The Botanical Gardens (Jardin Botanique de l’Université de Strasbourg) is a living museum of world plants. It is both a pleasure garden and an educational site for students of the University of Strasbourg. Discover 6,000 plant species exhibited in greenhouses and outdoor displays set around an 8.6-acre (3.5-hectare) park. The garden was established in 1884 on the site of an early 19th-century garden, which makes it one of the oldest in France.
A big attraction of the gardens is its 39-foot-tall (12-meter) tropical greenhouse, which has over 450 plant varieties from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. See banana trees, ferns, lianas and palms, among other exotic trees. Spot carnivorous plants and edibles such as cinnamon, papaya and sugar cane. There is also a cold house with cacti, succulents and other species from worldwide regions that experience warm winters.
In the outdoor area, the arboretum has more than 2,000 shrubs and trees. Gaze up at conifers, hardwoods, pecans and sequoias. The bald cypresses here reach heights of 115 feet (35 meters). A Caucasian walnut has a trunk with a circumference of 16 feet (5 meters).
Look for information signs accompanying the majority of the plants and providing the common name, scientific name and region. When visiting it’s often possible to meet groups of university students and school children, who come to participate in educational workshops.
The garden is part of the University of Strasbourg campus, located between the city’s Esplanade and Orangerie quarters. Get here by catching a bus or tram to the Université stop. Metered parking is available on the surrounding streets. Nearby visit the Strasbourg Observatory and Strasbourg Planetarium.
Admission is free to Strasbourg’s Botanical Gardens. It is open in the afternoon from March through December. Free guided tours are offered on Sunday. Find full details on the attraction’s official website, in addition to information about special events such as sound and light shows.
