Graz Botanical Garden

The botanical garden of the University of Graz sits in a residential district north-east of the centre, split between outdoor beds and a set of glasshouses. The houses were built in the nineties as angular shells of glass and steel, stepped against the slope, and they hold tropical, subtropical and cool-climate collections: ferns, cycads, orchids, bromeliads and carnivorous plants among them. Outside, the planting is arranged by family and habitat, with alpine beds, a pond, a medicinal section and trees old enough to give real shade. It is a working teaching garden rather than a show park, which is clear from the labelling and from the absence of anything staged for a photograph.

What you actually see

• The glasshouses - three angular glass and steel volumes stepped into the hillside, unusual architecture for a plant collection.
• The tropical house - the warmest and densest of the three, with palms, cycads, orchids and bromeliads under high glass.
• The systematic beds - outdoor planting grouped by plant family and habitat, labelled for teaching rather than display.
• The alpine and medicinal sections - mountain species and useful plants laid out in small beds near the pond.

When to go

April to June for the outdoor beds at their fullest, with alpines and spring flowering. The glasshouses work in any weather and make a good wet-day option. Opening hours are shorter in winter and the houses can close between seasons, so check before crossing town. Weekday mornings are near empty.

Honest expectations

It is small by the standards of the big European botanic gardens, and a thorough visit takes under two hours. The tropical house is hot and humid enough to be uncomfortable in summer. Labelling is scientific rather than explanatory, and there is little laid on for children. Getting there means a tram ride and an uphill walk from the centre.

Nearby

Central Graz with its old town and Schlossberg is a short tram ride away.