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The UK’s best gardens for 2026
This year, we've chosen 10 of the best gardens in the country to recommend for your next day out.
We've picked gardens with exceptionally high visitor scores in our survey of almost 2,500 Which? members. They all have high star ratings for attractiveness, peace and quiet, facilities and value for money.
Perhaps surprisingly, it wasn’t the most well-known, such as the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew, that ranked the highest.
Instead, Coleton Fishacre House & Garden in Devon, with its brilliantly colourful flowerbeds, came out on top.
Scotland also did extremely well, with five of our recommended gardens being north of the border, including Inverewe Garden in the Highlands and Logan Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.
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Gardens to visit in the UK
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Coleton Fishacre House & Garden, Devon (E) (83) | 92% | ||||||||||
Branklyn Garden, Argyll and Bute (S) (33) | 89% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Biddulph Grange Garden, Staffordshire (E) (97) | 88% | ||||||||||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Inverewe Garden, Highlands (S) (48) | 88% | - | |||||||||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Logan Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (S) (33) | 87% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Bodnant Garden, Conwy (W) (142) | 86% | ||||||||||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER RHS Garden Rosemoor, Devon (E) (124) | 86% | ||||||||||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh (S) (107) | 86% | ||||||||||
Chelsea Physic Garden, London (E) (49) | 85% | - | |||||||||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Crathes Castle Gardens, Aberdeenshire (S) (32) | 85% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Glasgow Botanic Gardens, Glasgow (S) (38) | 85% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER RHS Garden Harlow Carr (E) (208) | 85% | ||||||||||
Greenway Garden, Devon (E) (51) | 84% | - | |||||||||
Pashley Manor Gardens, East Sussex (E) (41) | 84% | - | - | ||||||||
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London (E) (254) | 84% | ||||||||||
Sheffield Park Garden, East Sussex (E) (117) | 84% | ||||||||||
Trebah Garden, Cornwall (E) (65) | 84% | - | |||||||||
Dawyck Botanic Garden, Borders (S) (39) | 83% | - | |||||||||
Powis Castle and Garden, Powys (W) (80) | 83% | ||||||||||
RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey (E) (361) | 83% | ||||||||||
Glendurgan Garden, Cornwall (E) (57) | 82% | - | |||||||||
Hidcote Manor Garden, Gloucestershire (E) (118) | 82% | ||||||||||
Portmeirion Gardens, Gwynned (W) (80) | 82% | ||||||||||
Threave Garden and Estate, Dumfries and Galloway (S) (40) | 82% | - | |||||||||
Wakehurst, West Sussex (E) (125) | 82% | ||||||||||
Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, Gloucestershire (E) (119) | 82% | ||||||||||
Aberglasney Gardens, Carmarthenshire (W) (34) | 81% | - | - | - | |||||||
Batsford Arboretum, Gloucestershire (E) (92) | 81% | ||||||||||
Batsford Arboretum, Gloucestershire (E) (133) | 81% | ||||||||||
Trelissick Gardens, Cornwall (E) (79) | 81% | ||||||||||
Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Cambridge (E) (79) | 80% | ||||||||||
Culzean Castle Gardens, Ayrshire (S) (49) | 80% | - | |||||||||
Ness Botanic Gardens, Cheshire (E) (45) | 80% | - | |||||||||
Acorn Bank Gardens, Cumbria (E) (33) | 78% | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
Dorothy Clive Garden, Staffordshire (E) (39) | 78% | - | - | - | - | ||||||
Gibside, Tyne and Wear (E) (46) | 78% | - | |||||||||
Nymans, West Sussex (E) (123) | 78% | ||||||||||
Plas Newydd House and Gardens, Anglesey (W) (36) | 78% | - | - | - | - | - | |||||
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Kent (E) (124) | 78% | ||||||||||
Claremont Landscape Garden, Surrey (E) (57) | 77% | - | |||||||||
Hardy's Cottage, Dorset (E) (34) | 77% | - | - | - | - | - | |||||
Hardy's Cottage, Dorset (E) (49) | 77% | - | |||||||||
Rievaulx Terrace, North Yorkshire (E) (41) | 77% | - | - | - | - | ||||||
The Courts Garden, Wiltshire (E) (41) | 77% | - | - | - | - | ||||||
Winkworth Arboretum, Surrey (E) (66) | 77% | ||||||||||
Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall (E) (105) | 76% | ||||||||||
National Botanic Garden of Wales, Carmarthenshire (W) (63) | 76% | ||||||||||
Plas Newydd House and Garden, Llangollen (W) (50) | 76% | - | |||||||||
Trengwainton Garden, Cornwall (E) (41) | 76% | - | - | ||||||||
Durham University Botanic Garden, Durham (E) (30) | 75% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Eden Project, Cornwall (E) (108) | 75% | ||||||||||
Emmetts Garden, Kent (E) (61) | 75% | - | |||||||||
Hare Hill Gardens, Cheshire (E) (30) | 75% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Borde Hill Garden, West Sussex (E) (40) | 73% | - | - | ||||||||
Dyffryn Gardens, Vale of Glamorgan (W) (50) | 72% | - | |||||||||
Mottistone Manor Garden, Isle of Wight (E) (50) | 72% | - | |||||||||
University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum (E) (59) | 72% | - | |||||||||
Tradegar House, Duffryn (W) (38) | 66% | - | - | ||||||||
Helmsley Walled Garden, North Yorkshire (E) (49) | 65% | - |
TABLE NOTES Results based on an online survey of 2,489 Which? Connect panel members conducted Feb-Mar 2025. (E) = England, (S) = Scotland, (W) = Wales. Sample size in brackets. Star ratings A dash (-) means too few responses to include a star rating. Destination score Based on satisfaction with the garden and likelihood to recommend.
