Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

For those of you who are green fingered, and even for those of you who are not, the amazing gardens of Kew will not disappoint. Contained within is every type of species of plant, whether they originate from rainforest or desert, and over 14000 trees. By recreating the natural habitat native to particular species, Kew is able to hold the largest variety of plants of any garden in the world. Experience and explore some of the biggest Victorian glasshouses in existence, containing nature’s weird and wonderful, including Bonsai trees that are over 150 years old. In contrast the gardens are home to a Redwood Grove and the humid environment makes space for water Lilly. The gardens allow you to peel back the botanic layers of history and heritage, and even to view it from above with a treetop walkway standing in the Arboretum. If you happen to visit Kew before November 2017, then you should locate ‘The Hive,’ an installation and structure which allows you to follow the journey of a honey bee, and the important role of pollination in an English orchard and wildflower meadow. Designed by Wolfgang Buttress, ‘the Hive,’ mimics the densely packed hexagonal cells of the honeycomb. Its structure rises to 17 m tall, weighs 40-tones, and is made up of 170,000 components. Imagine yourself as a worker, drone or queen bee, and enter the hive, to the sound of hums and buzzes complimented by hundreds of LED lights that glow and fade. Quite incredibly, this multi-sensory experience responds to the real-time activity of bees in a beehive behind the scenes at Kew!