The British love a garden, and the best of them are world class. The mild, damp climate means that plants from all over the world thrive here, and centuries of gardeners, from great landscape designers to passionate amateurs, have created some of the most beautiful gardens anywhere. Many are open to visitors all year.
Spring brings blossom and bulbs, summer the borders and roses, autumn the colour of the trees, and even winter has its own quiet beauty. These ten are worth a journey in any season. For each, we have included what to see and when to go.
1. Kew Gardens, London
The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, in south west London, are among the most famous gardens in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They were founded in 1759, and they hold the largest and most diverse collection of living plants in the world. Kew is also one of the world’s leading centres for plant science.
The Palm House, a curving Victorian glasshouse built in the 1840s, is full of tropical plants, including some of the oldest pot plants in the world. The Temperate House, even larger, is the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world. The Princess of Wales Conservatory has ten different climate zones under one roof.
The Treetop Walkway lifts you eighteen metres into the canopy of the trees, with views across the gardens. The Great Pagoda, built in 1762, has been restored with its colourful dragons. Kew Palace, the smallest royal palace, stands in the gardens.
Kew covers three hundred acres, so allow a full day and wear comfortable shoes. It holds festivals and events through the year, including a Christmas light trail. Kew Gardens station, on the Underground and Overground, is a short walk from the gates.
2. The Eden Project, Cornwall
The Eden Project, near St Austell in Cornwall, is one of the most famous attractions in Britain. It opened in 2001 in a former china clay pit, and its giant domed greenhouses, called biomes, look like a cluster of bubbles. It is a charity devoted to showing how people depend on plants.
The Rainforest Biome is the largest indoor rainforest in the world, with tropical plants, a waterfall and a canopy walkway high above the jungle. It is hot and humid inside. The Mediterranean Biome has plants from warm, dry climates, including olive trees, citrus and vines.
Outside, the gardens cover the slopes of the old pit, with plants from temperate climates around the world. The Core, an education centre, has exhibitions and art. There is also a zip wire across the site for the adventurous.
In summer, the Eden Sessions bring big name concerts to the pit. A whole day with children is easy. It is best reached by car, and it is about forty minutes from Truro.
3. RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey
RHS Garden Wisley, in Surrey near the M25, is the flagship garden of the Royal Horticultural Society, and it has been since 1903. It covers around two hundred and forty acres. It is one of the most visited gardens in Britain.
Wisley is a garden for learning as much as for looking, with plants labelled clearly, so you can find out what everything is. It has a huge variety of gardens, including a rock garden, a rose garden, fruit orchards and vegetable plots. The model gardens give ideas for gardens at home.
The glasshouse holds tropical, temperate and desert plants, and the Hilltop building is a centre for gardening science, with its own gardens around it. The trial gardens test new varieties of plants. There is always something new to see.
Wisley has a large shop, a plant centre and several places to eat. It holds events through the year. Members of the RHS get in free.
4. Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Kent
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, in the Kent countryside, is one of the most famous gardens in England. It was created from the 1930s by the writer Vita Sackville-West and her husband, the diplomat Harold Nicolson, around the ruins of an Elizabethan house. It is looked after by the National Trust.
The garden is divided into a series of garden rooms, each with its own character, separated by hedges and walls. The most famous is the White Garden, planted only with white and silver plants. It is at its best in early summer.
At the centre of the garden stands a tall Tudor tower, where Vita had her writing room. You can climb to the top for views over the garden and the countryside. Her room is still as she left it.
Sissinghurst also has an orchard, a moat walk and a vegetable garden supplying the restaurant. It is busy in summer, so arrive early. The Kent countryside around it is lovely.
5. Stourhead, Wiltshire
Stourhead, in Wiltshire, is one of the finest landscape gardens in the world. It was created in the eighteenth century by the banker Henry Hoare, who designed it as a journey through a series of views inspired by paintings of classical landscapes. It is looked after by the National Trust.
A path leads around a large lake, past classical temples, a grotto and a Palladian bridge. At each point a new view opens up across the water. The Pantheon, reflected in the lake, is the most famous sight.
The garden is glorious in every season, but especially in autumn, when the trees around the lake turn red and gold. In spring, rhododendrons and azaleas bloom. The house, a Palladian mansion, is also open.
