Christmas at Kew

On Friday, I finally made it to Christmas at Kew. I really wanted to visit last year, but tickets (at sensible times) sold out very quickly. This year, it was the same story. However, luckily for me, a friend of mine had a couple of spares and so my friend Shreya and I turned up at the Kew gates, ready to experience the magic.

At Christmas, Kew Gardens is dressed up in thousands of twinkling lights in every colour. You follow a winding path through the plants and trees, stopping for mulled wine or treats on the way. The trees sing out carols as you pass and, in one particular section, amazing smells waft over you whilst in another, bubbles floated through the air.

We came across a little wooden hut selling marshmallows in elaborate flavours. I bought a blueberry and gin one which I then toasted over a flaming pit.

Then, we found the funfair! After some cheesy chips and a large hot chocolate, we spun around on an old-fashioned carousel before swinging on some boatswings and sliding down the helter-skelter.

Once we'd spun, swung and slid all of our funfair tokens away, it was time to press on with the trail. As it had got later, the path was fairly empty and so we had a chance to fully absorb what was around us. At one point, we came across a 'wishing tree' where people had written down their wishes and hung them in the branches.

The big finale however was a spectacle like nothing I've ever seen before. The huge Kew green house was lit up with ever-changing lights, whilst the water fountain shot up a screen of water which images danced over whilst music played in time. The overall effect was completely magical! (I'm afraid the pictures just don't do it justice!)

Eventually, as our toes were starting to turn blue, we tore ourselves away from all the dazzling displays and turned to leave. It was safe to say that the magic of Christmas had firmly descended!