Kew Gardens, London: Tickets, Christmas at Kew and How to Visit

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is the big botanic garden in Richmond, southwest London: glasshouses, a treetop walk and, from mid-November, an after-dark light trail. Kew Gardens, Queens, in New York is a different place. If you searched "kew gardens london uk," this is the one on the Thames.

Ticket prices, opening hours and the Christmas at Kew 2026 dates below were read from kew.org, with the UNESCO listing and the TfL station page checked the same day. Checked Oct 2026. Book daytime entry and the light trail as two separate tickets.

Kew Gardens at a glance

UNESCO inscribed Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 2003. The World Heritage Centre dates the gardens to 1759, puts the property at 132 hectares in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and names the Palm House and the Temperate House among the iron-framed glasshouses at the center of the 19th-century garden. Kew's own tickets page describes the site the same way: a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The visitor address Kew publishes is Kew, Richmond, London, TW9 3AE. Four pedestrian gates matter for planning. Victoria Gate (TW9 3JR) is the one closest to Kew Gardens station. Elizabeth Gate (TW9 3AE) is the coach drop-off and the gate closest to Kew Bridge station and the river pier. Brentford Gate (TW9 3AF) is the parking-lot entrance. Lion Gate (TW9 2DF) is the Richmond station side.

From November 2, 2026 to January 29, 2027, Kew says Lion Gate is open to visitors on weekends only and closed Monday to Friday. Victoria, Brentford and Elizabeth Gates stay open through the week. There are no lockers or baggage storage in the Gardens, so don't arrive with a full suitcase.

Kew Gardens tickets: how to book and what's included

Buy on Kew's tickets page. Kew says any ticket type can be bought at the gate, and that booking online is the cheaper price. General admission does not include Halloween at Kew or Christmas at Kew. An optional donation raises the price; the figures below are the prices without that donation. Checked Oct 2026.

Kew's published seasons on that page are peak (September 2 to October 31) and off-peak (November 1 to January 31). A winter visit sits in off-peak.

• Adult, peak: £25 online, £28 at the gate.
• Adult, off-peak: £17 online, £20 at the gate.
• Child (4 to 15), from September 2, 2026: £2 online, £4 at the gate. Kew does not publish a separate winter child price.
• Young person (16 to 29) and students, peak: £10 online, £12 at the gate.
• Young person and students, off-peak: £7 online, £10 at the gate. Age may be checked; students need an NUS or university card.
• Concession (disability, or 65+), peak: £23 online, £26 at the gate. You may need ID.
• Concession, off-peak: £15 online, £18 at the gate. Kew says concession tickets are for daytime visits only. Christmas at Kew needs its own ticket.
• Local residents in Richmond, Kingston-upon-Thames, Hammersmith, Fulham, Wandsworth and Hounslow: the same online and gate prices as the concession, with address ID checked at the gate.

Kew lists a "Child (under 4)" category on the same page. The extracted price for that category was blank when we checked, so we are not stating an under-4 daytime fare. In the Universal Credit terms on that page, Kew says children under 4 do not need a ticket. Read the booking screen before you assume a toddler walks in free.

Two daytime discounts are easy to miss. £10 Tuesdays run every Tuesday from September 8 to December 29, 2026, and Kew says the ticket is valid for entry on Tuesday only. That is daytime admission. It is not a Christmas at Kew ticket. From October 5, 2026, a Universal Credit or Pension Credit ticket is £1. Kew says each benefit holder gets one of those adult tickets and may also bring one additional adult (16 or older) and up to four children aged 4 to 15 "for the same admission per person." Bring proof. Kew's page mixes several benefit documents into that section, so match your card to the list on kew.org rather than guessing. The Christmas at Kew pages say the £1 ticket does not apply to the light trail.

Kew's child-ticket terms say children aged 16 and under must be with an adult. The opening-times page tells you to check planned closures before you go, because individual glasshouses and paths do shut for maintenance.

