Visitor Guidelines
Chelsea Physic Garden is an historic site as well as a working garden and a living museum with a collection of over 4,500 different plants. Please be aware of these Garden guidelines in order to help us protect our collection and make your visit as safe and enjoyable as possible.
Plant Health
- Please do not bring any plants (living or dead), flowers or foliage into the Garden. Unassessed plant material can carry harmful pathogens which risk damaging our collection. If you have plant material with you, it can be left in the reception area and collected on your way out.
- Please do not remove any plants, seeds or cuttings from the Garden
- Please come to the Garden with clean footwear to avoid bringing outside mud and dirt into the site.
- Smoking (including vaping and e-cigarettes) is not permitted anywhere within the Garden.
- Please do not scatter ashes anywhere in the Garden.
- Please do not climb any trees
- Our Garden is maintained by a talented team of horticulturalists. Please admire their work from the paths and do not walk into the beds or pick, prune or cut the plants at any time.
For more information on our biosecurity policy, please visit the biosecurity page of our website.
Dogs in the Garden
- Only trained assistance dogs are welcome in the Garden. Please leave any other pets or animals at home as they are not permitted in the Garden.
- The Garden is home to many plants which can be dangerous to animals, for the safety of your animal please ensure that they are kept on a lead and closely monitored at all times.
During your visit
- Entry may be refused or visitors asked to leave, if they are abusive, disrespectful or threatening to any staff member or other visitors.
- Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult when visiting the Garden.
- Use of bicycles, scooters, skateboards, frisbees, ball and lawn games and drones is not permitted within the Garden.
- Picnics are welcome within the Garden however, outside alcohol cannot be brought in. Please use benches or grassy areas within the Garden for your picnic, café tables are reserved for café customers only. Please ensure all litter is disposed of before leaving.
- The Garden may close or cordon off areas at short notice due to extreme weather, unsafe conditions or necessary work in the Garden. Please check the website for planned closures before visiting and observe signage and barriers while making your way around the Garden.
- A bell will be rung to indicate the closure of the Garden at the end of the day. This bell will be rung 10 minutes before the doors close, when you hear the bell please begin to make your way out of the Garden.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Please see below for our FAQs
FAQs
All tickets booked online will be sent by e-mail from See tickets. The ticket and can either be printed off at home or scanned from a mobile or tablet device at the Garden.
Any pre-ordered guidebooks will be available for collection at our kiosk upon entry.
Children under 5 can enter the Garden for free, but need to be booked. Children aged 5 – 16 need a ticket. Please note: Pushchairs are allowed around the Garden but not at the Christmas Fair due to onsite capacity.
We are a very popular venue; dates can be booked up to a year in advance.
Chelsea Physic Garden provides the perfect backdrop for your wedding or event day; it is quite simply the ultimate garden venue! The Garden is a botanic venue with a large marquee as an optional hire. The venue is ‘dry hire’ so clients can select from a wide range of accredited suppliers to create your dream team. A Wedding Ceremony Room is available for up to 70 guests and blessings in the gardens are welcome.
The entire Garden is available to hire exclusively, or more intimate areas can also be booked separately.
For more information please contact enquiries@chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk
Chelsea Physic Garden is London’s oldest botanic garden and contains a unique living collection of around 5,000 different medicinal, herbal, edible or useful plants that have changed the world.
Guided tours of the Garden are run by trained and knowledgeable volunteers. We aim to have Guides here every day during the main season, (from April until October). There are no fixed times, but we aim to run two tours each morning and afternoon, from shortly after 11am until approximately 3.30pm. They last for approximately 45 minutes, and are listed on the blackboard by the entrance kiosk.
Our shop offers a thoughtfully curated selection of indoor and outdoor plants, sourced from specialist growers. Alongside our plants, you’ll find a range of gardening essentials, including snips, trowels, and beautifully crafted hand thrown pots.
We also stock an ever-changing collection of gifts, from cards, jams, soaps, and candles to inspiring books. Whether you’re looking to treat yourself or find the perfect present, there’s always something to discover.
We are sorry but garden toys, including balls are not allowed in the Garden. Thank you for helping us to protect the plants.
The café provides refreshments for visitors to this historic botanic garden, so all visitors who are not Friends, or the guest of a Friend, must pay the entrance fee. This includes our evening openings in July and August.
Only trained assistance dogs are allowed in the Garden. In order to protect our collection, we are unable to permit entry to the Garden with any other animal.
You can make a booking for the Physic Garden Café via the website (https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/visit/physic-garden-cafe). Please note that valid Garden admission is required alongside your café booking.
The café and shop are open on the same days as the Garden.
You are welcome to bring a picnic into the Garden, however we ask that you not be in a group of more than six people, including children. Unfortunately under our licence we cannot allow you to bring your own alcohol (although this can be purchased from the Café) and please take all your rubbish home with when you leave. Please note that café tables are for the use of café patrons only. If an event is due to take place in the Garden we may need to ask you to move to a different area of the Garden.
You are welcome to draw or paint in the Garden provided you do not block paths, step in the plant beds, or make use of the café tables. Groups wishing to paint should contact the Venue Hire Manager.
Yes, we have a limited number of toilets available onsite, in the main building and by the cafe. We also have an accessible toilet and baby change facilities on site.
We do not have any facilities to store luggage but you are welcome to take it with you around the garden. Items must not be left unattended at any time.
There are a couple of council bike racks on Royal Hospital Road, unfortunately we do not have racks in the Garden due to lack of space and we can’t look after your bicycle for you.
We gratefully receive any donations to the Garden. If you are interested in supporting our work please visit https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/join-support/donate/
We keep lost property for a maximum of one month. If you think you might have left something behind, please call our Reception: 020 7352 5646
Outside plant materials are not allowed in the Garden as they could potentially endanger our Plant Collection. If you come to the Garden with an outside plant or plant material you will be asked to leave it at the Visitor Welcome Desk and can retrieve it on your way out.