The Medellin Botanical Garden

The Jardin Botanico Joaquin Antonio Uribe occupies a large block beside the metro in the north of Medellin and is one of the few substantial green spaces in the city that costs nothing to enter. There is a lagoon with turtles and herons, a palm collection, a desert house, a butterfly enclosure and a well-kept orchid collection, and iguanas move around the lawns as though they own them. The centrepiece is the Orquideorama, a shelter of tall timber and steel units shaped like flowers that filter the light onto the plants below, and which fills with the orchid show during the August flower festival.

What you actually see

• The Orquideorama - a timber canopy of flower-shaped units sheltering the orchid collection.
• The lagoon - turtles, herons and iguanas around open water.
• The palm collection - mature palms and tropical trees on open lawns.
• The butterfly house - a small enclosure of native species.

When to go

Open year round and free, so it fits any gap in a Medellin day. Mornings are cooler and the birds are active. The garden is at its busiest and its best during the August flower festival, when the orchid show fills the Orquideorama. Rain arrives in the afternoon for much of the year, so plan a morning visit.

Honest expectations

It is a pleasant city garden rather than a major botanical collection, and a serious plant enthusiast will get through it in an hour. Labelling is patchy and mostly in Spanish. On weekends and holidays the lawns fill with picnicking families and it is more a park than a garden. Some sections, including the butterfly house, charge separately or close without notice.

Nearby

Parque Explora and the planetarium are next door; the metro reaches the centre in minutes.