Christmas at Kew 2026

Christmas at Kew is a timed, after-dark light trail through the Gardens. It is not included in a daytime ticket, and a daytime ticket cannot be upgraded into a trail ticket. Trail tickets are on sale. Advance booking is essential, and Kew says it does not exchange or refund a ticket once you have bought it, except when the evening is cancelled for safety.

On Kew's planning page, the trail runs from Friday, November 13, 2026 to Sunday, January 3, 2027, except Monday, November 16, Monday, November 23, Saturday, November 28, and Friday, December 25. The event runs 4:20pm to 10pm. On December 24 it closes at 9pm. Entry is by timeslot, and last entry depends on the gate:

• Brentford Gate: 7pm. On December 24 the planning page says 6pm, and the event landing page says 6:20pm. Use the time printed on your ticket.
• Elizabeth Gate: 7:20pm, and 6:20pm on December 24. Both Kew pages agree.
• Victoria Gate: 8pm, and 7pm on December 24. Both pages agree.

Every Christmas at Kew price below includes a £1 booking fee. Checked Oct 2026, from the planning page.

• Adult: £29.50 off-peak, £37 peak.
• Member adult (15% off, membership number entered while booking): £25.23 off-peak, £31.60 peak.
• Child (4–15): £20 off-peak, £24 peak. Under 4 is free, and every guest, including under-4s, needs a valid ticket. Under-18s must be with an adult.
• Family (2 adults and 2 children): £89 off-peak, £108 peak.
• Anytime adult: £61, for one entry between 4:20pm and 7:40pm on a chosen night. Anytime child is £41.
• Any day, anytime, adult and child: £101. Kew calls this very limited.

Kew names these nights as off-peak: November 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 and 30, and December 1 and 2. It does not print a full list of peak nights, so confirm your date on the booking calendar. The event landing page also says "tickets from £25.50." That line does not match the itemized adult price (£29.50) or the member adult price (£25.23) on the planning page. Book from the itemized prices.

New for 2026, the landing page lists adult-only evenings on December 3 and December 9. Quiet Access sessions, for visitors with hidden disabilities such as autism, are November 21 and December 1, 16 and 26. Kew asks other visitors not to book those slots.

If you want the Gardens in daylight and the trail the same day, add the daytime upgrade when you book the trail: £12 for adults and £5 for children ages 4–16. You have to leave the Gardens by 3:15pm (last daytime entry 2:30pm) and come back in at your trail gate and time. Day tickets bought on their own cannot be turned into trail tickets.

The 2026 trail is 3km (about 1.9 miles) and can take more than two hours. Paths are outdoors, with slopes, and there is no covered route, so wear shoes you trust on wet ground. Kew allows prams. It does not allow dogs, except assistance dogs, or bicycles, scooters and skateboards on the trail. Catering is cashless. Victoria Gate (TW9 3JR) suits the Tube. Elizabeth Gate (TW9 3AE) suits the train to Kew Bridge. Brentford Gate is only for people who have pre-booked parking in the Ferry Lane lot, at £15 on top of the ticket. The National Archives lot (TW9 4FA) is £13.50, booked with a Victoria or Elizabeth Gate ticket, and is about a 15-minute walk. A daytime parking ticket is only valid until 3pm, so it does not cover the evening.

Dates for the rest of the city's markets and rinks are in our Christmas in London guide and our London Christmas markets guide. Christmas at Kew is the one that is a garden, not a market.

Getting to Kew

Kew's getting-here page says Kew Gardens station is 500 meters from Victoria Gate, on the District line's Richmond branch and the Mildmay line, and calls the station Zone 3. TfL's Kew Gardens Underground Station page, checked the same day, lists the station as Zone 3+4 and shows District line departures toward Richmond and back toward Upminster and High Street Kensington. Where the two disagree on the zone, follow TfL. Both say the westbound platform is not step-free: Kew's advice is to ride one stop to Richmond and come back on the eastbound train, which does have level access. TfL describes the same street-level change between platforms.