King Alfred’s Tower, a tall brick folly on the edge of the estate, has views over three counties. The walk around the lake takes about an hour at a gentle pace. Longleat is nearby.
6. Bodnant Garden, Conwy
Bodnant Garden, in the Conwy valley of north Wales, is one of the most beautiful gardens in Britain. It was created from the 1870s by the same family over several generations, and it is looked after by the National Trust. It has views across the valley to the mountains of Eryri.
The garden is famous for its laburnum arch, the longest in Britain, which turns into a golden tunnel of flowers for a few weeks in late spring. Crowds come from far and wide to walk through it. It is an unforgettable sight.
The upper garden has Italianate terraces with ponds, lawns and formal beds. The lower garden, known as the Dell, is a wooded valley with a stream and huge trees. There are spring bulbs, summer roses and autumn colour.
Bodnant is about twenty five minutes from Llandudno and Conwy. It has a café and a plant centre. Allow at least half a day.
7. Chatsworth, Derbyshire
Chatsworth, in the Peak District, is one of the greatest country houses in Britain, and its gardens are among the finest. They cover more than a hundred acres, with fountains, sculptures, glasshouses and woodland. The house is the home of the Dukes of Devonshire.
The Emperor Fountain, one of the tallest gravity fed fountains in the world, shoots water high into the air from a long canal pond. The Cascade, a stepped waterfall built at the end of the seventeenth century, runs down a hillside. The famous gardener Joseph Paxton worked here in the nineteenth century.
The gardens include a maze, a rock garden, a kitchen garden and modern sculptures. The parkland around the house was landscaped by Capability Brown. Children love the farmyard and adventure playground.
Chatsworth holds events through the year, including a Christmas market. Allow a full day to see the house, garden and park. It is about half an hour from Sheffield.
8. The Alnwick Garden, Northumberland
The Alnwick Garden, next to Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, is one of the most exciting modern gardens in Britain. It was created from the late 1990s by the Duchess of Northumberland. It is full of surprises.
At its heart is the Grand Cascade, a huge stepped fountain with water jets that dance in patterns. The garden also has a large treehouse, one of the largest in the world, with a restaurant inside. The cherry orchard has one of the largest collections of its kind, a mass of blossom in spring.
The garden’s most famous feature is the Poison Garden, full of deadly and dangerous plants, which can only be visited on a guided tour. The guides tell gruesome stories about the plants. It is fascinating for all ages.
The garden has a rose garden, a bamboo labyrinth and water features for children to play in. It has a separate ticket from the castle. The Northumberland coast is only a few miles away.
9. Hidcote, Gloucestershire
Hidcote, near Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds, is one of the most influential gardens in the world. It was created in the early twentieth century by Lawrence Johnston, an American gardener who settled in England. It is looked after by the National Trust.
Hidcote is an Arts and Crafts garden, divided into a series of outdoor rooms by hedges and walls, each with its own character and colours. The idea of garden rooms at Hidcote inspired many later gardens, including Sissinghurst. The planting is rich and imaginative.
The Red Borders, the White Garden and the Long Walk are among the highlights. Johnston collected plants from around the world on his travels. The garden is lovely from spring to autumn.
Hidcote is in a beautiful part of the Cotswolds, close to the village of Chipping Campden. It combines well with a visit to the villages. It has a café and a shop.
10. RHS Garden Bridgewater, Salford
RHS Garden Bridgewater, in Worsley near Manchester, is the newest garden of the Royal Horticultural Society. It opened in 2021, on the site of the old Worsley New Hall estate, which had been neglected for decades. It covers more than a hundred and fifty acres.
At its heart is a huge walled garden, one of the largest in the country, divided into a paradise garden inspired by the gardens of the Middle East and a kitchen garden full of vegetables and fruit. Around it are lakes, woodland and meadows. It is a garden that will keep growing for years to come.
There is a large welcome building with a café, a shop and a plant centre. The RHS holds events and workshops through the year. It is lovely in every season.
Bridgewater is close to the Bridgewater Canal at Worsley, where the canal age began. It is about twenty minutes from Manchester city centre. See our Salford guide.
Gardens reward a slow visit and a good lunch. Booking a car for the day means you can add a second garden, a village or a tea room without worrying about the drive home.
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