- garden
- (88)
-
Just an hour outside Berlin by car lies a real hidden gem. The Woerlitzer Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – is one of the most dazzling examples of landscape gardening in continental Europe. Having been inspired by a trip to England, Prince Leopold III started work on the 122 hectare public garden in 1764. Now it stands – a stunning series of labyrinthine paths, winding rivers and ponds – as an oasis of calm, and a true work of art.
For directions see
www.woerlitz-information.de/woerlitz-en/ko/anfahrt.php
Pun Pun is an organic farm, seed-saving operation, and sustainable living and learning centre based about 50km North of Chiang Mai. It offers a variety of workshops and training courses, with in-depth, hands-on experience in organic gardening, earthen house building and community living, as well as sustainability study trips.
www.earthoria.com/podcast-pun-pun-sustainable-organic-farming.html
This is a really good place for a walk or a relaxing afternoon with a book. And it's not only because of its bookish atmosphere. It's so much more than a university library. The building has a garden on the roof with some exotic plants and a small waterfall as well as many benches where you can sit and read in the sun. From a small balcony in one of the garden's corners, there is a view on the Vistula River and some of its bridges. Since the building is partly made of glass, the roof is a perfect place to watch students as they rush up and down the stairs.
It's by the Vistula River within a walking distance from the Old Town in Warsaw. Dobra 68/70, 00-312 Warszawa
This is more compact than the amazing main botanical garden in Powsin (just outside of Warsaw, and well worth a visit, too!). Located near the centre of town, it has lots of interesting nooks and crannies to investigate, and is beautifully laid out in most places. Great for an afternoon stroll away from the crowds in Lazienki Park next door. The greenhouses are open to the public in the summer, and are well worth visiting, too.
Al. Ujazdowski,
If you are walking south from the town along Al. Ujazdowski, it is on your left-hand side, just before the first entrance to Lazienki Park.
This National Trust site has a manor house, with attached farm and gardens which can all be visited. The farm is especially popular with kids - petting areas, a playground with toy tractors, feeding time (hear the pigs oink and squeal as the food approaches) and all the usual farm animals are there - horses, cows, sheep, pigs, poultry, goats, with a few guinea pigs and rabbits thrown in. There are cafes and a restaurant too.
8km southwest of Cambridge, www.wimpole.org
Found at the northern edge of the
city, this community first sprung up around the King's College campus of the university of Aberdeen around the 15th century. Take a walk along cobbled streets and walk back into time.
Also in the vicinity is Seaton Park which has a fantastic formal garden and also brilliant walks along the banks of the river Don where seals are commonly seen. You may also spot deer who can often be seen grazing.
As a former Rio de Janeiro resident (from 1983 to 1992) I suggest one of the most beautiful and also peaceful and quiet places in Rio: JardimBotânico (the Botanical Garden). From the garden you have a magnificent view from the Tijuca’sNational Park Atlantic Forest and The Christ (CristoRedentor) with His open arms blessing such a wonderful city. It is a place where you spend hours admiring local and international plant species.
JardimBotanicoalso invites us to have some meditation: it’s great!
A wonderful place to be considered when visiting Rio: it's worth it!
Botanical park near the airport. For only two euro, you can stroll around its various environments and admire all the amazing plants. A tropical hothouse includes an aquarium and iguanas. Worth a visit anytime for a budget urban nature fix and terrific for passing a couple of relaxing hours prior to check-in.
405 Promenade des Anglais
+33 (0)4 92 29 77 00
opposite Nice Cote d'Azur airport
Directions to one of Paris’s best-kept secrets: Take the Metro's Line 5 and get off at Laumière. Climb up Rue Laumière until you reach the main entrance of the most beautiful Parisian garden: Les Buttes de Chaumont.
Climb up the hill around the lake, up to the view point. Now the real secret: if you happen to be there on August 30th at about 8.20pm, you'll see the sun setting right behind the Sacre Coeur and the Montmartre hill, now that's a view that will stay with you for a while.
Paris' constant drone of traffic noise can be wearying for the footsore tourist, but if you are near to the Opera Bastille you can make an instant escape by walking up a few steps on to the Promenade Plantee.
This little heaven away from the roar of the big city is actually a reclaimed elevated railway line, 4.5km long and planted with thousands of gorgeous flowers and shrubs. Instant relaxation guaranteed, instant slowing down of pulse, and another - somewhat secret - addition to this wonderful city's delights.
