Things to do in Greater London

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in west London are the world's most important botanic garden, a 326-acre site beside the Thames at Kew that combines one of the greatest living plant collections on Earth with outstanding Victorian glasshouse architecture, historic landscapes, world-class horticultural research and the Millennium Seed Bank project that is banking seeds from the world's threatened flora against the possibility of extinction. Kew is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most visited gardens in Britain, receiving over two million visitors annually. The Palm House, designed by Decimus Burton and Richard Turner and completed in 1848, is the finest surviving Victorian iron and glass glasshouse in the world and the architectural centrepiece of Kew's collection of historic glasshouses. The great curving form of the Palm House, which revolutionised greenhouse design and influenced the construction of similar structures across Europe and North America, houses the most important collection of economically significant tropical plants in the world in a climate maintained at tropical temperature and humidity year-round. The Temperate House, also by Burton and the largest Victorian glasshouse in existence, contains a collection of temperate zone plants of exceptional diversity including many species threatened or extinct in the wild. Kew's scientific and conservation work extends far beyond the gardens themselves. The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, based at Wakehurst Place in West Sussex, is banking seeds from over 40,000 plant species against extinction, with particular focus on species from the world's most biodiverse and threatened environments. The taxonomy and genetics research conducted at Kew contributes to the foundational understanding of plant diversity that underpins all conservation biology. The historic landscape features of the gardens, including the Pagoda, the Japanese gateway and the treetop walkway, provide additional visitor interest across the extensive grounds.