I am so happy that I was able to go to the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2026. The 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show took place from May 19 to 23, 2026 at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London. The highly anticipated event featured breathtaking large show gardens, the Great Pavilion, and the plant sell-off on the final afternoon. I was doing a WorkAway assignment in France, so I popped over via the Eurostar train from Paris on a Thursday, May 21 and stayed the night, and went early that next morning on Friday, May 22nd. I started to come back again on Saturday (the last day), but decided to just sightsee and explore London instead on that day, and then return back to France on Sunday morning.
So, I stayed all day on Friday until they closed. I wanted to see as much as I could. Only stopped at 4:30pm for my afternoon tea appointment. More about that later.
At the RHS site, they have a write up about the history of the show’s origins and past places it used to be located. I can’t believe that a friend of mine had never heard of the garden show. I didn’t confess that I just heard about it about 5 or 6 years ago. Seems it started back to 1827 and has been at its current location since May of 1913. It is often visited by the Royal family members which also adds a certain air of poshness to the event.
The GOOD
After reviewing this blog article, I realize that I didn’t emphasize enough what I found good (really amazingly great) about my first Chelsea Flower Show Experience. I was really impressed with:
– The selection of plants in the test gardens
– The number and variety of plants and herbs in the Pavilion
– Uniqueness and creativity of Garden Designs
– How some gardens were designed to help certain handicapped people
– Being a garden lover, and being surrounded by so many like-minded people who also love flowers, plants and gardens.
– Innovative Garden Water Fountains
– Creative and Unique Garden Statuary
– Interesting and sometimes surprising Garden Design Color Pallets
– Unexpected Combination of Companion Plants in the test gardens
– The Rose and Tulip/Bulb sections in the Pavilion Tent
– The Quality of the Outdoor Entertainment (bands and singers)
– The Room and Organization to accommodate the large number of crowds
– Availability of seating and space near the Outdoor Entertainment
– The wealth of knowledge of all the vendors (several people noticed and commented on my Ginko Baloba leaf necklace)
– The number of the display gardens
– How well-developed the display gardens looked. They looked like they were not just installed, but had been planted years ago.
– There were enough restrooms and places to get water (both bottled and water fountains), ice cream, and snacks throughout the site
– The Quality of Vendor Booth Products
– The Number of Vendor Booths
– The Relevance of Vendor Booths to Gardener and Outdoor Entertainment Needs
– The RHS Chelsea Souvenir Tote Bag (and other RHS souvenir items in their shop)
THE BAD
Lodging – Do your research (make sure you see pictures of your hotel room)
My only complaint about this weekend trip was that I did not do enough research on my hotel, I relied on Expedia site recommendations. I thought the Expedia site (showed pictures of the hotel room). It didn’t or I would have never rented such a small room. I didn’t think it was legal to have a room that small and call it a hotel room. I think they refer to them as Capsule hotel rooms. It was one of those small hotels in a brownstone-type building.
It was the smallest hotel room that I have ever been in. But it was in a nice neighborhood that was close to the Chelsea Flower Show. That was what I did my search on, walking distance to the location of the Chelsea Flower Show. It was close to the Victoria subway station, which later provided a very quick way to get to Buckingham Palace. The hotel was called the Vegas Hotel. But there was nothing ‘Vegas’ about it. I think that name also threw me. I saw that name and was thinking it would be a Vegas-sized and themed hotel. No, that was just to trick Americans into feeling comfortable booking it. The hotel was clean, and did have towels, soap, shampoo, and provided safe lodging. However, this is one of the few times I wish I had just stayed at an American hotel chain, like Hilton, Hyatt, or Sheraton or something. I didn’t measure it, but this room had a twin bed against the wall. I bet this room was only about 6 feet wide. Just room for the bed and a tiny 2-3 foot path beside it when you opened the door. London must be very expensive, because I calculated how much this room cost me for 3 days, which was about 370 Pounds (which was $500). So in USD that is about $166/night. Not a whole lot, but I thought enough to get a decent 3-star type room. When I saw this room, I was thinking that this room would only impress a homeless person. Then, I quickly became grateful that I’m not unhoused and was thankful for the room. It was too late to try to find someplace else. And I think they had already charged me, and I’m sure I wasn’t going to get my money back. I guess a decent hotel in London costs $300 – $500/night. Guess I was thinking of North Carolina prices. For that money in Thailand, you’re getting a mansion. Thailand rooms run on average $45/night, some even cheaper in Chiang Mai. Had a large nice hotel room for $23/night in Chiang Mai.
Well, I was so happy to be in walking distance to the Chelsea Flower show, that I put the room out of my mind. I was only staying there for 3 nights. Even though the maps said the Chelsea Flower Show was a quick 15-20 minute walk. I still got an Uber there and back since I didn’t feel like using my GPS or map to figure out where it was… and I know I would be doing a lot of walking after I got there.
