BEAUTIFUL PUBLIC GARDEN ATOP CALGARY DOWNTOWN One of the highlights of the +15 Skywalk is the Devonian Gardens. Expecting a small indoor park, we found ourselves in a huge glass enclosed penthouse garden of tropical trees and plants, sparkling clean ponds and fountains and a children's park. This garden must be a wonderful escape from the harsh Canada winters. The Devonian Gardens provides a pristine and peaceful haven for both visitors and office workers. During our visit, the peaceful ambiance of the Gardens was enhanced by a pianist quietly playing classical music on a baby grand piano nestled among the palm trees. Check out the wood carvings and masks by local artist Tom Ward. Originally on loan to the city, the collection was later donated by the Ward family for display in the Gardens. read more

What a lush and beautiful garden, unlike anything I've personally ever seen, right inside a shopping center. People were seated having lunch, conversations, reading quietly. Meandering around looking at the ponds, fish, plants and other water features gives a sense of peace in a busy shopping environment. Very unique and lovely space. read more

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Okay, this is not an extensive Botanical Garden, but it's still a lovely place, in the middle of a shopping center. They have a nice selection of different plants. Love the different textures and blooms. Signage is available to let you know what you are looking at. Some excellent spots for taking photos or selfies. The many people I saw, individuals, couples and families were all enjoying the chance to spend some time indoors (it was a little chilly outside) but still be in nature. Nice :) read more

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One of the most unique botanic gardens I've visited - truly lovely! Unlike most other botanic gardens, you'll find this one on the top floor of a large shopping mall in the heart of downtown Calgary and Stephens Ave walk. Over 2 acres of gardens - with over 500 trees, 50 varieties of plants, fountains, fish ponds, and a 900 sq. ft. living wall, fountains that acts as a natural bio filter. Many of the plants are labeled and there are interesting info signs scattered about. There's a kids playground and even a small climbing wall on one end. Scattered throughout are lots of bistro style tables and chairs. And they have a permanent sculpture exhibit by Tom Ward - such whimsical wooden sculptures - they fit perfectly in the gardens. And turns out, the sculptor was a City of Calgary employee! The city parks department maintains the gardens and they do a lovely job. It was spotless inside and such a relaxing place to take a break after tons of walking around the city. Definitely worth a stop when exploring the downtown core. Highly recommend! read more

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On the fourth level of the Core Shopping Centre is a lush indoor botanical garden with tropical plants & palms along with koi in the ponds. This urban oasis in the heart of Calgary contains over 500 trees, 50 varieties of plants, a 900 sq. ft. living wall, fountains, fish ponds and a playground to climb & explor​​e.​​ There was a lot of seating with many reading & meeting here. We went into the core shopping center & took the escalator up to the fourth level. The beauty is that the shopping center is connected by covered walkways. read more

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Nice mall and garden is on the 4th floor. We went shopping here and found some nice affordable clothes.

The first time I came here was back in 2017. That time they were under renovations. I came back in 2019. Wow it is a lot nicer than what I remembered. There are kois in the pond. It is a beautiful indoor area/jungle inside The Core Mall (located beside the food court/ top floor). I really enjoyed having lunch here. It is super relaxing. The garden isn't big but there are chairs and tables available on a first come first serve basis. Nice relaxing escape. read more

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I love it, a small garden filled with indoor plants for people to walk around, explore, sit, hang out, relax and eat at. Really wish we have this in the state to enjoy. The hubs and I were just walking around exploring the mall and came across this garden. Not gonna lie, I took over two dozen, maybe almost three dozen pics. I love that the garden is so well kept and take care of, you don't see any died or dying plants which is awesome. I also appreciate everyone who is there, who just lets the plants be. Its really a nice escape from reality, highly recommend for everyone who is nearby or at the mall to pop in and check it out. read more

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I love these gardens they are absolutely stunning. What a great opportunity for free mini vacation and lots of fresh air full of oxygen thanks to all the beautiful plants reaching to the ceilings... The only negative thing is I really don't appreciate being followed three steps behind me for over an hour by an obnoxious security guard. Honestly what does she think I'm going to steal? I'm carrying a $500 Kate Spade purse I'm wearing $1000 jacket and walking with my two teen sons while taking pictures of the flowers. What could I possibly do that is illegal here? There's literally nothing to steal. Just plants. Which I'm certainly not going to do in this beautiful outfit. Maybe I should go home and change into my scrubs and gardening gear and bring a shovel and come back and take all their plants. Ridiculous. read more

