Kew Gardens Reviews 187

First of all I have to say that I'm astonished at the poor ratings for Kew Gardens. I've lived in the are for many years and I've visted the gardens countless times and it's such an uplifting place. Today I visited with my daughter, son-in-law and a friend, we all agreed that it's a place to lift your spirits. We all loved our day and we've been so many times that we know every inch of it. We'll be returning again soon as there will be a Henry Moore exhibition from 9 May 2026 to 31 January 2027. My favourite places are the Waterlily House (which is closed for renovation), Kew Palace, the wisteria climbing over an iron frame and the Kitchen garden. You need a day to explore, there's a train, wheelchairs are available. My only complaint is the beautiful Orangery building is home to a canteen that serves the most awful food which is also very expensive. It lets down the wonderful experience of Kew Gardens, I suggest you take a picnic or eat in a nearby pub.

Having wanted to visit here for quite some time my husband and I decided to book tickets to also view the orchid house due to a website problem though these were charged but not issued speaking to someone is impossible and after driving several hours to get there and be presented with lack lustre staff and over priced canteens I would not recommend there are much beautiful places to visit in Greenwich without the price tag.

Overpriced and underwhelming..
Tired, uncared for, dead daffodils, weeds in the beds. The entrance appalling. Not a flower in sight. Very poor and very disappointed.
£10 to park and train ride extra. I am failing to see what I paid £28 for. Will neither visit again nor recommend, in fact I would go as far to say I would discourage a visit. Time and money wasted. What a shame. For a british tourist attraction.......
embarrassing.

Rang customer service regarding my membership and was met with rudeness. Lady on the phone would not stop talking over me and being very rude. Such poor customer service, not helpful at all.

It was the first time I have visited Kew Gardens but not the experience I was expecting. Admittance fee was expensive and we didn’t realise we had to book to go into the Orchid exhibition so we only went into the Palm House and Brasserie as it was raining. Overrated.

Bought membership, didn't receive a membership number in time to book the Orchid Show, so paid for tickets, even though this would have been free with the membership, to avoid missing out. Finally got through to the membership office a week later who told me I could have booked members tickets without a membership no (even though there appeared to be no way to do this on the website) and preferred to refund the membership rather than the tickets, curtailing income from future visits?! Very strange way to do business!

The gardens are impressive, the staff is really nice, patient, welcoming. Their site glitch though is a problem, they need to fix it, its a pain in the neck, to book something( and it's been lasting for a while

Took 48.00 and failed to send my e tickets. Have tried to call and couldn't get through. Have written twice and no response. Out of pocket and ticket date now passed. Never again!

Paid for 2 tickets for the orchid event, and NEVER received the e-tickets. Website problems, constant errors at checkout (of which they already know about according to the automated phone message). Tried to call the helpline, and it just cuts you off.

Not surprised kew customer service are showing 50% 1 star.
I tried to contact customer service, but automated service says we are but you can ring back or leave an email, then it cuts you off. Discussed
I sent an email 5 working days ago and no reply, other than an automated message say your email will dealt with 3 to 5 working days.
STILL WAITING

Booked this attraction weeks ago. Just for the orchid show. Wasn’t aware you had to book a time slot. Very disappointed. The amount of money we paid for tickets time off work and parking and fuel. The day was wasted and the place looks like any other park in London that you can walk in for free. Nothing special. For the amount of money we paid you would of thought they would have had decent attractions. The highlight of the day was eating the food at the restaurant which was good.

We visited as a xmas present for my husband. The park was delightful and afternoon tea excellent. Lovely volunteer in the shop. Couldn't fault it and now signed up as a member. Good time to visit out of season.

A nice evening, but the wow factor has gone and there is probably more food trucks than light exhibits to see.

Have been going for many years, but was left underwhelmed this year.

Quote from my son "it was all a bit predictable and underwhelming, I have seen this all before"

Next year fingers crossed for something more spectacular!

Really Really disappointing. I love to leave positive feedback, but I just can't for Christmas at kew. I took my daughter for Halloween and it was fantastic. I have been looking forward to Xmas at kew for months based on past reviews and Halloween. But, and it really pains me to say this. It was pretty terrible. It was very disjointed, large parts of the walk were just with absolutely nothing, apart from lit trees. I failed to see alot of the time how many of the installations even related to xmas, it all seemed very half heartded. Not worth the money or the effort. Im really gutted . And im sorry Kew for this review but this year for me you really dropped the ball.

In previous year we've so looked forward to and enjoyed Christmas at Kew immensely. The Son et Lumieres such as the holographs depicting London, illuminated fountain displays set to classical & contemporary music, not forgetting Snapper, The Perfect Tree. Perhaps a lack of Sponsors has been the problem for the 2025 season. It was a disappointment for us though 'What people don't have they don't see nor miss' so first timers may be puzzled at our feedback. For us compared to previous years it was lack lustre and far too crowded. So for future years we'll be looking at venues such as Bleinheim Palace, Stourhead Gardens etc.

I’d like to leave a huge thank you to Chris, Customer Support Assistant – Visitor Operations at Kew, for the exceptional service I received.

I contacted Kew at a point where I thought my Christmas at Kew booking and payment were lost, as it had just passed the 7-day amendment window. I was unable to make the changes myself and fully expected to forfeit both the booking and the money.

Chris went above and beyond to help. Not only did he arrange for my booking to be successfully moved to another day, but he also managed to secure a refund for parking—something I genuinely didn’t expect.

This has been the best customer service experience I’ve ever had. Chris was understanding, proactive and incredibly supportive throughout the process.

Thank you, Chris, for turning a stressful situation into a positive one. Your help made all the difference!

This is specifically about the festive Xmas lights in the Kew grounds. One of the most beautiful and moving experiences we’ve ever enjoyed. The lighting and music combine to give a wonderfully unique atmosphere that sets you up for Christmas. Highly recommended for adults and kids.

Booked a ticket, and wanted to change the date - but they won't do it. We can see that there is availability when we go to book the tickets for the other date, but their system says there is no availability.

We paid extra for ticket protection to get refund. However, the refund procedure requires medical sign off from GP, or a court order or military sign off. wtf are all these hoops to jump through. Terrible service.

A lovely light lunch in the Orangery - delicious hot soup with roll and butter.
Then on to the Singh Twins exhibition which is amazing. Such beautiful colours, such precision and so interesting. The more you look the better it gets.
I will definitely go back.