Kyoto Garden

You'll find this Japanese garden tucked away in Holland Park, west London - and it genuinely feels like stepping through a portal. The garden was built in the 1990s as a gift from Kyoto city itself, which explains why it's so authentically done.

The whole thing is compact but absorbs you completely. There's a tea house where you can actually sit down with a proper cuppa, a small bridge arching over a koi pond, and stone lanterns positioned exactly as they would be in Japan. The planting is immaculate - bamboo groves, maples, moss-covered rocks - and it changes dramatically through the seasons. Spring's the obvious choice for cherry blossom pilgrims, but honestly, autumn when the maples turn is even better.

Walkers will appreciate this more than casual strollers. You need to go in with the mindset of moving slowly, observing details. Kids under eight get restless because there's not much to do besides look and walk. Teenagers who actually like gardens, though? They get it.

It's free to enter and takes about 45 minutes to do properly - longer if you're sitting with tea and genuinely absorbing the atmosphere. Go on a weekday morning if you can. Weekends get rammed with school groups.

Holland Park itself is excellent for a broader visit, and if you're staying at Lovat Parks nearby, this makes a proper morning excursion before heading back to base.