If you’re a plant aficionado, add these Best Botanical Gardens in the world in your travel list, many of them are World Heritage Sites, and you’ll not be disappointed.
The first botanical garden was founded in Padua, Italy. It’s a World Heritage Site now and still used for Scientific Research. Learn more about it here.
1. Singapore Botanic Garden, Singapore
This 160-year old tropical garden is located at the Singapore Orchard Road shopping district. It’s surely one of the best botanical gardens in the world that spans over an area of 82-hectares with a linear distance of 2.5 km (1.6 mi). It’s open every day in the year between 5 am to 12 midnight, which makes it the only botanic garden to have this entry time. Moreover, it has more than 1200 Orchid species, a park for children, an evolution garden, a ginger garden, a rainforest, and much more.
The entry fee is free for every age group except for the entry into National Orchid Garden within the central area.
2. Denver Botanic Gardens, USA
Denver botanic garden extends over 23-acre land at the York Street in Colorado, United States. The park consists of various theme gardens, a conservatory, and a sunken amphitheater which hosts concerts during summer. It features the most extensive collection of cold temperature plants from around the world and seven gardens that include plants from Colorado and a few other neighboring states.
The garden remains open from 6 am to 9 pm, and the last entry can be done by 8:30 pm. The entry fee structure for every age group is here.
3. Nongnooch Tropical Botanical Garden, Thailand
Nongnooch botanical garden is spread over an area of 500-acre on the Sukhumvit Road in Chonburi Province, Thailand. The garden became open to the public in 1980 and since then, have become a significant tourist attraction in Thailand. The sub-division of the total area is done into various gardens, including French garden, English garden, variegated plants, butterfly hill, flower valley, and many more.
In addition to wildlife, tourists can even experience religious ceremonies, martial art demonstrations, and elephant shows. The garden is open for tourists from 8 in the morning to 6 in the evening. The entry fee for Thai adults is 200฿ and free for kids. For all Non-Thai people, it’s 500฿.
4. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London
This World Heritage Site is situated in southwest London and surely one of the best tourist attraction in London. It covers the area of 132 hectares (330 acres) and has a collection of more than 50,000 varieties of living plants. The Kew herbarium is one of the largest in the world and has around 7 million preserved plant specimens.
The Gardens remain open all days, at 10 am and close at 7 pm (entry stops at 6 pm) from Monday to Thursday. From Friday to Sunday and on bank holidays, it closes at 8.30 pm (last entry 8 pm). *Opening time changes throughout the year, for more information, visit the official website here.
5. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, South Africa
Kirstenbosch national botanical garden is located at the eastern slope of table mountain in cape town, South Africa. The 528 hectares area of the botanical garden includes a cultivated garden and a nature reserve. Ever since its foundation in 1913, it preserves the South African flora, and so the garden includes many rare and endangered plant species.
The garden is open throughout the year from 8 am to 7 pm in summers, and 8 am to 6 pm during winters. The garden inhabits a great variety of birds along with panoramic views. Entry for children above 6-18 and adults is R10 and R40 respectively. Children under six are free to enter the premises while South African students with a valid student card have to pay R25.
6. Brooklyn Botanic Garden, USA
An urban garden with a spread over 21 hectares of land including a garden within the garden, plant collections, and Steinhardt Conservatory. The garden encounters 900,000 visitors each year and showcases over 14,000 groups of plants. The garden’s specialty includes cherry trees, Japanese hill and pond garden, Cranford Rose garden, Shakespeare garden, Alice Recknagel Ireys Fragrance, water garden, and a few other gardens.
It’s situated in the heart of Brooklyn and represents a sense of praise for the environment. It’s open all days except for Mondays with a specific time for different days. On days between Tuesday and Friday, the visiting time is 10 am to 4:30 pm and on the weekend, from 10 am to 6 pm. The entry fee structure is:
Adults- $15
Senior Citizens(+65)- $8
Student(+12) with ID- $8
Children Under 12 and Fridays Before Noon- Free
Also Read: Vertical Garden Ideas for Urban Gardeners
7. Royal Botanic Gardens, Australia
This 74-acre garden is one of the most important historic botanical institutions in the world. It’s located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It’s division consists of four major zones namely, Lower Gardens, the Middle Gardens, the Palace Gardens, and the Bennelong. The layout of the garden especially reflects modern trends of landscaping designs.
