Kew’s Magical Christmas Lights Trail Will Return This Winter

Christmas at Kew is a magical experience – and they’ve added some stunning new attractions for 2018.

Kew Gardens will bring the light, colour, and a healthy sprinkling of Christmas magic back to south-west London this winter. Their lovely lights trail is amongst the very best of London’s Christmas lights, turning the gardens into a festive enchanted woodland from November 22nd. Just look at what happened last year:

In 2018, Kew are going even bigger, with more lights, more colours, and more Christmas. For starters, you’ll find one million lights twinkling in the branches and boughs…

Featured along the two-kilometre trail will be fields of illuminated baubles, canopies of lights, and gigantic lit-up arches. With one million lights to use, they’ll adorn bridges, tunnels, and pretty much every available surface. Meanwhile, clouds of mistletoe will hang from the branches, perfect for a cheeky festive smooch.

And when you get back home…

Your onward explorations will reveal a scented fire garden, whilst Kew’s iconic Palm House will be lit up with a full spectrum of colours. New for 2018 are charming moonlit woods, and a Laser Garden, which will shoot frickin’ laser beams through the branches and into the night sky. Finally, Kew are promising a ‘festive flotilla’, in which an armada of illuminated boats will sail across the lake, and generally look drop dead gorgeous. As you can see…

Aside from the lights, you’ll find vintage fairground rides, Santa and his elves, and a whole host of warming winter drinks. I don’t want to imagine what their electricity bill will be at the end of this, but I know that it’ll definitely be worth it!

Location: Kew Gardens, Richmond, TW9 3AE. Nearest station is Kew Gardens. Find it on Google Maps.
Opening hours: November 22nd until January 5th, 5–10pm (last entry is 7:40pm).
Entry: adult prices from £16.50 – tickets are available here.
More information: on their website.