Open GardensGardens you can visit

That would be great - I already know of two other members who are coming, apart from Grenville and Alan, who will be helping!

if you want to stay in a haunted house , stay at this place

The gardens and grounds of this hotel in Perthshire, Scotland, are open, free of charge, to the pulic. There are several old "speimen trees, including Redwood, Tulip Tree, Douglas Firs and Western Coastal Cedars. Formal planting schemes, heather beds, ponds, a Japanese Garden, and a kitchen garden, mean that a visit here can easilylast several hours. There are several woodland walks, some of which extend beyond the hotel grounds to link up with villages in the surrounding ountryside.

I agree - the Barbican is a real hidden treasure. Last time I was in London, however, the tropical indoors bit was no longer open to the public. Hope this has now changed.

How to get there:-

Travel Information
Car From Central London: Leave the M4 at Junction 3 and take the A312 going south. Drive straight over the A4 and at the A30 turn right.
Keep on the A30, past Hatton Cross tube on your right and over another set of traffic lights until you come to a roundabout.
Bedfont Lakes Country Park is in Clockhouse Lane, which is the third exit off the roundabout. The Bedfont Road entrance can be reached by taking the second exit off the roundabout.

Travelling from the South, West and North: Leave the M25 at Junction 13 and take the A30 towards Central London. Pass through the Crooked Billet traffic light complex and then over another set of traffic lights by Ashford Hospital. Still on the A30 you come to the roundabout where you should take the fourth exit into Clockhouse Lane, or the third exit into Bedfont Road.

There are free car parks at Clockhouse Lane and Bedfont Road entrances.

Bus Route H26 runs between Feltham, Sparrow Farm and Hatton Cross Underground Station. Bedfont Lakes is on the route.

Route 116 operates between Hounslow Bus Station and Ashford Hospital. Alight at Bedfont Green. The park is a short walk from there.

Tube Take the Piccadilly Line to Hatton Cross and then catch the H26 bus.

Train Alight at Feltham Station and then catch the H26 bus.