Kew Gardens is dominated by The Palm House. It's a fine glass and iron structure that houses a tropical jungle of plants including bananas, pawpaws, and mangoes. In the Princess of Wales Conservatory 10 climatic zones are recreated and plants here include a giant Amazonian waterlily, aloe vera and several carnivorous plants. There are two royal palaces within the gardens; Queen Charlotte's Cottage and Kew Palace and two other oriental structures, the Pagoda and Japanese Gateway, (mirroring a Gateway in Kyoto).
A year-round calendar of events takes place at Kew and there's a season of summer concerts, which have included performances by the Bootleg Beatles and Jools Holland.
On the north side of Kew Bridge visit the Musical Museum's collection of instruments from tiny musical boxes to a mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ and Kew Bridge Steam Museum's Victorian steam-pumping engines.
Must see and do
- Ham House, Kew
- Kew Bridge Steam Museum, Kew
- Kew Gardens, Kew
- London Butterfly House, Syon Park
- London Wetland Centre, Barnes
- Musical Museum, Kew
- Public Record Office, Kew
- Syon House, Kew