Belfast Botanic Gardens

The gardens opened in 1828 as a private botanic garden and became public in 1895. The Palm House, designed by Charles Lanyon and built between 1839 and 1852 by the Dublin ironfounder Richard Turner, is one of the earliest curvilinear cast-iron and glass structures anywhere, predating Turner's larger work at Kew, and its two wings hold cool and tropical planting under curved glass. The Tropical Ravine, built in 1889, is stranger: a sunken glasshouse where visitors look down from a balcony into a planted gorge with a waterfall, laid out to give the impression of descending into a jungle, and restored in 2018. The gardens also hold a rose garden and long herbaceous borders, and the Ulster Museum stands within the grounds. Entry to everything is free.

What you actually see

• The Palm House - a curvilinear iron glasshouse begun in 1839, before Kew's.
• The Tropical Ravine - a sunken glass gorge viewed from a balcony above.
• The rose garden - Victorian formal planting with long borders.
• The Ulster Museum - a free national museum inside the grounds.

When to go

April to October for the outdoor planting; the glasshouses are worth visiting in any weather and are at their best on cold days. The gardens host large summer concerts that close them to general access.

Honest expectations

The glasshouses have limited opening hours, shorter than the park itself and reduced in winter. Concert periods close the gardens for several days at a time. The park is well used by students and locals rather than being a quiet formal garden.

Nearby

Queen's University is adjacent; Belfast city centre is a fifteen-minute walk.