This place is a true oasis. The sprawling acreage offers visitors a truly beautiful park and garden space. Singapore Botanic Gardens spans 82 hectares / 202.63 acres and offers greenspace for locals and visitors to enjoy daily. Much of it is a national park as well as being home to several conservation areas, a rainforest, and some protected historic buildings. In 2015 the gardens were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to it’s historical and cultural value in addition to its scientific and conservation efforts. Built in 1859 by the Agri-Horticultural Society with a mere 24.28 hectares / 60 acres they transformed the unused land into an English Landscape Movement style garden. Over the years more land was transformed along with aiding Singapore in growing its agricultural endeavours (pun intended) and ongoing valuable research in botany. Today you can walk about some of the area’s lakes and ponds; visit the National Orchid Garden, the Ginger Garden, or the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden; meander about Learning Forest, take a jog or stroll through walkways, or enjoy a picnic.
With such an expanse of a park it may be daunting to decide which areas to visit. Information about the what to see and do at the park as well as a map of the garden is helpful. Their website is here (or you can click on their name above). Making your way to the gardens is simple enough as there are a variety of options. There are a couple MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) lines servicing the area, car and taxi drop off area, a parking lot, and several bus stops. It is open daily from 5:00am – midnight with some garden areas having shorter operating period. It is free to enter though a fee may required for some of the specific gardens or areas. Their visitor information services is helpful as well.
I visited the gardens back in 2017 when I spent a few days in Singapore (not enough to be honest). I have to say that I was gladly surprised by everthing it had to offer. Along with walking among such beautiful trees and flowers we saw tropical birds, a rather large lizard, and the beautiful National Orchild Garden (my favourite). I must say that I went shutter-happy in the Orchid Garden, coming away with hundreds of photos of various orchids, many which are bred in the gardens themselves. They showcase over 2,000 hybrids and 1,000 types of orchids, many which were cultivated in honour of dignitaries that have visitied over the years. As you can see, most of my photos are from the National Orchid Garden…you could say this post is an orchid gallery.
Covid-19 restrictions may be in place at time of posting.
All photos taken and owned by Eeva Valiharju / Wanders the World
Wanders The World 