Greetings from London!
A week or two before Halloween, I randomly stumbled across an advertisement for the Halloween Trail at Kew Gardens, London and boy, oh boy, was I over the moon! In retrospective, it was cute but (sadly) not psycho…
I had never done the Halloween Trail before but I visited Christmas at Kew a few years ago, and I still remember how much I enjoyed it and how impressed I was. Christmas at Kew is a spectacular production which uses both technology and traditional decorations to create those sweet Christmas vibes. If you find yourself in London in November or December, don’t miss it, it’s one of the best Christmas events out there! Halloween at Kew is created by the same team, so when I visited the official website, I was delighted to see that tickets were still available. I told my husband who has never done any of the trails at Kew that he is in for a treat, and I booked two tickets.
We visited the Halloween Trail at Kew Gardens on one of the evening slots on a Tuesday night, a couple of days before Halloween. When we got there, it became clear that even though it was 8pm, two hours before closing, on a weekday, we weren’t going to avoid the crowds. Indeed, it was quite crowded, especially in the beginning of the trail which kind of killed the vibes on what was intended to be an atmospheric and spooky experience.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the installations were indeed atmospheric and spooky. There were all your usual Halloween treats, skeletons, creepy circus, cemetery, big spiders and lots more. I specifically loved the Corpse Bride (played by a real, living (!) person)! Everything was tastefully done and successfully accompanied by creepy music, spooky sound effects and lots and lots of (fake) smoke. As you can see in the photos, everything was so lovingly done and well put together.
So, what was the problem then? Well, if you are a family with young children, there is no problem. You see where I am going with this. Everything was PG-rated. This was a truly and completely family focused event. While it was indeed advertised as family friendly, I would say that the target audience was exclusively families with young children. In fact, a family with teens would probably feel the same way as we did. While everything was beautifully and artfully presented, where are the really scary bits?
Christmas at Kew is impressive and evocative for everyone. I was truly impressed by the technology and scale of the installations and even moved at times. Halloween at Kew is smaller in scope which I wouldn’t mind if it weren’t for the fact that it aims to impress children. I am not sure if that is because Halloween as a holiday is hardly as big in the UK as Christmas or because it coincides with half-term (UK autumn school break).
All in all, while I would definitely go to Christmas at Kew again (even with an adults-only group), I wouldn’t really visit Halloween at Kew again unless my nephews were with me, in which case I would be delighted to take them there! As I mentioned previously, the fact that the trail was super busy really didn’t help either. Even if the organisers’ goal is that this is a family oriented event, they really need to address visitors’ numbers (why not extend the duration of the event throughout the whole of October rather than the last two weeks that it currently lasts for?)
That’s all from me, and Happy Halloween!
Published: 29th October 2025.
This is not a sponsored post & I am not affiliated with any of the businesses or organisations mentioned.
What is a microblog? In my case, it’s a blog within a blog. I am keeping this part of the blog as a space where I write down quick thoughts in the form of mini posts about random travel related experiences, as they happen, as well as some news and stories from London! The plan is that I post often and keep it short and sweet, so check back soon!