1. SINGAPORE GARDENS BY THE BAY

Web-site: www.gardensbythebay.com.sg
Address: 18 Marina Gardens Dr, Singapore 018953
Opening hours: 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM every day
Entrance fee: for the Flower Dome & Cloud Forest 41 euros per adult and 32 euros for children (up to 12 years old).
Opening: June 29, 2012
Area: 105 hectares (260 acres).
What makes this botanical garden one of the best? Beyond the flora and fauna here, visitors are delighted with the architecture which is in complete harmony with nature. In the flower dome (Flower Dome) there is eternal spring and only here you can see a number of unusual plants from the Mediterranean to the African savannas, all arranged in a wonderful way. This greenhouse holds the Guinness World Record for the largest glass greenhouse in the world! No less unique is the Cloud Forest,  which houses one of the highest waterfalls in the world indoors. Here you can walk through cloud terraces and see plants that live over 2000 meters above sea level. Especially interesting are the carnivorous plants, as well as the cave. The whole complex is a true masterpiece of natural wonders and unique architecture – a place beyond perception.

2. SINGAPORE BOTANICAL GARDEN

Web-site: www.nparks.gov.sg/SBG
Address: 1 Cluny Rd, Singapore 259569
Opening hours: from 5.00 am to 00:00 pm every day
Entrance fee: free, only the part with the orchids is paid (€3 for an adult and €0.7 for children over 12 years old)
Opening: 1859
Area: 82 hectares (200 acres)
What makes this botanical garden one of the best? The Botanical Gardens of Singapore has it all. With its 165-year history, the gardens are filled with cultural, historical and architectural significance, making it one of three gardens and the only tropical garden to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (the other two being Kew Gardens in England and the Padua Gardens in Italy).  Here you can see the National Orchid Garden with over 1000 species and 2000 hybrids, as well as the Jacob Ballas Children’s Botanical Garden, which is the first garden in Asia dedicated to children.

3. MAINAU ISLAND, GERMANY

Web-site: www.mainau.de
Address: Mainau Island, Lake Konstanz, Germany
Opening hours: from 9.00 to 18:00 every day
Entrance fee: 12 euros for adults and 8 euros for students, under 12 years old admission is free.
Opening: 1932 opens its doors to visitors
Area: 45 hectares
What makes this botanical garden one of the best? The vast park, the baroque palace complex and, above all, the impressive splendor of flowers on the island of Mainau attract over one million visitors every year. The island is a wonderful place for children and adults with many attractions and places to play. Mainau is worth visiting all year round, with different flower gardens every month – tulips predominate in spring, roses in summer, in the fall, there are many purple and blue autumn asters, and in the winter, evergreens are given out, which enhance the magic of the island. In addition to flowers, the island is also famous for its butterfly house.

4. KEUKENHOF, NETHERLANDS

Web-site: https://keukenhof.nl/en/
Address: Stationsweg 166A, 2161 AM Lisse, Netherlands
Working hours: from 8.00 am to 7:00 pm from 20.03.2025 to 11.05.2025
Entrance fee: €20 for adults and €9 for children from 4 to 17 years old.
Opening: 1950 opens its doors to visitors
Area: 32 hectares (79 acres)
What makes this botanical garden one of the best? Keukenhof is nicknamed “the most beautiful spring garden in the world” and undoubtedly this place is unique with its over 7 million tulips, different in color and shape, which are arranged with a different theme every year. In addition to tulips, there is a wide variety of other flowers, such as daffodils, hyacinths, etc., as well as trees, with over 100 species of fruit trees blooming beautifully in spring,  when the park is open and create a unique atmosphere. The park can be explored on foot and by boat, and there are separate attractions for all ages – playgrounds, a small zoo with pets, a labyrinth of tall bushes, etc.

5. SIGURTA, ITALY

Web-site: www.greatgardensoftheworld.com
Address: Via Cavour, 1, 37067 Valeggio sul Mincio VR, Italy
Working hours: from 9.00 to 19:00 from 08.03.2025 to 10.11.2025
Entrance fee: 18 euros for adults and 10 euros for children from 5 to 14 years old.
Opening: 1978 opens its doors to visitors
Area: 60 hectares
What makes this botanical garden one of the best? The Sigurta Park has won the award for the most beautiful park in Italy several times. The garden park dates back to the 15th century, when the area was used as an orchard. Over time, the gardens have been redeveloped and restored and now have wide meadows, small forests, a 400-year-old oak, water facilities, an herb garden, as well as thousands of flowers that bloom all year round.  The park can be explored by a tourist train or with electric golf carts, which is a very fun and pleasant way to move through the many attractions, including the Labyrinth, the cave, the sundial of Romeo and Juliet, the castle, etc.

