IT IS perhaps a paradox that, to seek the solace of the countryside, one should head for the city. But that, in these still benighted days of foot-and-mouth, is exactly how we found an escape route from our rural restrictions.

Our therapy for having been cooped up in a heavily-restricted area of North Yorkshire was a trip to that paradise for all English landscape lovers - Kew Gardens - and to swap the confines of Richmond, North Yorkshire, for the freedom of Richmond, Surrey.

We chose to stay at the Kingston Lodge Hotel, in Kingston-upon-Thames, for its situation - it is easily accessible by train from Darlington, it is only a short bus ride from Kew and, just to make you completely spoiled for choice, handily placed for all the sights and delights of the city of London. And, being one of the Fort group's Heritage Hotels, we knew we could expect the highest standards of hospitality and comfort.

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, originally two royal estates joined together in the time of George III, now cover 300 acres and contain the finest plant collection in the world.

Botanists have developed the magnificent gardens into a leading centre for science and conservation and, as well as 30,000 different types of living plants, the global resource includes millions of preserved specimens, seeds and also DNA samples.

The latest development is the Millennium Seed Bank, which will open in mid-September. A Noah's Ark for the world's plants, seeds are being stored at -20C in a vault where they can survive for 200 years. It is feared that 25 per cent of the world's plant species could disappear in the next 50 years and the Millennium Seed Bank is an international joint effort to meet this threat.

Must-see features of the gardens include the Victorian Palm House, over 2,000 square metres of glasshouse containing cocoa, rubber and banana growing among tropical plants from all over the world - some of which were collected by pioneering Victorian plantsmen. Climb the wrought-iron spiral staircase to the elevated walkway and look down on an amazing tropical paradise.

The Princess of Wales Conservatory contains ten climate zones, ranging from steamy rainforest to arid desert. See tiny orchids, the most incredible Wild West-style cacti and giant waterlilies. The Conservatory also houses an aquarium designed to delight and amaze the children with fish of shark-like proportions, poisonous frogs and a colony of truly fascinating leaf cutter ants.

The bluebell woods, an undisturbed legacy from Queen Victoria, are in the conservation area of the gardens. Managed as native woodland, the area is a priority for bird watchers. In fact, because of the late spring and cold growing conditions, the bluebells were still at their best when we visited in mid-May.

We toured the outskirts of the gardens in the "people-mover" Kew Explorer, a train of several covered carriages towed behind an electric vehicle, which, for £2.50, takes you quietly and gently around the gardens while the driver gives a very informative commentary on the points of interest. Well worth the trip.

The Explorer takes 35 minutes to complete a full circuit and makes eight stops. You can get off and on as often as you like as the cars pass around the gardens.

After a full day at Kew, it was wonderful to look forward to a long soak in the bath, dinner and a relaxing evening at the Kingston Lodge.

Although in a very busy part of the town, the hotel is quiet and relaxed and, with many of the bedrooms facing onto a courtyard garden, the feel is of a country inn. The rooms, which are furnished in a country house style, with great attention to detail, are extremely comfortable, providing a very welcome respite after a busy day.

We found the staff at Kingston Lodge very friendly and helpful, the menu innovative and the food excellent. And, in an age when it seems that many hotels are just anonymous parts of a chain, it is refreshing to find a group where so much attention has been paid to individuality and style.

Heritage Hotels have 48 properties in the UK's best rural and ancient city locations. The group also offers speciality breaks, including golf, classic cars, murder mystery weekends and classical music house parties.

Other places of interest within easy reach of the Kingston Lodge include Hampton Court Palace, the Tudor mansion built in 1515 by Cardinal Wolsey and presented to Henry VIII in 1529, who then made it one of the most luxurious palaces in the kingdom. Visitors can tour the grand apartments with their stunning tapestries and paintings and, in the magnificent gardens, you can explore the famous maze and see the Great Vine, planted back in 1769 and still going strong.

Ham House, a fine Jacobean house owned by the National Trust, is open to the public, as is the Palladian-style villa, Marble Hill House, built in the 1720s for George II's mistress, Henrietta Howard.

Or, you could take a river view of the sights with a relaxing Thames cruise. There are daily sailings from Kew to Hampton Court