Book a research visit to the Herbarium

These are arranged using the form below. Members of the general public are invited to explore the collection via special events, such as open days.

Please can you request a visit as far in advance as possible and preferably a month before your planned arrival. We are seeing high levels of visit requests and it may take us time process these, thank you for your patience.

If you are an international researcher and require a letter of support for a visa, please ensure you apply for your visa at least three months in advance of your visit.

Please be aware that there will be building work in Wing B and B/C corridor of the Herbarium building which will prevent access to the collections between September 2022 and the beginning of May 2023.  Unfortunately, we will have to close this area of the Herbarium to staff and visitors. This will affect access to the following Orders of Angiosperms: (Malvales, Brassicales, Berberidopsidales, Santalales, Caryophyllales, Cornales, Ericales, Garryales and part of Rubiaceae (Gentianales)). We will continue to see building work in other parts of the Herbarium during 2023 which may cause disruption to your visit.

Please also note that we will be digitising our Herbarium monocot (Wing D second floor), Legume and Compositae collections (Wing E Second Floor), Convolvulaceae and part of Lamiales (wing C) which has scaled up to full capacity taking over most of the herbarium bay spaces in these areas.  This will be expanding further into other collections over the course of 2023, we will endeavour to update this information to reflect this. While we aim to be able to provide access to these collections, access to particular parts may be limited during certain periods.

Areas of interest

Which geographical regions are you interested in?

Your visit details

Please note that requests should be made at least four weeks prior to your visit.

Are you a student?

If you are a student wishing to visit, please send a letter of support from your supervisor to herbariumvisitors@kew.org.

Please also provide us with your supervisor's details below.

Are you visiting with a group?
Have the other members of your group submitted a visitor request form?
Do you require a microscope on your visit?
Do you intend bringing any specimens with you?

We need to know in advance if specimens will be brought with you. These will take about a week before they can be made available because they will need to be frozen for pest control.

Your details

Would you like to be contacted about a letter in support of a visa?

Terms and conditions

  I have read and accept the terms and conditions 

We* will use your information for the purposes of administering and keeping you informed about your request, dealing with queries and providing other information that may be relevant or of interest to your visit.  This will include sending you details of new initiatives relevant to your institution.

Please take time to read our new Privacy Policy which explains what data we collect and why, how we use it and other information relevant to the privacy of your data.

*”We” refers to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew