National Botanic Gardens

The National Botanic Gardens in Dublin are beautiful. It’s free in all year round, although, you can do some guided walks for a small fee.
The flowers are spectacular. They have events running throughout the summer each year. Different shows, workshops and lectures.
It’s a great place to visit — even if you’re from Dublin. It’s definitely something to see. Perfect place to take some very pretty pictures, too.

I hadn’t been to the botanic gardens in a couple of years but I will be going to it more frequently now. The plants there were so beautiful and the layout of the gardens is fantastic.
I went there earlier this month when the sculpture gallery was on. I have to say that was one of the best things I have ever seen. The sculptures were absolutely amazing, there was not one of them that I can say I didn’t like. The only bad thing is that I didn’t get to see them all. Some of them were too far away from the others which is why I didn’t see them. I hope the sculpture gallery comes back to the botanic gardens and hopefully on for a longer period of time or else have it on more than once a year.

If you can face the trek to the north end of town (I’m from down the south side of the city, and its a long bus ride) — it’s well worth your time to go for a stroll round the Botanic Gardens. From the amazing glasshouses filled with exotic blooms, to strolling through the trees down by the river, from enjoying the colourful flowers, to trying to locate all the different sculptures dotted round the grounds, the gardens have something for everyone.

This was the best attraction I visited in Dublin! The gardens are tranquil and beautiful, with both local and exotic plants and paths and sculptures. The vegetable and herb garden had the biggest, healthiest cabbages I have ever seen, and against a backdrop of giant sunflowers and orchard trees. The tree garden is heavenly. The rose garden was excellent – the greenhouses extensive. The canteen had excellent food at reasonable prices. This is a wonderful day out in Dublin. Take your time. Oh – and it’s FREE!

I’ve been visiting the Botanic Gardens regularly for 30 years and they never disappoint. Have a lovely wander around the gardens and if it rains you can tour the greenhouses or nip into the lovely restaurant for a bite to eat.

Great activity to do when your tryna save a few bob– free admission — location is handy… one or two buses from city center brings you straight outside, we got one right from O’Connell street… great for a change of scenery and a walk and fresh air … it is what it is. its what you make of it — as thats really all it is — scenery and a walk :-) — a glorified park… obviously the best time to go is the summer and such when everything has bloomed — but sure even in the autumn or whatever it isn’t bad to grab a coffee and sit on one of the benches or something … they have a café on the premises — food great but the place itself reminds me of a canteen in the hospital … it is also a great way to learn about all the different plants and such and a fair bit is grown here… banana trees, lemon trees, coconut trees and all are provided with signs and info. like an outdoor museum :-)

We wandered over to the Botanic Gardens quite absent-​mindedly during a stroll through the Glasnevin Cemetery one afternoon, and were very pleasantly surprised! The greenhouses are teaming with exotic plants and colorful displays (and are also a great place to escape to during the occasional April shower) and the large wooded area past the main gardens made for a peaceful and enjoyable spring afternoon.

I’m not sure how in my almost 10 years in Dublin I hadn’t heard of the National Botanic Gardens before.
I went there at the weekend since (for once at this time of the year!) it was a sunny morning.
Spent a couple of hours wandering around and taking pictures. The glasshouses are pretty cool in terms of both structure and variety of exotic plants and flowers inside.
Despite not being the best season to visit I really enjoyed it and will definitely go back in spring/​summer to check out flowers and trees in full bloom.

On a sunny day there is nowhere nicer than botanic gardens for a leisurely stroll. As always the gardens are maintained to highest levels.
Good exhibition at the moment as well which is fun for adults and kids.
Coffee shop is excellent with a vast range of mouthwatering cakes and pastries along with hot meals and sambos.
Worth a visit!

I like seeing what flowers are in season and how they look like. The orchids are wow, I just love them all. The Botanic garden is well kept, cleaned and elegant at the same time. They are proud of it and I like to see it time to time. You can spend all day there admiring nature and beauty offered by gardens who take care of plants. It is huge, few hours just fly by. I like the fact that you can have it for free, go there with you partner, friend and kids and feel happy. Flowers make us happy, the botanic garden knows it and does it best to keep it up!

