A Plantastic Hotspot To Visit | Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam

Jungle vibes, a serene place with tons of exotic plants. That’s Hortus Botanicus. A place like this kind of reminds me of Central Park in New York. It’s located in the middle of the city but when you enter it, it feels like you enter a different world. On a warm Friday Eline and I decided we wanted to go on a little adventure and so we wandered around Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam.

Hortus Botanicus | Plantage Middenlaan 2a, Amsterdam

The concept of ‘Hortus Botanicus’ has been around for a long time and there’s a Hortus Botanicus located in different cities around the Netherlands, for example: Leiden, Utrecht and Amsterdam (duh!). The one in Leiden I’ve visited multiple times before and now I wanted to go to the one in Amsterdam.

In the 17th century, medicinal herbs were vital to the city’s health care. Therefore, when the Hortus was founded in 1638, medicinal plants made up the core of the plant collection. The plants were used for the education of doctors and pharmacists in the 17th century. When did it make the transition to what it is now? Well, around the 2000’s. Now you can walk around the large garden, explore the greenhouses and really feel like a plant explorer.

When you enter Hortus Botanicus you walk into the large garden and can already spot some of the greenhouses. A very serene atmosphere and it doesn’t even feel like you’re in the city centre anymore. I knew there was one greenhouse I had to visit. Guess which one from the photos above? The one with the cacti and pink wall of course!

Their plant collection is very extensive. There are still some medical plants in the garden but also South African, carnivorous, cycads, palms and container plants. While walking around Hortus Botanicus, your eye catches so many different plants and flowers. Luckily, they put up signs with a description of the plant and sometimes there’s a full story about the plant, which I think is very interesting.

Another insane greenhouse is the palm greenhouse and accommodates a large collection of palms, cycads and pot plants. I was amazed with the extremely large Encephalartos altensteinii and Philodendron bipinnatifidum. I had to use the wide lens on my camera because I couldn’t fit it in the photo at once.

As the crazy plant lady I am, this was the best hotspot to go. Eline is the same and she wanted to take the big plant home if possible. It felt like a place I would visit on holiday and since it was a warm summer day, it felt like a holiday for one day. It was a lot of fun! Luckily for us, they also have a little cafe. I love the way they set this up because it felt very cozy but still spaced out. They even had fairy lights, so I bet it will look so cute once it’s dark out. For a visit to Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam you have to buy a ticket on their website and with that ticket, you can spent a full day in the gardens and greenhouses. Besides that, it’s super easy to get to with the metro. You get out at Waterlooplein and it’s about a five minute walk from there. Super quick if you ask me! If you want to know more about Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam, go to their website because it’s filled with information about the plants, how to buy tickets and more. Have you ever been to something like Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam? Which greenhouse would be your favorite?

Love,

Neeltje