Best gardens in England: Coleton Fishacre House and Garden, Kingswear, Devon
Score 92%
It isn’t the first time this garden has been championed as England’s top-rated in our survey. Once again Which? members gave it full marks in a staggering number of categories, including attractiveness, value for money, lack of crowds or queues and living up to its description – the latter of which isn't easy, given its immaculate reputation.
The ‘pleasure grounds’ at this National Trust property once saw the fashionable rich of the Jazz Age sauntering along its weaving paths, admiring the tropical planting and views of the sea. Now the 24-acre garden that runs down a valley to the coast is a firm favourite with members.
Although it was created a little over 100 years ago by designer Oswald Milne with owner and plant enthusiast Lady Dorothy D’Oyly Carte, it looks and feels as though it’s a natural feature that has always been there.
Exotic plants, nurtured by the proximity of the Gulf Stream, and established trees sit comfortably among stone terraces, viewing platforms and ponds. It all provides plenty of sauntering opportunities for the modern visitor.
Best gardens in Scotland: Inverewe Garden, Highlands
Score 88%
Garden-lovers in Scotland are spoilt for choice. The highest-rated garden in our table was the beautiful but tiny Branklyn Garden in Argyll and Bute. However, for our recommendation, we've gone with Inverewe Garden, which gets five stars for attractiveness and a better score than Branklyn for its facilities.
Inverewe is an extraordinary place where, despite being in the North West of Scotland, exotic plants from India and Sri Lanka grow because of the warming effects of the Gulf Stream. Original owner Osgood Mackenzie chose to plant his garden here in 1862 because of its setting between the sea and the Torridon Hills. He transformed what was a rocky peninsula into a leafy paradise. The National Trust of Scotland continues with his work to this day.
Planning to escape into nature? Find the best National Landscapes - also known as AONBS - and Scottish Scenic Areas, for your next day out.
Best garden in Wales: Bodnant Garden, Tal-y-Cafn, Colwyn Bay
Score 86%
This top-rated garden in Wales scored full marks in six of 10 categories, including value for money, helpfulness of staff and its description matching reality.
Five stars for crowds, value for money, description matching reality, helpfulness of staff and quality of info given.
It also got five stars for its ‘wow’ factor and the photogenic star of this National Trust garden is the Laburnum Arch, a 55-metre-long pergola festooned with clusters of dangling yellow blooms in late May and early June. Spectacular though this is, the garden has much to offer year-round, bumping it up to the top of the ratings for Welsh gardens.
Created by four generations of the same family since 1875, it has a winning combination of Italianate terraces with classical statues, wide borders brimming with rare plants, and woodland, water gardens and wildflower meadows.
Wales is also home to some of Which? members’ favourite seaside destinations – read more about the UK’s best seaside towns.
Best garden in Northern Ireland: Mount Stewart, County Down (previous winner)
Score 84%
This 19th-century mansion’s charm lies in its surprising details. It offers 70 acres of land to explore – a highlight is the Italian garden, an explosion of colourful plants. Pillars run along its south side, each topped with a cement monkey. Cement animals are also found on the Dodo Terrace, as well as hedges that resemble demons.
It’s not all quirky elements in this National Trust garden, however. There are lakeside walks, opportunities to spot red squirrels, ornamental trees and pretty pergolas to enjoy – and the bounty of perennial flowers means it blooms year-round. Finish up with refreshments at the tea room, which serves up local produce.
Planning a National Trust visit? Read our guide to getting a free National Trust pass in 2026.