It is one of the earliest surviving colonial botanic gardens in the world and one of the oldest and most extensive public cultural landscapes in Australia. The entry for every age group is free for all the people around the world, and it opens daily from 7 am to 6 pm.
8. Montreal Botanical Garden, Canada
Montreal botanical garden spans over an area of 74 hectares consisting of thematic garden and greenhouses. The wide variety of its collection of flora and facilities that it offers to its visitors is what makes it one of the most extensive botanical gardens in the world. The total area features four major gardens within the main area–The Alpine Garden, The Chinese Garden, The Japanese Garden, and The First-Nations Garden.
The botanical garden is a part of the Montreal Space For Life. It has a collection of more than 22,000 plant species and cultivars, 10 exhibition greenhouses, tree house, and more than 20 thematic gardens. It’s open every day with different timings–Saturday to Wednesday from 9 am to 6 pm, and 9 am to 7 pm on Thursdays and Fridays.
9. Imperial Palace East Garden, Japan
The imperial palace east garden is an important part of the imperial palace, the residence of the emperor of Japan. The Ninomaru pond has a few rare aquatic plants, and during summers, the surface of the pond features blooming Japanese spatterdock. Since it’s spacious, it attracts tourists to spend their spring evenings under the cherry blossom trees. The east garden remains the only part of the palace, which is open for the general public. Walking through the park is the most favorable thing that visitors like to do here.
Visitors can visit the garden for free on all weekdays except for Mondays and Fridays. Likewise, it remains closed on New Year’s Day or other special occasions. The opening hours are from 9 am to 4:30 pm.
10. Jardim Botânico, Brazil
Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden or Jardim Botanico is at the Jardim Botanico district in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro. It displays a variety of more than 6,500 species in an area of more than 54 hectares. Apart from showing Brazilian and foreign flora, it also houses historical and artistic monuments. One of the main highlighting features of the garden is the 800-yard long of towering royal palm trees. You can enjoy some peace and praise nature’s beauty at the park.
The opening hours for Mondays are 12 pm to 6 pm, and for other days it remains open from 8 am to 6 pm. The entry fee for different age groups lies between 7 to 15 Reals.
11. Desert Botanical Garden, United States
Desert botanical garden, as the name suggests, focuses on drought-tolerant plants adapting to desert conditions from Australia, Baja California, and South America. The total area expands up to 140 acres and displays a variety of Agave, acacia, Leguminosae, and Cacti.
Usual admission fee for adults ranges between $24.95 – $29.95 whereas for youth (3 to 17) it ranges between $12.95 – $15.95. It opens at 8 am daily with a restriction on the last entry at 4 pm.
12. Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo, Spain
Also known as Jardín Canario, this beautiful garden is near the Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands. It expands on approximately 27 acres and is divided into many ostentatious gardens such as–Garden of Cacti and Succulents, Garden of the Islands, Hidden Garden, Laurel-leaved Forests and many more.
It’s a true heaven for the nature lover, and the best thing about this garden is that it’s free to enter on all weekdays from 9 am to 6 pm.
13. Butchart Gardens, British Columbia
The Butchart garden is a private entity of the Butchart family since more than hundred years till now. The garden displays several bronze statues and ornamental birds from around the world. Throughout the summer, special lighting illuminates the gardens, and musical diversion takes place on the Concert field. During spring, thousands of flowering bulbs meticulously margin the garden and the autumn season is the time for fall colors and Dahlias.
This 55-acre garden encounters over one million visitors each year for its 900 bedding plant varieties and 26 greenhouses. It remains open throughout the year with different timings for every season, click here to know the opening hours.
14. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
This 79-acres herbarium features a collection of preserved plant data, which is often a central focus for scientific study. It’s rich in its horticulture displays, which includes indoor demonstrations and conservatories and international gardens. It’s home to more than 4,800 trees including some unusual varieties dating back to the 19th century.
The garden holds a series of events and also has some dining hotels for the visitors to enjoy. Some of the gardens within the main premises are- Tower Grove House and Herb Garden, Gladney Rose Garden, English Woodland Garden, etc. The hours for admission is 9 am to 5 pm daily with an entry fee of $14 for people above 13 and free entry for below the age.
