Beautiful botanic garden in Basel. What a pleasant surprise to stumble across this garden while we…read morewere visiting for two days.

How is this free? This was such a delightful part of a day sightseeing and exploring Basel. The…read morebotanical garden at the University of Basel is located right next to a public transit stop by Spalentor Gate, which makes it quite easily accessible. I was surprised to learn that it's one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world! There are multiple greenhouses to explore and some nice outdoor areas to look at. There's one greenhouse that is quite large and it feels like you're walking through a jungle when you're exploring it. It even has a glass spiral staircase where you can go up and get a better view of the flora. There were several birds inside this greenhouse also and it was fun trying to spot them. I think that it's wonderful that the university offers this experience to anyone who wants to visit. Definitely check it out if you're in Basel.

This was a wonderful way to enjoy the afternoon in Zurich…read more This is Botanical Gardens at the University in Zurich. It was a huge garden with beautiful flowers and a vegetable garden with local and exotic produce. After walking around, there is a lovely cafe at the top of the garden. They had pastries, fruit cups and light meals. The view from the top was breathtaking! It over looked the city and the mountains!

This free garden is a great value for what you receive! You'll see hundreds of plants both native…read moreand foreign. There are rooms serving as biomes like a desert area, a humid jungle, and a lowlands area. There are multiple restrooms and a cafetería available if you get hungry. You could easily spend an hour strolling or half a day learning in the gardens. Even though it's a free garden, I'd happily pay an admission price for entry.

This is a small little garden that sits by the river. A really nice place to take a breather. Even…read morethough it's small, it's really dense and built on a hill so it hides the city really well. I spent a few hours just reading here.

I love the unfussy, under-hyped, simply lovely Old Botanic Garden…read more When I find myself burnt out by lunch time 'cause I've been running around since early morning and I'm in dire need of some quiet time, I just grab a to-go sandwich or salad from Coop, Babu's or Hiltl (all at walking distance) and come here to eat and read. I originally found it by chance, walking alongside the Schanzengraben, but I immediately loved it. It's small, but easy to get to and fun (but relatively quick) to explore, especially if you have kids in tow; and it makes for a great spot for an impromptu lunchtime picnic! It's very quiet, so it's great if you just want to chill and read a book; or even take a short nap on the grass, if the mood strikes ;-) The small octagonal greenhouse is lovely; sometimes it gets rented out for private dinners or performances. There aren't very many benches, but if you are anything like me, you probably prefer to sit on the grass - and it's quite nice here, particularly from late spring to early fall (or as long as the weather holds.)

From the owner: Un jardin fin XIXème Conçu par l'architecte paysagiste Edouard André en 1897, ce jardin se destine…read moreà être un lieu d'agrément et de découverte de la botanique. Les différentes compositions florales sont présentées dans une brochure et à l'aide d'un parcours fléché. Au fil du voyage végétal, allez à la rencontre d'un puit Renaissance, d'une fontaine, d'un kiosque à musique et d'un banc en arc de cercle...

Nice park with beautiful trees and green space along the lake. Toilets and benches available, with…read morevarious winding paths both paved and gravel. Nice to check out while passing through.

This park is a nice patch of grass at Enge on the edge of Lake Zurich. In the summer months, there…read moreare tons of people laid out on the grass sunbathing, having picnics, throwing Frisbees around, or just chilling with their dogs. You can also wade into the lake for a swim, although it's not so convenient to go in from all the large rocks because it's not a proper swimming area. But it's free to enter from here, so lots of people go for a dip. In the cooler months, it's still nice for a stroll to watch the birds swimming in the lake. There are various ducks and swans swimming about and the occasional fisherman, although I've never seen anyone catch anything here.

What a great garden! And surprisingly the entire visit is free! You'll find one of the mlt complete…read moresucculent and cactus collections anywhere. Each greenhouse is dedicated to a different continent from Africa to South America. Lockers are available to store your backpacks and restrooms are also available for free. Try going early morning because it can get hot in the greenhouses. Expect to spend 30 minutes to an hour here depending on how much you love succulents and how much you read. Signs are in German but English translations are largely available through scanning a QR code. You likely won't find any staff in the houses unless you're in the wrong area.

Such a healthy and wondrous collection of succulents is truly hard to come by. The hubs, a…read moreColorado desert boy, commented that in the Botanical Gardens of his home state, one cannot expect to find such a robust collection of cacti and the like. Well done, Zurich! Expect to see succulents that are as old, if not older than you. Certainly expect to see happy, healthy flowering beauties both short and squat and tall and luminous. One can also re-create the wondrous world of succulents at home by purchasing (on the honor-system) wee potted cacti at 5 CHF a pop, or rather large beasties for around 50 CHF each. The centre also sells potting soil and quartz sand to keep your plants living well. The website: http://www.foerderverein.ch/

From the owner: Das Papiliorama ist eine gemeinnützige Stiftung mit dem Ziel, das Publikum für das Schicksal der…read moreTropenwälder und der Artenvielfalt im Allgemeinen zu sensibilisieren. Dabei wird die tropische Natur in den lebenden Ausstellungen so nah wie möglich an die Besucher ran gebracht. Eine Schwesterstiftung des Papilioramas (die ITCF) schützt konkret 23'500 Hektaren (235 km²) tropischer Natur in Belize, Zentralamerika.