This place is great. Love parks, nature and animals? What are you waiting for? Did I just sound like a TV ad? Hmm… :)
It’s nice there, come on a sunny day, then it becomes 10 times better. Squirrels are friendly, ducks are brave, plants are still (on a non windy day). You’ll enjoy.
Few hours of time to spend and that’s all. Been there once, will come back here soon.

a beautiful, quiet and peaceful way to spend an afternoon, these gardens have a lot to offer anyone. A walk The rose garden is gorgeous this time of year.
Oh and they are free!

I truly enjoyed seeing the range of plant life, the section that looks just like Monet’s garden and the beautiful Victorian era green house. There are many peaceful places throughout where you can easily bring a blanket and a good book and relax for a few hours. There is also a very nice café and visitor center where you can learn more.

How in my 39 years I had not set foot through the gates of the Botanic Gardens before this is beyond me, particularly since I get such a kick out of all things green and flowery.
After 2 hours of wandering and exploring we had only just scratched to surface, the place is vast and lends itself to hours of happy wandering and pottering.
We shall be back — very very soon.
Oh, absolutely worth mentioning — the café there is superb, It feels a bit basic but serves up some spectacular cakes (which we indulged in), some good looking food and some very bad coffee (get the tea, much better). The cost was not extortionate by any means.

The Botanic Gardens are the most splendid, tranquil and idyllic settings you will find in a city setting. We spent nearly 4 hours there. The gardens themselves are beautiful, with many diverse areas and gorgeous plantings. The glasshouses are stunning, full of tropical and exotic trees and flowers from around the Globe. A real feast for the senses! Admission is free.
Highly recommended if you want to lose yourself in nature for a few hours and get away from the hustle and bustle!

This is one of the best spots in Dublin to wile away and afternoon. Compared to other botanic gardens such as Kew it is small, but it is perfectly formed and packs a real punch.
The last time I was here I was so impressed by the amount of art installations, it had increased significantly even in the 4 months since I was last here. There was also an extensive and random assortment of temporary installations, the gardens really was a buzz of activity.
There is also a lovely tearooms near the entrance, the cakes are great ;-)
P. S. While you’re in the area pop into Glasnevin Cemetery and explore Dublin’s history in our garden cemetery…

How on earth have I lived in this city for so long and only just this very day gone to visit one of its most beautiful attractions? There is no question that I will be going back — again and again and again. It is the perfect countryside retreat fifteen minutes from the city centre. It’s free and easily accessible by bus or by car. There is parking available on site, according to the website, but I personally could not see the entrance and instead found free street parking nearby.
The green houses are definite highlights — every single one of them. There is also a vegetable garden, a rose garden, a rock garden, bee hives, and an area that looks a little bit like the Burren in Co. Clare. What I really loved about the Botanic Gardens, however, was the array of treasures — be it trees, flowers, rivers, beautiful bridges, statues, riotous squirrels or swooping herons — to be found no matter what path you took. The Gardens are an ecosystem unto themselves, and for me there was just too much to see in the one trip, though I was here for over four hours. Furthermore, the sense of space is sublime and no matter how busy it gets there’s always a secluded spot where you can just chill out. There are benches everywhere and the grounds are very well maintained.
If you’re hungry, or it starts to rain, there’s a lovely café on site, which has a nice choice of sandwiches, salads and light meals. There is also a restaurant for when your appetite requires something more substantial.
Dublin city, for me, just does not get much better than this.

