This weekend we went to check out Kew's much talked about Treetop Walkway. Being hardened London weekenders we were braced for queues, bustle and general tourist overload. It was a wonderful surprise then, to find Kew's 300 acre site a lush, garden paradise with plenty of room for all comers to amuse themselves. Even the much vaunted walkway - open just a week - was people jam free, a constant ambling stream of impressed......

Take the tree-climbing kid in you to Kew Gardens for a brand new treat -- a treetop walkway that lets you explore the canopy 18 metres above ground. Clearly not for the height-averse -- they can explore the new underground Rhizotron, which shows off root systems -- the Xtrata Treetop Walkway gives visitors new views of the gardens and west London from a sinewy path set up between oak, sweet chestnut and lime trees.......

Nasty people need not apply: 198 hate criminals were arrested across London yesterday. Boris has his thumb on high rise development… ..and on the traffic light control button: he wants to cut traffic jams. We’ll drink to that. Kew Gardens has gotten itself some twiddly add-ons with the opening of a tree-top walkway. The Carlton Club is to allow women members for the first time ever. Woop-di-doop. Enfield Lock Station. At 4.37am. From Nicobobinus’......

As if we needed anything other than the indecisive weather to spoil our springtime picnics, the oak processionary moths are back for a third year, damaging oak trees and spreading around their toxic hairs. If you didn't get the memo last year, these little critters, which emerge as caterpillars from silky, writhing nests in oak trees, produce a toxin that can cause itching, rashes, conjunctivitis and sore throats. Some people may also experience asthma-like symptoms.......

This is the final month of the Moore at Kew exhibition, the kind of attraction that "Don't Miss" columns were invented for. 28 monumental sculptors by Henry Moore are scattered throughout the grounds. Our very own Tiki Chris has recorded them in this video, with soundtrack by the pandas.......

A list of London's most popular attractions in the last year have been named. The British Museum took first place with almost 5.5 million visitors thanks to the help of a motionless army. Museum heads attributed the 12% spike in visitors to the First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army, the British Museum's most popular attraction since King Tut's goods were on display in 1972. If you want to go toe-to-toe with an army that won't......

Though this story would have been more appropriate for Valentine's Day, this love letter from long ago was returned a week late for that lovey-dovey deadline. Still, this sentimental stuff tugs at our little heartstrings, so we're happy to report that a stolen love letter, dumped in a garden at an empty house in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, and picked up by police has been returned to its author, who is still alive at 98.......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 18th February 1996: An IRA bomb explodes on a double-decker bus on Aldwych, killing the bomber and injuring eight members of the public. Tuesday – 19th February 1960: Prince Andrew is born in the Belgian Suite of Buckingham Palace. Wednesday – 20th February 1913: Two suffragettes set fire to the tea pavilion at Kew Gardens at around 3am, destroying it completely. Thursday – 21st February 1946: Alan......

What a lovely day! Confused Kew think it's spring. Westminster Council wants to get sandwich boards and placards off the streets - how will we know where the golf sale is? Post-mortem fails to reveal cause of death in headless corpse case: um, it wouldn't be 'missing head', would it? Winehouse can't get into the US, so she's moving in with the Osbournes. Abu Hamza doesn't have a choice. Cab fare home on the......

For many of us ice-skating is a terrifying experience, bringing back memories of clinging to the edge of the rink, cold feet and humiliating wipeouts. We all know it's never as serene an experience as the Christmas cards make out, but there’s a veritable plethora of skating experiences to be had across London this snowy (hopefully) season. There are rinks with a touch of class at Somerset House (21 Nov - 17 Jan) or......

We're a little fed up of worthy awareness-raising 'days'. National Tuberous Sclerosis Awareness Week might be really important, but it doesn't really turn us on. National Ammo Day in the US sounds particularly unsavoury too - not just for the subject matter, but also, for some reason, because of the abbreviation. Over here, however, the rather wondrous Chocolate Week 2007 is almost upon us! Woo-hoo! Our excitement has been uncontainable. In fact, the only......

17. A Letter Supports The Legend In Episode 7 of The Saturday Strangeness, we briefly covered the Brentford Griffin – the murky yet wondrous tale of a winged creature allegedly sighted over the capital; a legend that was quirky yet fleeting amidst confusion, panic and deception. Now, whilst such a creature may well have been nothing more than fanciful rumour, we would like to share with you a letter, submitted to Fortean Times magazine,......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 6th August 1937: Barbara Windsor is born in Shoreditch in central London. She would achieve fame as an actress, notably as a ‘saucy strumpet’ in the Carry On films of the 60s and 70s and later as a major character in Eastenders. Tuesday – 7th August 2001: The Department of Health pays £27 million for a private Harley Street heart hospital, re-nationalising it and bringing it into......