If you are tired of traipsing around the Louvre and Quai d'Orsay head for the Rodin museum and garden.
Have a good look around the main house museum then head out to the lovely gardens. At the very bottom you will find some shaded sun loungers where you can catch your breath and even be sketched by the life drawing class that goes there most afternoons.
Appartment blocks that have central gardens are usually open to the public during the day, and if you press the small brass buzzer the door will open and let you in.
Deep deep into the Bois De Boulogne, so deep in fact that when you ask a taxi driver to take you there, he does not know what you are talking about, is a secret garden.
A garden exclusively inhabited by flowers and plants depicted from the heights of British literature. For here is the Jardin de Shakespeare. A fenced-off and beautiful garden, in which you will find only plants mentioned in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. Shouldn't this garden be in somewhere in Regent's Park? Well no, because it's in Paris and more.
During the summer month on the natural stage at the end of the garden, companies come to perform repertories from The Complete Works in French and in English with French subtitles. Maybe we should do the same for Alexandre Dumas in Regent's Park?!
The Chateau de Villandry and, especially, its gardens, are highly recommended if you are near Tours, or well worth going out of your way to visit if you are travelling through France.
The gardens in particular are delightful and anyone interested in growing vegetables as well as flowers will be thrilled by the extensive collections of plants set out in formal and ornamental beds surrounding this beautiful Loire chateau.
The buildings and gardens were rescued by Dr Joachim Carvallo in 1906 and have been in the care of his family ever since. Excellent shop and grounds with good access for people with mobility difficulties.
Chateau de Villandry, 37510 Villandry, near Tours, France. On route D7, some 14km west of Tours. www.chateauvillandry.com Ample free parking nearby.
The house and garden of the painter, Claude Monet (1840-1926), are now so popular that it is difficult to explore them without being accompanied, four abreast, by hundreds of people all keen to see and photograph every last feature of his kitchen, dining room, iris bed, wisteria arch and lily pool. But persist! The effort is worth it, especially if you can avoid the peak holiday periods.
The place is very beautiful, highly evocative and thoroughly well maintained. Everywhere you look, the paintings Monet created between 1883 up to his death are marvellously brought to life.
The inevitable shop, which is housed in the painter's former studio, where the huge waterlily paintings were made, is worthwhile and comprehensive. There are extensive free car parks nearby.
Fondation Claude Monet, 84 rue Claude Monet - 27620 Giverny, Eure, France. Tel (0033)(0)2 32 51 28 21. Entry 5.50 euro per person. www.fondation-monet.com
Visit the Jardins des Plantes for a quiet getaway from the hustle of the city. The rose fountain terraces are perfect for a relaxing picnic. The nearest metro is Port d'Arras - careful when you cross the road, though!
Rue du Jardin des Plantes, 59000 Lille
Tel : 03 20 52 06 83
We have spent many happy hours in the English Garden in Lille. We have particularly enjoyed the many varieties of fruit trees, many of which are fan trained or espalier trained. They are well cared for and if you are interested in gardens or gardening, you cannot fail to be charmed by this delightful place, which we understand was designed by a Frenchman.
Although our first love is fruit trees - we are still promising ourselves a trip when they are in fruit - there are also numerous other flowering plants, roses in particular, and a charming stone grotto.
We found the garden by accident many years ago, and we still return whenever we are able.
A few miles south of Truro, hidden in trees above the creeks, is Trelissick. It has beautiful gardens with a nice tea shop and is an escape from the crowds on a week day.
Afterwards, if you leave the car parked and walk down towards the ferry via the road, you can take the footpath north or south along the wooded edge of the river to find many tranquil deserted creeks where you may spot a lone heron. This is a very different side of Cornwall that many people don't see.
4 miles south of truro on the B3289
Green idyll below the bustle of the city centre. Benches, nooks and little havens for reading and relaxing, and the greenhouses for when the weather's not so friendly.
Good tablet in the shop at the main gate too.
Queen Mother's memorial is spectacularly kitsch - walk into the little stone hut and look up. You'll wonder why anybody thought that was a good idea...
Full of rhododendron and azealias and a lovely place to spend a full day out.
Free car park.
Near Beaulieu in the New Forest, which is near Southampton Hants.
Send your feedback or queries to been.there@guardian.co.uk
Search Been there