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The renovation that they did recently to Devonian Gardens made it look so beautiful! I love how it looks now! read more

Devonian Gardens - Parks Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

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Wow. Stunning. What a great escape in a concrete jungle. Well done Calgary. Woven into the top floor food court is an incredibly Impressive tropical escape. Lots of tables to relax in and corners to escape to and feel like you've stepped out of the country for lunch. I can definitely appreciate that they spent a couple million bucks building this place. The gardens are worth a destination visit and are not just a simple convenience if you're in the building. read more

Devonian Gardens - Parks Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

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It's pretty in here, but the name makes it seem much more majestic than it actually is. Right now, it's pretty mall-tastic, which I suppose is appropriate. The signage that tells people not to throw coins in to the Koi ponds needs to be much bigger, because I can still see coins in the pond. Stop it! You are killing the fishies! :'( read more

Devonian Gardens - The sign says "no coins." the koi fish could die if they swallow them. People are still throwing coins in. :'( - Parks Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

Don't get me wrong. The gardens are beautiful. Clean, spiffy, manicured, and sanitized. Maybe that's the problem. It's TOO clean. It's too spiffy, too manicured, and too sanitized. For me, going to the old gardens was like going to Pages on Kensington or the now-defunct McNally's bookstore. It's homey, comfortable, and smells a lot like what it should smell like: musty (in the garden's case, it smells/feels humid and earthy). The newly reopened gardens, however, is akin to going to a brand-new Chapters, where books smell like plastic and being there feels so oddly wrong - too distant, too commercial. Maybe it just needs a little more usage; perhaps some wear and tear to get its old character back. Until then, it just looks and feels like a rich man's garden inside a really big house. read more

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This is a nice relaxing spot in the middle of downtown Calgary. I love the variety of tropical flowers, plants and trees. The goldfish pond at the end is a treat my kids never get tired of. Devonian gardens is very well maintained by the Calgary Parks Service and is my choice spot for meeting out-of-town friends. It's easy to grab some eats from the Core food court too. read more

Devonian Gardens - One of the little trees decorated for Christmas - Parks Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

I stumbled upon the gardens after a lunch in the food court. Although it lacks for a garden, I was impressed that it's free, accessible, and somewhat of an oasis from the hustle and bustle within a mall. I saw familiar, seniors, and couples seated and enjoying the sound of the water or piano being played. Also great to say seat cushions on the chairs! Kids were loving the pond and watching the fish. A wedding party was taking their photos as well. There aren't many flowers to enjoy but certainly a quiet place while you enjoy a meal, good book, or conversation. read more

My niece and I visited Devonian gardens this week since the renovations are now done. It is nice to enjoy all the flowers and greenery as you sat and relaxed or watch the big koi swimming in the pools. The fountains displays are also nice and people relaxed about or had kids at the playground area... but I still miss the old park with the little winding streams , little birds flying about and park style walkways from long ago... This is still nice to have a refuge to enjoy in winter or on days too hot to go outside downtown... read more

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If I had never been here before, I'd say it's nice but wouldn't consider it a Calgary attraction. As someone who spent time in the gardens in its former state, including for a friend's wedding, I think the upgrade is a disappointment. There is nothing intimate, romantic or exceptionally beautiful about it. Unfortunately, it just looks like a bunch of plants in a mall to me. However, it does make for a good venue for corporate functions and networking. That is the only saving grace. Review 10 for Yelp's 30 Day Challenge - Nov 2012 read more

Not bad, a nice refuge downtown. Occasionally come here in evenings when it is relatively quiet. Made the mistake of taking the kids downtown to show them the plus-15 system, during the work week. Place was crawling with disadvantaged - read "homeless" - begging for money. read more

So Calgary has something here that every Canadian urban centre should be jealous of. We saw this listed in a tourism guide at the hotel but didn't think much of it. We stumbled on it during our wandering around and were very pleasantly surprised. It was a park in the middle of a mall. There were huge planters, living walls, koi pond a quite a few water features. Despite being indoors everyone there was using it as if it were an outdoor park. Kids were playing on the jungle gym, people were sitting around the planters and under the trees eating lunch and everyone was enjoying watching the world go by. Calgary has a great little gem here. read more