6. THE UNIVERSITY BOTANIC GARDEN BALCHIK, BULGARIA

Web-site: www.ubg-bg.com
Address: Acad. Daki Yordanov Str., The Palace, 9600 Balchik
Working hours: April: 8.30 a.m. – 7.00 p.m.; May – August: 8.00 a.m. – 8.00 p.m.; September: 8.00 a.m. – 7.00 p.m. October: 8.30 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. November – March: 8.30 a.m. – 5.00 p.m.
Entrance fee: 15 BGN for adults and 6 BGN for children
Opening: 1955
Area: 194 acres
What makes this botanical garden one of the best?  The Botanical Garden in Balchik is part of the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. It is located in the Architectural and Park Complex “The Palace” (the former summer residence of the Romanian Queen Maria). The park is located along the seashore, on separate terraces, gardens, connected to each other by stairs, green tunnels and arches. The Botanical Garden specializes in the development of collections of tropical and subtropical plants, and is known for its collection of cacti. Especially interesting are exotic species such as rubber and candy wood, ancient ginkgo, etc.

7. THE EXCOTIC GARDEN IN MONACO

Web-site: www.jardin-exotique.mc
Address: 62 Bd du Jardin Exotique, 98000 Monaco
Opening hours: The Exotic Garden is closed in 2024 due to renovations, with the botanical center open every day from Tuesday and Saturday from 08:30 to 15:30
Entrance fee: 7.20 euros is a ticket, that includes a tour of the Exotic Garden, temporary exhibitions, the cave at the Observatory and the Prehistoric Anthropological Museum
Opening:  February 1933
Area: 15 hectares
What makes this botanical garden one of the best?  High on the cliffs overlooking Monaco, the Exotic Garden is an exhibition of nature’s abundance, strangeness and surrealism. Spread over an area of about 15 hectares, the Exotic Garden is home to a thousand cacti and other succulent plants with stems or hypertrophic leaves that store water. It is one of Monaco’s most visited tourist attractions.

8. BOTANICAL GARDEN IN PALERMO, ITALY / ORTO BOTANICO DI PALERMO

Web-site: www.ortobotanico.unipa.it
Address: Via Lincoln, 2, 90133 Palermo
Opening hours: every day (except January 1 and December 25); January-February and November to December: 09:00 – 17:00; March and October 09:00 – 18:00; April and September from 09:00 to 19:00; May-August 09:00 to 20:00
Entrance fee: 7 euros for adults and 4 euros for children, there is also a family ticket for 15 euros
Opening:  1795
Area: 30 acres
What makes this botanical garden one of the best?  The Palermo Botanical Garden was founded by the University of Palermo and is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. It is a veritable green oasis of tranquility and worth a visit. Goethe described it as the most beautiful place in Italy in 1787, and today more than 12,000 plants grow here, which is facilitated by the favorable climate of the island of Sicily.

9. THE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF TENERIFE, SPAIN

Web-site: www.instagram.com/jardin_botanico_jao/
Address: Jardín de Aclimatación de La Orotava – Puerto de La Cruz
Opening hours: from 9.00 to 18:00
Entrance fee: 3 euros
Opening: 17 August 1788
Area: 20,000 sq.m.
What makes this botanical garden one of the best?  The Botanical Garden of Puerto de la Cruz is one of the first botanical gardens I visited and it impressed me greatly. It is quite small, but it is the second oldest among the botanical gardens in Spain, after the one in Madrid. It has an interesting collection of 1,500 subtropical species. The good climate of the island of Tenerife predisposes to the growth of hundreds of different plants brought from Europe, Africa and America. Here you can see the unique for the island (and its symbol) dragon tree, which lives for hundreds of years and reaches enormous sizes.

10. SAN ANTON’S GARDEN IN MALTA

Web-site: www.malta.com/en/attraction/culture/garden-park/san-anton-gardens
Address: Triq Birbal, Ħal Balzan, Malta
Opening hours: from 7.00 to 18:00
Entrance fee: free of charge
Opening: 1882
Area: 47 hectares
What makes this botanical garden one of the best?  The San Anton Gardens is one of the most beautiful gardens in Malta with a wide variety of beautiful flowers and plants – a magnificent botanical garden and a historic oasis, with numerous ponds with ducks and turtles. The variety of trees and flowers is great, with some of the trees being huge and more than three centuries old! Various alleys run along the lakes, fountains and beautiful sculptures, and all this is surrounded by many flowers.

11. BAI ORCHID AND BUTTERFLY FARM NEAR CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

Web-site: www.chiangmaitravelhub.com/attractions/bai-orchid-and-butterfly-farm/
Address: 3/1 Moo 7 Rimtai Maerim Chiang Mai 50180 Thailand
Opening hours: from 7.30 am to 5:00 pm
Entrance fee: 1 euro
Area: 9 hectares
What makes this botanical garden one of the best?  Thailand is the largest exporter of orchids in the world, so I highly recommend visiting this wonderful country to explore one of the many orchid farms. Especially beautiful is the one near Chiang Mei, which is only a few km from the Queen Sirirkit Botanic Garden. The farm grows thousands of orchids, and there is also an enclosure with hundreds of beautiful butterflies,  which makes the place magical for taking photos.