Hortus Botanicus Leiden

Very pretty, well-​organized and maintained botanical garden. It’s the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands and features many things worth seeing, like the giant Victoria lily, carnivorous plants and a Japanese garden. Its fields and benches are great for relaxing on a sunny day, so it’s definitely worth buying a yearly subscription to the garden if you’re a local!

Beautiful gardens. Definitely worth checking out if you’re interested in botany or gardening, or if you just like looking at pretty plants.
Every summer they have a midsummer night gala where they put up lights and have a variety of performances in the garden, which is REALLY cool. If you’re in the area in the summertime, be sure to look into it.

Hortus Botanicus of Leiden is the Netherlands’ oldest botanical garden as well as one of the oldest in the world. It was built in 1587 though the University of Leiden for the benefit of medical students. Its first prefect Carolus Clusius, a Flemish doctor and pioneering botanist, helped formally create this botanical garden. He is also known to have laid the foundations of Dutch tulip breeding and the bulb industry today.

I love botanical gardens, and on my trip to Leiden today I went to the Universiteit Leiden Botanical Garden which is the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands that opened in1590. I didn’t see many rare crazy flowers or plants, but this place has SO much potential. They have a few green houses for tropical plants, a rose garden, dry cactus area, a Japanese garden section that was closed off today, orchid plants, and many different tree types. I think for scientists and students this is an interesting place to visit, but as part of the general public today I was looking for a real ‘wow’ moment and didn’t get it.
It only cost 2 € with student I.D. to get in, otherwise it’s still only 6 €. They also have a store which sells flower bulbs and other garden accessories, and a cute café onsite that was closed today (Sunday). I saw on their website that they sometimes have plant events, and recently hosted one for daffodils. If you are a student with a museumkaart, you get in free, and I can imagine this being a nice peaceful place to study. Worth checking out in Leiden, good idea to check the website for special events.