Chelsea Flower Show 2026: Chelsea in Bloom on Sloane Street
For one week every May, the walk from Knightsbridge to the Royal Hospital becomes the most photographed route in London. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from Tuesday 19 to Saturday 23 May 2026, with RHS members given the first days before the public arrive, and the streets between Sloane Street and the King's Road have been dressed to match. If you only have one free afternoon this week, it is worth planning it as a single route rather than two separate outings.
Chelsea in Bloom goes Out of this World
Chelsea in Bloom, the free floral festival organised by Cadogan in association with the RHS, is celebrating its 21st anniversary and runs from 18 to 24 May, a day either side of the show itself. This year's theme is Out of this World, and more than 145 retailers, restaurants and hotels have taken part, with displays drawing on space travel, astrology and spiritual symbolism.
Six large installations anchor the trail, and they are spread far enough apart to make a proper walk of it:
- Sloane Street: a mythical four metre dragon and a Pegasus, the obvious first stop if you are coming down from Knightsbridge.
- Pavilion Road: a UFO hovering over the street.
- Sloane Square: a constellation inspired by the zodiac.
- Duke of York Square: a lunar landscape.
- King's Road: a huge floral globe seen as if from space, honouring David Attenborough's 100th birthday.
The expert judges announced their winners on Tuesday, but the People's Champion Award is still open. Voting runs through the Chelsea in Bloom website and closes at midnight tonight, Thursday 21 May, with the winner revealed on Friday.
Inside the showground
Within the Royal Hospital grounds, the early talking points among this year's show gardens include the Avanade Intelligent Garden, the Komorebi Garden and The Songbird Survival Garden. Beyond the main avenue, the All About Plants gardens, the Balcony and Container Gardens and the Houseplant Studios reward a slower lap, and the Great Pavilion is where Plant of the Year and the RHS Sustainable Excellence Awards are unveiled. Friday brings Chelsea Late, when the gardens take on a more social, evening mood with music as the light drops.
A Knightsbridge way to do it
Our suggestion is to treat Sloane Street as the opening act. Start among the Sloane Street boutiques, whose windows tend to be the most ambitious on the route, then cut through to Pavilion Road for coffee and the UFO before reaching Sloane Square. From there it is a short walk south to the showground, or west along the King's Road for the globe. Doing the trail in the morning, before the showground crowds spill back into the streets, makes for far easier photographs.
Getting there
Chelsea in Bloom is free and needs no ticket. Knightsbridge and Sloane Square stations sit at either end of the trail, and the show entrance is at London Gate on Royal Hospital Road. Flower Show tickets must be bought in advance and public days sell out, so check availability before you set off. For more of what is happening around SW1 this month, see our events listings.