On a sunny bank holiday in May, there may be no better place to come to observe almost as broad a cross-​section of Dublin life as its worldwide plant counterparts, for on such days Dubliners in search of diversion flock to these gardens in their droves. All ages, shapes and sizes are to be found wandering its grounds, happily lulled into an easy sense of harmony with nature, however man-​made.
And why wouldn’t they? This Irish treasure is big, beautiful, and exudes a welcoming atmosphere, with the exception of the odd underwhelmed botanist whom you’d guess may have devoted their life to plants to escape all that messy human-​interaction business, as they glare beadily at anyone who gets too close to a rooted thing for their liking. But, in the main, Homo sapiens is a welcome genus here.
In all seasons, the Bots, their local moniker, are well worth a visit, and there is artistic life to enjoy including the stunning new DNA sculpture of a double helix, down by the river, which was recently unveiled in the presence of none other than D-​H discoverer himself, Nobel laureate Jim Watson.
In spring and summer, though, the gardens come into their own, and the array of colour and diversity stops people in their tracks. You can almost taste the delicious aroma that wafts your way as you walk the flower pathways. There’s also an organic walled garden and bee hives.
The Tolka River runs through the Bots and there are large ponds which are gorgeous to sit beside and read or have a picnic, though I think that strictly speaking picnicking is out here, so it wouldn’t be a lavish or overt affair. Surreptitious snacking, let’s call it.
There are two cafes, one large and a little canteen-​feeling, but run by very friendly staff, even if the quality of the food doesn’t quite live up to the service. I think it’s improved over the past while though and there’s a good range as they attempt to cater to all tastes. The alternative, newer café has less choice but is pretty good, and has a good range of cakes and sweet things. Oh, and the ubiquitous whipped ice cream (an Irish institution) that kids go crazy for when the clouds split for even five minutes (which, go figure, is the amount of time it takes for the vans that churn out the stuff to arrive, happiness-​sirens sounding, in a suburban estate near you).
SAD sufferers far and wide can take winter refuge in the huge central glasshouse, in fact I’ve harboured fantasies of moving in for just a week or two in the darkest months, its tropical temperatures being a welcome reprieve from the cold and grey, as you become temporarily engulfed in a canopy of green. There’s a little bamboo house in its centre, and my kids have spent many happy times here playing games as I’ve sat on the steps and gazed into the mini-​jungle of green, lapping up the warmth.
The Bots borders Glasnevin cemetery and I have it on good advice that before too long there will be an adjoining gate between the two, which is a fantastic plan as both are places of great interest and exploratory possibility, yet to get from one to the other currently is quite the round trip. So come on Dublin council, make good on your promise and don’t make us wait.
One of the things I love most about this place is that it’s not a park (with added advantage of no dogs, therefore no messes on kids’ shoes), there is no playground, and therefore kids are ushered into the world of self-​invented play. Trees with canopies become houses, sticks and fallen foliage are gathered and put to use, mostly clean-​intentioned, and they proudly collect the small spoils of nature so essential to their adventures in the outdoors. It brings me back, and I never walk the river path without remembering my own indelible childhood moment from these gardens: age five or six, stopping with an open lace along that path and being shown how to tie it and, for the first time, succeeding all by myself.
The Botanical Gardens is a great place to make memories, to watch children bloom, to take an elderly parent or relative, to talk with friends, to walk, draw or read a book by yourself, in an environment of botanical glory. So, not a bad spot to be a botanist, too. But, most of all, the perfect place to simply be.

Great place to go when you’re stressed out and want to just walk around and look at something pretty (and not papers that you have to write!) I’ve been a few times now and its always different because of the changing weather in Ireland and I think I liked it the most in the Fall due to leaves changing colours.

The National Botanic Gardens never fails to impress me.
This place has everything for both the park /​garden enthusiast to the horticultural /​botanical professional.
And thanks to mother nature, it changes every month… every day if you look hard enough ;)
On this occasion Autumn was starting to kick in, but yet there were still fabulous flowers in bloom. Colour central with bees and butterflies feasting.
Also the Sculpture in Context Exhibition 2011 was on, so there were these amazing art installations all around the grounds, inside and outside. Bonus.
Another thing that also makes me happy is the 83 bus takes me from practically my door to its gate. Hurrah!

Encantador sitio para pasar la mañana o la tarde dando un paseo por sus invernaderos o jardines. Los invernaderos tienen su propio clima para acoger las plantas de diversas partes del mundo, recomiendo visitarlos por lo que es necesario vigilar la hora a la que se vaya para no llevarse una sorpresa. En la página web pueden verse los horarios del jardín y de cada edificio (que cierran como una hora antes del cierre del jardín) Hay un precioso lago y caminos que recorren el parque. Puede parecer apetecible ir a comer pero no está permitido así como practicar deporte alguno. Mi consejo es llevarse una toalla y un libro, impagable.
En una tarde soleada es posible ver salir a las ardillas a por semillas que desperdigan por los caminos los trabajadores del jardín.
Una visita obligada en Dublín.