Outdoors & Nature

Ideal for a sunny day. And for a cold rainy day: "There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing".

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Chelsea Physic Garden

Four walled acres of plants kept for what they do, not how they look, since 1673.

Gardens

Photo by flickr user flickr-rickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Also in Museums and Science & Engineering.

The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries founded it in 1673 so that apprentices could learn to tell one plant from another, which was a matter of life and death when the plant was the medicine. It is still arranged on that principle: beds laid out by what a plant is for and where it came from, rather than by how it looks together, and more than 4,500 medicinal, edible and useful species in four acres.

The walls and the river make it several degrees warmer than the streets outside, which is why things grow here that should not - the largest olive tree in Britain among them. There are glasshouses, and a cafe in the middle of it.

Where
66 Royal Hospital Road, SW3 4HS
Nearest station
Sloane Square · 12 min walk

Coming up

Hours

Monday11:00 – 17:00
Tuesday11:00 – 17:00
Wednesday11:00 – 17:00
Thursday11:00 – 17:00
Friday11:00 – 17:00
SaturdayClosed
Sunday11:00 – 17:00

Hours from the page that lists them, checked 8 September 2026.

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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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