Temperate House on the grounds of Kew Gardens, Richmond, London.

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Temperate House

Richmond, Kew & Hampton Court


Built in 1860 and closed for vital restoration work until 2018, the beautiful Temperate House in the southeast of Kew Gardens is the world’s largest surviving Victorian glasshouse; covering 4880 sq m, it's an astonishing piece of architecture and usually houses an equally sublime collection of plants, including the towering Chilean wine palm.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Richmond, Kew & Hampton Court attractions

1. Marianne North Gallery

0.13 MILES

This gallery in Kew Gardens displays the botanical paintings of Marianne North, an indomitable traveller who roamed the continents from 1871 to 1885,…

2. Treetop Walkway

0.14 MILES

In the Arboretum, the fascinating Treetop Walkway first takes you underground and then 18m up in the air into the tree canopy.

3. Great Pagoda

0.24 MILES

This 49.5m-tall eight-sided pagoda (1762), designed by William Chambers (who designed Somerset House), is one of Kew Gardens' architectural icons. During…

4. Arboretum

0.32 MILES

Covering two thirds of the gardens, the arboretum refers to the more than 14,000 trees at Kew, which are often gathered together according to genus. You…

5. Palm House

0.39 MILES

The enormous and elaborate 700-glass-paned Palm House in Kew Gardens is a domed hothouse of metal and curved sheets of glass dating from 1848, enveloping…

6. Queen Charlotte’s Cottage

0.4 MILES

This idyllic, thatched cottage in the southwest of Kew Gardens was popular with ‘mad’ George III and his wife; the carpets of bluebells around here are a…

7. Waterlily House

0.41 MILES

The tiny and irresistibly steamy Waterlily House in Kew Gardens shelters a gigantic Victoria cruziana water lily, with gourds of all shapes and sizes…

8. Great Broad Walk Borders

0.44 MILES

Stretching north from near the Palm House in Kew Gardens, the 320m-long and well-tended Great Broad Walk Borders constitute the longest double herbaceous…

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