Cambridge University Botanic Garden
About
Forty acres of planted garden a five-minute walk from the railway station, founded in 1831 and holding a systematic beds collection, glasshouse ranges, a rock garden with a limestone ravine, and a winter garden planted specifically for scent and colour in the darkest months. It is a working scientific and teaching garden as well as a public one, run by the university's Department of Plant Sciences, and it is deliberately planted to give a reason to visit in every season rather than just at peak bloom. Two entrances, on Trumpington Road and Hills Road, both lead to the same grounds.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓The systematic beds, showing plant families side by side
- ✓A winter garden planted for scent and colour from December to February
- ✓Glasshouse ranges including alpine and tropical collections
- ✓A limestone rock garden with a constructed ravine
Tips
- →Open 10:00-18:00 April to September, shorter hours the rest of the year; check current seasonal times before visiting.
- →The winter garden, planted for scent and bark colour, is the best reason to visit between December and February when most gardens have nothing on show.
- →Under-17s and University of Cambridge students with valid ID enter free.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
King's College Chapel
Henry VI's fan-vaulted chapel, the defining image of Cambridge, with a Rubens altarpiece and daily term-time evensong. Book ahead; hours vary.
The Fitzwilliam Museum
The university's free fine art and antiquities museum on Trumpington Street: Egyptian, Roman, medieval manuscripts, Titian, Turner. Free entry.
Kettle's Yard
A modernist house-turned-gallery near Magdalene Bridge, the Edes' home filled with twentieth-century art. Free entry, closed Mondays.