I loved Devonian as a child, and was looking forward to finally seeing the new and improved gardens after 4 long years. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment. Dont get me wrong, it has lots of light, and beautiful plants, but with the open concept comes the lack of cozy corners to get some quiet and read a book. The new space reminds me of the landscaping in a courtyard of a new condo building...no personality at all, just neutral colours. On the plus side was the amazing climbing wall and playground set up for the kids... Would I go out of my way to have lunch here on a day off? Sadly, no. read more

Devonian Gardens turned out to be very different from what I had expected. For starters, it is located in the mezzanine floor of a shopping mall. There are indoor plants beautifully decorated and a koi pond with fishes. There is a small play area for the kids as well, and several chairs and tables by the gardens. I even saw a couple of people working with their laptops! Very impressive that these gardens are so well maintained throughout the year and that it is free to the public! A great way to spend an hour or so, walking by and admiring all the beautiful plants. read more

Old Garden: A place where a kid could run around, look at the pretty flowers, threaten to push their siblings in the ponds, and terrorize the fishies. New Garden: Kind of like what happens when a person loses half of their mind and starts running their business/family out of a magazine. Disappointed, especially when it was such a haven as a kid. Much like a lot of places in Calgary, it's changed a great deal since I lived there. Not for the better. read more

I liked the old one better. The old one had lusher, denser garden setting, skating rink, super cool kids play area back then... Okay, it did need an upgrade, but it's almost more tile flooring than garden area. No flowering plants... Just trees and ornamental greens. And c'mon Calgarians... There's a huge sign saying don't toss in coins cuz it'll kill the fish, and less than one week after reopening there's a ton of coins in the pond. I thought you were better than this. The play area is so-so too... It's meant for ages 5+ and really isn't designed for toddlers at all, so they're SOL. The bouldering wall is okay, but the holds were a little small for kids, and some of them were already loose and unsafe, again, less than a week after reopening. read more

What a great place to visit! So beautiful and well kept. I couldn't help to notice the number of people having lunch or having casual business meetings. If you need a place to relieve your stress or want a bit of the nature feel...the Devonian Gardens can help with that. Such a relaxing atmosphere and very well maintained. A great location to help all the downtown business people cool off when needed. read more

Beautiful gardens in The Core mall in downtown Calgary. We enjoyed just walking through, looking at the koi, and taking pictures of the flora. This is a respite in downtown. Worth the free visit. read more

I've been hearing a lot of grumbling downtown about the NEW Devonian Gardens, and how it "just isn't the same" anymore. Well, true, it definitely is not. But virtually all of the grumbling is coming from people who KNEW the old Gardens, so a direct comparison is automatically made. If I disregard those memories, and view this new space in isolation... to me it is now a nice extension to the food court seating. A place to eat or meet with a little less bustle, while being surrounded by greenery, instead of people traffic and food vendors. It no longer has the lush rainforest-y downtown oasis vibe it once did. I'll give you that. But I'm thankful we still have this, versus the 50 more retail outlets that it could have turned into. read more

I hadn't been to the "old" Devonian Gardens since I was in elementary school so I didn't remember much of what they looked like. I do remember they were a lot more lush than the "new" Devonian Gardens. While I really enjoyed the dark cement, and the living walls, there just wasn't enough foliage to make a memorable impact for me. read more

I recently attended an evening event here and I liked it. I don't really remember the old one but this definitely has a modern, up to date feel. I like how it is more open and not shut off by walls like it was before, although I find it makes the garden less humid which is a neat feature I remember from before. It is a unique space for an event and its also a nice spot to eat your lunch during the week if you work downtown. It may not be grand and majestic but for a city where it snows virtually every month of the year, it is a pretty nice thing to have. read more

I had not been to the Devonian Gardens before and enjoyed simply walking around and looking at the plants, (there was no place to sit as it was packed). However my friend remembers the walkways being narrower and there being more flowers... I would have gone more often if parking wasn't an issue... But I wouldn't spend more than hour there as there isn't that much to do or look at. read more

Absolutely my favourite place in all of downtown Calgary. The gardens are such a nice surprise find at the top of the CORE centre, and are beautifully maintained. I happened to have some time to kill, so I spent a couple hours enjoying live classical music on the grand piano, the soft lighting (clearly for the plants, but I enjoyed the tone), and a book I had in my bag. It's clearly a favourite spot for adults and kids alike, and the lunch work crowd ebbs and flows over the lunch hour. Seating does fill up, but take your time to stroll around if you can't find a seat right away. read more

