Days out

Greenhouses to Visit in London: from Kew Gardens to the Barbican

By the Verrière editors · Published on October 15, 2026

Palm House, Kew, London
Palm House — Photo : Diliff (CC BY-SA 3.0)

London has greenhouses from every era: the great Victorian glasshouses of the Royal Botanic Gardens, the conservatories of historic houses, a tropical jungle inside a Brutalist arts centre and a garden at the top of a City tower. Here are all of them in the Verrière atlas, grouped to help you plan a day out.

Kew Gardens

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew hold four great glasshouses, from the 1840s Palm House to the 1987 Princess of Wales Conservatory. Mind the works: the Waterlily House has been closed for restoration since November 2025, and the Palm House is due to close in 2027 for about four years.

  1. Palm House

    🇬🇧 Kew, London, United Kingdom · 1844–1848

    The technical cradle of every great glasshouse that followed.

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  2. Temperate House

    🇬🇧 Kew, London, United Kingdom · 1860–1899

    The largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world.

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  3. Princess of Wales Conservatory, Kew Gardens

    🇬🇧 Kew, London (Richmond upon Thames), United Kingdom · 1987

    Opened by Diana in 1987, it gathers ten computer-controlled climates under one roof, from cool desert to tropical rainforest.

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  4. Waterlily House, Kew Gardens

    🇬🇧 Kew, London (Richmond upon Thames), United Kingdom · 1852 · under restoration since 2025

    When it opened in 1852 to show off the giant Victoria waterlily, it was the widest single-span glasshouse in the world.

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Central London

Three greenhouses in the heart of the city: the Barbican's tropical jungle, the Sky Garden at the top of a City tower and the glasshouses of the Chelsea Physic Garden. The Barbican and the Sky Garden are free, but you need to book ahead.

  1. Barbican Conservatory

    🇬🇧 London, England, United Kingdom · 1984

    An indoor rainforest perched on level 3 of the Barbican, built to wrap around the theatre's fly tower.

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  2. Sky Garden, 20 Fenchurch Street

    🇬🇧 City of London, London, United Kingdom · 2015

    London's highest public garden: three planted levels beneath the glazed crown of the 'Walkie-Talkie' tower.

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  3. Glasshouses, Chelsea Physic Garden

    🇬🇧 Chelsea, London (Kensington and Chelsea), United Kingdom · 1902

    Founded in 1673, the garden is thought to have had England's first heated glasshouse; its 1902 teak glasshouses reopened in 2023.

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Historic houses, palaces and suburbs

Around the centre, the great houses have kept their glasshouses: the Great Conservatory at Syon Park, open from March to October, Chiswick House's conservatory, the Great Vine House at Hampton Court, the Avery Hill Winter Garden and Charles Darwin's greenhouse at Down House.

  1. Great Conservatory, Syon Park

    🇬🇧 Syon Park, Brentford (London), United Kingdom · 1826–1830 · restored 1986–87

    Its listing describes it as the first metal horticultural structure of any importance, completed around 1830.

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  2. Chiswick House Conservatory

    🇬🇧 Chiswick, London (Hounslow), United Kingdom · 1813 · rebuilt 1932–33 · restored 2007–2010

    Its camellia collection, with plants thought to date back to 1828, is one of the oldest in Europe grown under glass.

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  3. Great Vine House, Hampton Court Palace

    🇬🇧 Hampton, London (Richmond upon Thames), United Kingdom · 1969 · vine planted 1768

    A glasshouse built in 1969 over its predecessor so as not to disturb a vine planted in 1768 under Capability Brown's direction.

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  4. Avery Hill Winter Garden

    🇬🇧 Eltham, London (Greenwich), United Kingdom · 1889

    It is described as the second-largest Victorian glasshouse in the United Kingdom, after the Temperate House at Kew.

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  5. Charles Darwin's Greenhouse and Hothouse, Down House

    🇬🇧 Downe (Orpington), Greater London, United Kingdom · 1863

    Darwin spent sixteen years here feeding sundews roast beef and boiled egg, the research behind his book Insectivorous Plants (1875).

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The most famous one is gone

The Crystal Palace of 1851, the most famous glass palace in the world, was destroyed by fire in 1936. Its site, Crystal Palace Park, is still open to the public.

  1. The Crystal Palace (lost)

    🇬🇧 Hyde Park, then Sydenham Hill, London, United Kingdom · 1851

    Built in five months for the Great Exhibition of 1851, it was glazed with 293,000 panes made by Chance Brothers of Smethwick.

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1157 botanical and historic greenhouses, across 76 countries, organized by continent in the complete catalogue.

Explore the full catalogue →