Tickets are on sale for visits until May 2018, as well as to March at the Manchester attraction.
New year, new hotel
If you want to start 2018 with a short break away, there are three new hotels coming to the southeast.
In London, New Road Hotel in Whitechapel opens next month on the site of an old textile factory where the owners’ father once worked.
Designed to reflect this part of the East End’s history, the hotel promises guests sleek, efficient design and five-star functionality.
Compact rooms feature Fine Bedding Company, plus hot tubs in loft rooms, and communal spaces on each floor. Rooms from £169 per night.
The traditional seaside gets a boutique twist as the luxury new Seven Hotel opens in Southend-on-Sea later this month.
With 37 individually designed bedrooms, and views to Southend Pier, the hotel will also have a gin-focused bar, stocking over 30 types, and Aurum restaurant, focusing on local Essex produce such as wild turbot, smoked celeriac and seaweed. Rooms from £100 per night.
The newest UK property from YTL Hotels opens this Spring — the intriguingly named Monkey Island Estate in Bray-on-Thames.
The island has seen monarchs, artists and writers on its shores over its 800-year history, although the name comes from the monks who lived here rather than the painted monkeys added by the Duke of Marlborough.
With 27 bedrooms and three suites set in seven acres of grounds, it will also have its own brasserie featuring modern British cuisine.
Tropical Surrey
The tropics are returning to Surrey as RHS Garden Wisley opens its Butterflies in The Glasshouse exhibit again.
Running to March 4, there will be more than 50 species of free-flying butterflies in the tropical zone, among palm and banana trees as well as the aquatic plants around the jungle pool.
New species are set to join some previous favourites, with spotter guides available to help identify the ones you see, plus a family-friendly Education Zone.
Entry is free to members, or book online for a 10% discount at the RHS website with prices starting from £14 for adults and £7 for children aged five to 16.