What do you get when you mix corporate Calgary with 10,000 shrubs, 1.5 million pounds of soil and trees? You get a tropical oasis within the Core Shopping Centre! Located on the top or fourth floor of the shopping centre beyond the food court resides The Devonian Gardens. It's a park in a mall, its corporate meets nature, it's cool and it's beautiful! It features over 550 tropical palm trees of 18 different species, seating, a children's playground, ponds, fountains, water features with fish, a meeting room and event spaces. It's a fantastic location to bring a twist of nature to your corporate function, social event or wedding while maintaining a modern perspective. There are even drop-in entertainment performances and educational programs for kids. Did I mention entrance is free? For me the Devonian Gardens is the perfect temporary getaway from the busy hustle and bustle of downtown Calgary. I have the ability to work remotely with my role, somethings this translates to a quiet coffee shop, but what's even better is taking my work to the Devonian Gardens. Unfortunately I can't plug-in at most nature spots, I wouldn't find Wi-Fi and I'd probably have the sun blaring in my face. At the Devonian Gardens I get to plug-in, enjoy free Wi-Fi, not be blinded by the sun and be amongst the nature in this indoor park! Also having a complete food court at my disposal and washrooms nearby doesn't hurt! Another thing I absolutely love is when a professional is playing on the piano in the park. When you blend work with nature, water and classical music you get the perfect work environment. Honestly, it's a must try spot for remote workers! There are a lot of children here as well which sometimes translates to a noisy environment though, if you know where to set-up though you're usually okay as they tend to stick to the playground areas. read more

Devonian Gardens - Cool view of downtown with Prince's Island Park in the distance. - Parks Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

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Great atmosphere and a lovely place to go to escape those long, cold winter days. But be aware that the closer you are to the area of the garden with the piano, the further away from the food court's free Wi-Fi you are. And the more difficulty you will have finding an outlet. Unfortunately the gardens are not a place where you would be comfortable working all day and that's not just because the chairs are uncomfortable. It's very easy to feel rushed at lunch time as there are a lot of business people vying for free tables to eat their lunches. I would recommend visiting the gardens as soon as it opens at 9:30a.m. and staking out the coveted spot in one of the first seating sections by the escalator leading to the garden entrance. A small table of two by the wall features the only outlet in this section and a strong Wi-Fi signal. If you arrive later in the afternoon and can only find a spot by the washrooms, you might be lucky enough to get the one outlet there. However, you will not have a strong enough signal to connect to the Wi-Fi. I solved this problem by tethering my phone to my computer to use my 4G network but it sure eats up your data pretty fast! read more

In its current state, the "new" Devonian gardens are pretty sterile. I'm sure that as they age the foliage will become more lush, but for now seems to be geared towards open space for events (actually quite useful) rather than a botanical garden. E.g. The lack of name plates on any plants prevents me from waxing Linnaen. Also, bring back the turtles! Koi just aren't adorable. Visit if you happen to be in the mall, but if you make a trip specifically to see this, you'll be disappointed. read more

Pssst: Devonian Gardens is one of the places you can go to get away from anyone you know. It's beautiful. Pass it on.

There's nothing really wrong with this place, but it's really just a garden inside of a mall. It's a nice place to rest and eat lunch on your lunch break or after some shopping, but there's no real reason to go out of your way to see it. read more

I went to check out the new Devonian gardens yesterday, and was so dissapointed to see what it has become. No more art, no more fountains, no more colour, no more turtles, and only a few koi fish. I agree with the other comments, it just feels like an extension of the food court, with nicely manicured greenery. It used to be a destination to escape to on a winters day. Now it is just a place for the downtown workers to have lunch. I certainly will not be making the trip downtown to go here again. I'm so sad, as I loved the old gardens, booo to whoever designed the new one, was there any consultation with the public? read more

This place located on the top floor of the Core Mall( TD SQ) is Free to visit and in city centre. It is a wonderful place to visit during winter. Its also next a children's play area and food court with a glass roof -dome. We visited when it was very cold outside and flurries falling on the lass dome while we ate in the food court was amazing. The mall itself was well kept and nice and some wedding shoots going on inside the mall when we visited. The hours of operation is limited they close early at 5 pm. read more