15. Chicago Botanic Garden, USA
This botanical garden is a 385-acre living museum on nine islands in the cook county forest preserves. It displays a wide variety of exhibitions in the form of fine photography and artwork with horticulture displays. The garden includes 27 garden and four natural habitats–The Aquatic Garden, Bonsai Collection, The Bulb Garden, The Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden, The Circle Garden, Crescent Garden and many more.
Entry to the garden is always free; you will have to pay for the parking only. The garden is open on every day of the year on different timings, visit here.
16. Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania
This botanical garden consists of 436 hectares of land area in woodlands and meadows in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, US. It presents exotic plants, indoor and outdoor horticulture, and seasonal attractions. Visitors can enjoy events and performances, workshops, and educational lectures. Its plant collections embrace a large variety of Bonsai, Oak, Boxwood, Fern, Lilac, Orchid, and many more.
In addition to this, the garden also features plants native to South Africa and Australia. For the general public, it’s open every day from 9 am to 6 pm. The general admission fee for entry is:
Adults (19 to 61) – $23
Youth (5 to 18) – $12
Senior Citizens (+62) – $20
The prices are subject to change during the holiday season, as follows:
Adults (19 to 61) – $30
Youth (5 to 18) – $16
Senior Citizens (+62) – $27
17. New York Botanical Garden, USA
The 250-acre New York botanical garden in Bronx, New York is an excursion for nature lovers to enjoy seasonal plant varieties. Visitors can discover indoor rain forests, deserts, a river, waterfalls, and rolling green hills. The garden highlights 50 gardens within and a vintage crystal palace style greenhouse from the 1890s.
The entry fee for adults (+13) and children (2 to 12) on weekdays are $20 and $8 respectively. However, for weekends, it goes up to $25 for adults and $10 for children. NYBG remains open on all weekdays from 10 am to 6 pm except on Mondays.
18. The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, Dallas
The Dallas Arboretum garden escalates over 66-acres of land in Garland Road, East Dallas, Texas. It holds the award for being one of the best South Botanical Gardens. It’s the premier place to visit once you enter Dallas and it holds a specialty in organizing wedding and private events year around. During summers, you can enjoy outdoor concerts and water features with numerous water displays.
It opens seven days a week and Wednesday nights until 8 pm between March and October. The prices to enter the main garden ranges between $10 to $15 excluding the parking.
19. Indian Botanic Garden, India
Indian Botanic garden exhibits a wide variety of rare plants and covers over 109 hectares of land in Kolkata, India. The special collections of the garden include economic plants, medicinal plants, Palmae, Bambuseae, jasmines, water lilies, citrus, and succulents. To take special care of the environment, the Indian government has declared this as a No-Plastic Zone. Apart from plants, you can expect to see animals inside the park such as Jackal, Indian Mongoose, Indian Fox, and a large variety of snakes.
The opening time for winters is from 5:30 am to 5:30 pm while in summers, the closing time may extend up to 6 pm. For non-Indians, the entry fee is 100 INR per person.
Note: The main attraction of this garden is “The Great Banyan Tree,” which is several 100 years old. The tree itself is like a thick forest, covering the area of 18,918 square meters (4.67 acres).
The best botanical garden I have come across is in Leuven, Belgium. It is free and beautifully maintained and well worth the trip.
It is much of a surprise that Peradenya botanical gardens in Kandy (Sri Lanka) is not even mentionned. In my opinion, they are the best in the world (even better than Singapore).
Thank you for the suggestion. After verification, we’ll add it.
Thanks for your article provided a lot of information. I like your post, keep going to bring good things to life. They are extremely beautiful.
Thanks for sharing this good information, these are very beautiful garden
Nice
Thanks for sharing this idea
Thank you for your interesting compilation.
Please add Schoenbrunn Gardens Vienna to your list.
Great recommendation! Would love to visit Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Chicago Botanic Garden soon.
El Jardin Botanico de Bogota, Colombia, has added the six-greenhouse Tropicario complex (inaugurated in Dec 2020) which features ecosystems from the Amazon rainforest through to the Andean paramo, exemplifying one of the most biodiverse countries in the world.
Seems a bit too heavy USA/North America Kandy and Mauritiusdeserve a mention