Kew tells you to check TfL for planned closures before you travel. Its Christmas pages add a specific warning: the District line and Overground may have planned closures on various dates during the trail. Check the day you are going, not a timetable from another week.

By National Rail, Kew Bridge station is 800 meters from Elizabeth Gate, across Kew Bridge. South Western Railway runs there from London Waterloo via Vauxhall and Clapham Junction. Kew says there is no level access at Kew Bridge. Richmond station does have step-free access. From Richmond, Kew's walking times are 15 minutes to Lion Gate, 25 minutes to Victoria Gate and 40 minutes to Elizabeth Gate. Remember Lion Gate is weekends-only from November 2, 2026 to January 29, 2027. The 65 bus toward Ealing Broadway stops at Lion Gate and Victoria Gate. The 110 stops near Kew Gardens station and Elizabeth Gate. The 237 and 267 stop at Kew Bridge.

By boat, Kew says Thames River Boats runs a service from Westminster Pier to Kew Pier, and that Elizabeth Gate is a 0.2-mile walk from the pier across Kew Green. Sailing times depend on tides and weather. Kew does not print a timetable, so check the operator before you plan the day around a boat. The cruises in our Thames cruise guide are central London trips. They are not this upriver boat, and we did not find a live Viator product that sails to Kew.

Driving is the awkward option. Kew says the Gardens are inside the Ultra Low Emission Zone and outside the Congestion Charge zone. Daytime parking at the Ferry Lane lot (Brentford Gate, TW9 3AF) is £10 a day, card or PayByPhone, first come, first served, and the entrance closes 30 minutes after the Gardens close. Motorcycles and Blue Badge parking are free. Christmas at Kew parking has to be booked with the ticket, at the prices above, and spaces are limited. Kew asks visitors to use public transit.

What to see by season

The hours in this section are what Kew's opening-times page listed on October 25, 2026. That page was showing the current season, not a full-year calendar, so check it again if you are going after early January.

Through November 11, 2026 the Gardens are open daily 10am to 4pm, last entry 3pm. From November 12, 2026 to January 3, 2027 they close at 3:15pm, last entry 2:30pm. Kew states the daytime Gardens are closed on December 24 and 25. That daytime closure is separate from the light trail, which runs on December 24 and is closed on December 25.

On the same page the glasshouses are listed daily 10am to 3pm, with a note that times may vary, and the Treetop Walkway is listed 10am to 3pm, last entry 2:45pm. The Children's Garden is listed 10am to 4pm, last entry 3pm. Kew Palace, the Pagoda and Queen Charlotte's Cottage are closed from Monday, September 28 until spring 2027. Kew does not give a reopening date, so don't build a winter visit around those three.

In the cold months the honest plan is the glasshouses and the treetop walk while it's light, then the trail if your date is one of the nights it's on. The Palm House and the Temperate House are the glasshouses UNESCO singles out. Paths are long. A daytime ticket plus the trail on the same date only works if you are out by 3:15pm, as the Christmas pages require.

Combine Kew with Richmond

Richmond is the add-on that doesn't need another ticket. The station is step-free, the 65 bus links it to the gates, and the walk to Victoria Gate is the 25 minutes Kew publishes. On a weekday between November 2, 2026 and January 29, 2027, skip Lion Gate and use Victoria Gate or Elizabeth Gate instead.

Hampton Court Palace is farther up the Thames, in East Molesey. Kew does not sell a combined Kew-and-Hampton-Court ticket. Treat the palace as its own visit and check the train before you try to do both in one day. We looked for a Viator tour that actually takes you to Kew or along the river to Richmond and didn't find one worth booking: the only Kew product had no reviews, and the Hampton Court ticket we checked is a same-day palace entry, not a Kew visit.

If you want a full palace day instead of a garden day, our Windsor Castle tours are the comparison. For an evening in the center on a night the trail is dark, our London night tours cover the walks and bus tours. Christmas at Kew is the better evening when your date is on the calendar.