Amsterdam Botanical Gardens: A visit to the enchanting Hortus Botanicus

Mit Efeu bewachsener Hortus Botanicus Eingang

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A very special corner of our canal city and one of our favourite retreats is the small but very fine Hortus Botanicus, our Amsterdam Botanical Garden. Away from the tourist trails and in the lee of the major sightseeing attractions, it seems like a microcosm of tranquillity. A microcosm of ferns, lichens, palm trees, cacti, fragrant flowers and butterflies, where time stands still when you take your first step inside.

Cacti in front of a salmon-coloured wall — *Cactus impressions* ☺️

Various cacti in front of a salmon-coloured wall in the Botanic Garden in Amsterdam

In the centre of the Jewish Quarter: our Amsterdam Botanical Garden

In the east of the centre, in the middle of the Jewish Quarter (we also pass here on our Anne Frank Tour ), the overgrown gate of the Botanical Gardens is hidden. So let us enter!

Hortus Botanicus entrance with green plants — *Come in, dear ones!*

Quickly get a ticket (see the end of this blog for prices and opening times) and you’re standing between lush bamboo and the garden’s cosy little café. In summer, jazz evenings are held here almost every day. You can either sit down right away or take your Aperol Spritz with you as you stroll through the garden. There are plenty of benches and seats and you can hear the double bass with its beautiful jazz sounds throughout the park. Marvellous – a real summer evening feeling!

Tropical café outside with canopy — *The Hortus Café is always sociable.*

Off to the Amsterdam rainforest!

The highlight of the Hortus is definitely the tropical house, which can be reached via a suspension bridge (yeah!) from the neighbouring fern house. As soon as you open the door of the tropical house, the humidity of the Amazon hits you and a tropical, impenetrable greenery stretches out before you. Small paths lead through the sprawling jungle – and tropical crickets chirp in the leaves, catapulting our imagination to Borneo.

Tropical, green plants with a small pond in the greenhouse of the Amsterdam Botanical Garden — *The Amazon? Borneo? No, our Amsterdam Botanic Garden!*

Our botanical garden has many greenhouses with exotic plants — *It blooms and smells in the treetops.*

Green exotic plant with pink leaves in the greenhouse at Amsterdam Botanic Garden — *Exotic plants line the tropical house paths.*

A true place of tranquillity

Everywhere in the garden there are people reading, hobby painters with their easels or meditating sun worshippers. And yet there are always plenty of benches available, invitingly placed by the lotus and water lily pond or by the canal, waiting for us. Our canal city is only a lively bicycle chaos at first glance. At second glance, places like the Hortus show you that Amsterdam has a wonderful diversity. That’s why the Botanic Garden is one of our favourite places and has earned its place in our ‘Happy places in Amsterdam’ book.

However, the Botanic Garden is not only popular with those who want to take a short break. We have already been proposed to twice among the fragrant flowers. So watch out, dear lovers! Perhaps a visit to the Hortus will open a whole new chapter in your life. 😉

Our Amsterdam Botanic Garden has a beautiful pond with large green Amazon water lilies — *Hortus pond with giant Amazon water lily*.

Opening hours and admission

Amsterdam Botanical Garden
Daily 10 am – 5 pm
(closed 25 December, 1 January)
Tickets are available directly at the entrance to the garden or online in advance.

Admission prices:
Adults
Seniors/ Students/ Children

13,50 Euro
7 Euro