which shows you all the gates and what they are near.

There are also travel directions on the website and info about the car park.

Have you been to Kew before? You probably won't be able to see everything in one day, so it's worth planning before you go what you most want to do.

If you want a cup of tea, the Botanical (I think it's called) is much nicer than the cafe at the main gate, and has views towards the Palm House.

They don't advertise this, but you don't have to spend a fortune on food there, you can just have tea or coffee.

However it was very wet the day we went (duh!) so if it's fine probably nice to sit outside.

Finally, if you think you may visit Kew more than once in the year, consider getting membership. I believe it lets you go in early once you've got it, but double check. If so, that could in future ensure you get a place in the car park?

[nxjen]

I remember visiting Kew several times as a child and there was a turnstyle which needed a lovely old threepenny bit to enter. How much does it cost to visit now?

[Sue]

nxjen Wrote:

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> I remember visiting Kew several times as a child

> and there was a turnstyle which needed a lovely

> old threepenny bit to enter. How much does it cost

> to visit now?

I remember that too.

?16.50 for an adult. There are reductions for family tickets etc.

Extra to get into the newly renovated pagoda (free if you have Royal Palaces membership).

Extra to go on the hop on hop off train (but only a fiver).

[beansprout]

There was a gardening magazine recently which was offering 2:1 tickets to numerous garden throughout UK. Sure one will be able to get back editions. Will post again when I am home re name of magazine.

[beansprout]

I am going to Kew in a couple of weeks time - thinking about going to Richmond by tube or train and then plenty of buses to Kew. You can also go to Kew Gardens and 15/20 minute walk to entrance.

Like you, worried car park might be full and taking two elderly people with might - no disabled badge either so might just cab it from there.

Can park on Kew Green but doubt there will be any parking unless one arrives at sparrow hour!

Wld love to hear how you got on and which route.

[Penguinpost]

Just a warning about driving - upper Richmond road is a total nightmare at the moment because of Hammersmith Bridge being closed. I would really consider going on the tube to Kew Gardens.

[alnmr]

Thanks all for your responses! We?ll have luggage with us, hence wanting to drive, but given your advice we?re reconsidering our options and will likely take the tube/train/bus. It doesn?t look too bad (about an hour), there are just a number of changes.

Hopefully the journey will be relatively smooth but I?ll update with any tips/ideas afterwards! ...if we make it out there, that is. Our party doesn?t enjoy crowds so it may be a plan that has to be abandoned!

[Sue]

beansprout Wrote:

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> I am going to Kew in a couple of weeks time -

> thinking about going to Richmond by tube or train

> and then plenty of buses to Kew.

To the best of my knowledge, there is only one bus from Richmond which passes the Lion and Victoria gates of Kew Gardens.

It's the 65. You cross the road when you come out of Richmond Station and the bus stop is very near - from memory, I think it was just on the left.

The stop for the Victoria Gate is two stops after the stop for the Lion Gate. The Lion Gate is nearer to the Pagoda, but the Victoria Gate is nearer to the Palm House, and also the little train starts there (so possibly easier to get a seat).

But it's just occurred to me that maybe you meant there were lots of 65s rather than lots of different number buses, sorry! Wouldn't know as we were lucky and just caught one on the way there and on the way back!

[Sue]

alnmr Wrote:

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Our party

> doesn?t enjoy crowds so it may be a plan that has

> to be abandoned!

Kew Gardens are huge, so I'm sure you can find a place without crowds!

It wasn't too bad when we went (on a Wednesday though, not the weekend) except that it was very crowded under cover near the Victoria Gate when the rain came down heavily, especially in the cafe.

But there's a bottleneck at the ticket booths. Very helpful staff, though (as indeed they were throughout the gardens. One pointed out to us a Chinese Water Dragon high up on a wall above the giant water lilies!)

[womanofdulwich]

Don't forget the 2 for 1 rail offer if you can buy a train ticket, but you'll need to download the offer or pick up leaflet at the station.

[Sue]

beansprout Wrote:

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> There was a gardening magazine recently which was

> offering 2:1 tickets to numerous garden throughout

> UK. Sure one will be able to get back editions.

> Will post again when I am home re name of

> magazine.

It was Gardeners World.

The problem with their great sounding offers is that there are exclusions, eg for some gardens they only apply out of season.

That may not be the case for the 2019 offer, but I'm pretty sure it was the case for Kew in the past.

But I think the issue with the offer was earlier in the year.

[alnmr]

Hello all!

Just back from our trip to Kew Gardens. We didn?t end up driving and instead took the bus to Denmark Hill, then train to Victoria, then tune to Kew Gardens station (district line). This took roughly an hour but was super simple and I would certainly recommend it. This means you arrive at Victoria Gate (about a 7 minute walk from the station).

We bought tickets online last night and would highly recommend doing so. Firstly, this saved us about ?2 per ticket. Secondly, there was almost no queue for online tickets but a lengthy queue for tickets on the door.

We dropped off luggage at the lockers by Victoria Gate, which only cost a pound and were big enough for a carry-on size suitcase. Would definitely suggest this if you are carrying lots of bags!

Instead of going to one of the cafes, we decided to pick up some bits at the Tesco by the Kew Gardens station. This Tesco isn?t well stocked so if you would like to take a picnic I would say you should bring one from home.

We had a wonderful day and the travel/entrance were very easy! Thanks for all of your tips - they definitely made the day easier.

[Sue]

Great to hear you had a good day!

[Alan Medic]

Another option if anyone is interested, which we took yesterday. Bus to Denmark Hill. Overground to Clapham Junction. Train from CJ to Richmond and a one stop tube journey to Kew. Took an hour but with a bit of luck with timings, it could have been 10-15 minutes less.

[Clare Donachie]

Hi All - this is my daily commute from Pe Khan Tye and I can say that much the easiest option is the Overground to Clapham Junction and then pick up a train to Kew Bridge - it?s S 6 min walk over the bridge and brings you to Kew Green and Elizabeth Gate!

[Sue]

Here's a map of Kew Gardens showing the gates in relation to what's in the gardens :)

https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/visit-kew-gardens/map