Chelsea Afternoon Tea – Skip this (save your money)
My only disappointment with the Chelsea Flower Show was the Afternoon Tea experience. I was really looking forward to having an authentic London Afternoon Tea experience. I think that since I had a great Afternoon or High Tea experience in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada several years ago, I was expecting that level of experience or even higher.
Well, the nicest thing I could say is … it was a big disappointment. It was nowhere near the level of food presentation, service, quantity of food, and selection of teas that I was expecting. Well, I paid over $100 for that. All I can say is, don’t do it. Save your money, or spend it in one of the other Chelsea restaurants or by getting an RHS membership. I just looked at it as a lesson learned and considered it a donation to a good charity (RHS).
At the Chelsea Flower Show’s Afternoon Tea, it was just a few miniature sandwiches and sweets… all child baby doll house-sized bite-sized morsels. All just slung on a plain plate too large for the amount of food on it with both the savory and sweet items all on the same plate. I’m sharing a picture so you don’t think that I’m exaggerating. 
The only thing fancy was the descriptions of the food. All I could think was, how I actually got dressed up for this. At least I tried it, so I wouldn’t have been wondering if I missed out of some great experience. As I mentioned it before, I looked at it as just a donation to RHS. I looked up to see how much I paid for the afternoon tea. I thought I had paid around 68 pounds (around $91), but according to a google search, the RHS Afternoon Tea with champagne was 110 – 115 pounds (which was around $147-$154) in 2026.
I would advise anyone to definitely come to the Flower Show, but skip the Afternoon Tea. If you want to spend that extra money either join the RHS, or maybe eat at one of the Chelsea restaurants (some require advance reservations) instead. Or better yet, they let you bring food in…. so pack a sandwich or two and some fruit, and spread a blanket on the ground in the area where they have the outdoor entertainment. I stayed in that area for a little while, not on a blanket, but I did try some of that hard cider they were selling. It tasted good. The only thing I hate is that I really was looking forward to having Afternoon Tea in London. So I guess I need to book it on a future visit to London at the Ritz-Carlton or somewhere with a good reputation.
The Expensive Program Book (costs 18 Pounds, approx. $24) – Skip this.
It has a site map, but so what? Later I found out there were site maps posted in one or two places outside along the walking paths. But they won’t tell you that. Not sure how long I will keep this book. Just something else in my luggage.
Instead, use that money to buy the keepsake Chelsea padded Tote Bag, it costs the same amount 18 Pounds. I bought one, but if I had seen it before I bought the program book…. I wouldn’t have gotten the program book. I thought I would be lost in this huge place without the map that I thought was only in the program book. But the RHS Chelsea tote bag is more likely something that I will keep much longer than the official program book.
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Well, back to the plants. So much to see and do. The displays in front of the Pavilion were amazing, and the flowers (especially the roses) inside the large Pavilion were spectacular. Not to mention the large display gardens, which many I almost missed because I turned off the main lane too soon, although I had a map.
I did buy the souvenir padded Chelsea Tote Bag. I will keep that forever.
Seeing this show was the highlight of my vacation. I was so glad I got to see this show. If you are a garden lover, or just love flowers…. you should try to go at least once. I also was wearing a newly purchased necklace with a Ginkgo Biloba leaf on it. Everyone was commenting on it. To be honest, I didn’t know much about that plant. One vendor (a handsome young man in his mid-30’s named Paul) even showed me a tattoo that he had with that plant. I asked him, who he had a tattoo of that plant. He explained that he was a botanist and how important that plant was to studying the evolution of plants. Something about the veins in its leaves never intersect. But now newer plant species have their veins in their leaves that intersect. Still didn’t seem to be a reason to get a tattoo of a leaf on your arm. I stayed at that last booth too long. Hoping to get a charge for my phone so I would have enough juice to call an Uber back to my hotel.
Well, I can talk about flowers all day…. but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So I’ll stop here and just show you some of the pictures that I took at the Chelsea Flower Show. It was exciting to be in a place with some many people who appreciated the beauty of nature. I urge anyone who can go, just go. They have it every year in the fall. You can check the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) website for the upcoming dates. The money raised goes to charities, many of which teach children about gardening and the environment. Here is a video of Ms. Benjamin the RHS Ambassador and V.P., explaining that RHS is a charity, and how much the annual Chelsea Flower Show allows them to help so many people (especially kids).
Note: The delicious traditional English breakfast photo and the cappuccino were from my breakfast at a local neighborhood diner called “Iris”. I ate there for two mornings in a row during my London visit. That was the breakfast I had before going to the Chelsea Flower Show. Friendly staff and very good food.