Originally published August 13, 2021
The Royal Botanical Garden is located in the center of Copenhagen, covering 10 hectares (about 25 acres). The garden was first founded in 1600 but it was moved twice before it was being established at its current location in 1870. It is affiliated with the University of Copenhagen.
The garden contains more than 13,000 species of plants and is arranged in different specialized sections including, for example, Danish plants, rock gardens with mountainous European plants, and a rhododendron garden.
It is a peaceful, non-busy place to stroll and escape the hustle and bustle of a busy urban environment. There are lots of benches on which to relax and most of the paths are handicap friendly. We visited in September, so had the added benefit of early fall colors to enjoy.
There are a variety of sculptures scattered around the ground, mostly in the Greco-Roman style.
One of the nicest feature of the garden is its pond, which is the focalpoint of the grounds. The pond has paths around it, bridges, even a population of koi.
One of the most interesting aspects of this Botanical garden is its 27 glass houses. The largest is the Palm House dating from 1874, which was funded and built by Carlsberg beer founder, J. C. Jacobsen. We’ll visit this structure in next week’s blog.
(Palm House)The garden also has a special air-conditioned greenhouse that can re-create environments suitable for Arctic plants.
There is a shop (shown in the above photo) where you can buy plants and seeds, and a café, where you can order refreshments.
The grounds are open to the public for free, although there are admission fees to the special features, such as the Palm House and Butterfly House. More on these next week.