There are a million things to do in London this week, but if you fancy a night in, here are a few things to keep you occupied. On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 2 July - Friday, 6 July Wimbledon Today (BBC2, 20:00-21:00) Chances are, your workplace won’t let you watch Wimbledon during the day, so here’s your chance to catch up all week. Watch and see how many ways they can come up with......

Remember those poisonous caterpillars that were causing a fuss in Park Royal? Now the lucky residents of Kew get to share in the fun! The caterpillars, which are covered in thousands of toxic bristles , were spotted in Kew Gardens recently. Luckily, the garden's staff are on top of the situation and won't let the caterpillars turn into an infestation of Oak Processionary Moths. The incredibly high-tech solution to getting rid of the caterpillars......

Londonist read with interest over at the fine Meme Huffer that a cosmetics company has decided to capture the very aroma of London. Now, we all know that London is a singular and unique, living, breathing entity that conjures up great thoughts of architectural beauty and awesome addresses, but great smells? We think not. Sure, there are always oases of aromatic bliss like the Royal Parks in the spring or Kew Gardens pretty much......

Lesser known areas of the capital may be in store for an influx of tourists. A report from the London Assembly is urging Visit London to promote attractions outside Central London, and the Chair of the Assembly’s Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee, Dee Doocey, fully supports the findings: "Outer London is home to a range of attractions that are less obvious but just as worth a visit as those that central London......

This Day in London's History Best stay at home today. 16 October seems to be a date of doom and/or gloom for the capital. (And, incidentally, it's also Davina MaCall's birthday.) 1834: Disastrous fire at Westminster. What Guy Fawkes et al. had failed to do 200 years earlier, a bundle of old tally sticks managed in 1834. The outmoded accounting tools were set for disposal. Dickens sums up what happened next: It came to......

54 TOURS, 35 EXHIBITIONS, 19 TALKS, 5 PARTIES, 16 INSTALLATIONS, 8 FILM SCREENINGS, 5 BIG BREAKFASTS, 5 COMPETITIONS, 40 RAILINGS EXHIBITIONS AND 60 HERDWICK SHEEP So, your significant other is going to spend the entire early summer watching football? Wondering what to do with yourself? Well, why not get all enthusiastic about architecture? Throughout June, you can expect a fair few posts on London’s buildings. This month sees the tenth Architecture Week (actually 10......

There's the rest of today, all of tomorrow and all of Saturday. That's a little over two days to brace yourself and exercise your mental defences. When the clock strikes midnight and it officially becomes Sunday 26th March... that's it. It's going to be Mother's Day. Aren't mums lovely? That special lady who brought you into the world and looked after you, stayed up all night worrying and watching over you when you were......

Who really enjoys Christmas shopping in London? Seriously - who? Though it is always the thought that counts, it is sadly true that you are obliged to put the thought into physical form in order for it to count, which means putting on your coat and hitting the shops to pick up that unique and original Christmas gift - which usually turns out to be the same unique and original gift that 50 million......

Weirdly enough there's two articles in today's papers about how Britain is "in the grip" of an ice skating craze. In the Independent Jonathan Brown and Lucy Phillips are reporting on the "ice phenomenon" by conjuring up images from literary masterpieces such as Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, ("the author uses the love-struck Levin's prowess as a skater as a metaphor for passion as he vainly attempts to woo Kitty at Moscow's Zoological Gardens,") and Tom's......

We're not exactly big on gardening here at Londonist. Yes, we know it's the Chelsea Flower Show thhs week, but we just haven't reached that age yet where we can get excited about floral arrangements and shrubbery and what kind of manure is 'in' this season. But, having said all that, how cool is the Gardens of Glass exhibition at Kew Gardens? All the pieces of hand-blown glass on display are by American Dale......

The Wollemi Pine is to be reintroduced to Kew Gardens. This might not sound remarkable, but Wollemis were thought to have died out in the Jurassic era, 200 million years ago. This Coelecanth of among trees was rediscovered in a gorge in Australia in 1994. Richard Attenborough clearly isn't available for the unveiling today - good job too, considering the hash he made of his other Jurassic comeback tour - so it's being handled......

"Green army to halt weed invasion," runs the BBC headline, designed to fire the imagination if nothing else. The Evening Standard is, as ever, far more restrained and less alarmist: "BLUEBELLS FACE DEATH FROM GIANT KILLER WEED," it howls. Poor show for not being able to work in house prices or Tamara Beckwith, chaps. The actual story is this: Kew Gardens has been infiltrated by "yellowflowered perfoliate Alexanders", which may sound rather nice, but......