Linz's Botanical garden

Realizing you have a really tight schedule

Museums and usually most of the attractions in Austria (from what I saw) do not stay opened later than 18:00 and most of them also start their schedule around 9:00 – 10:00 in the morning. So you don't get that much time to visit everything in just one day and the city does have what to offer. Thus, arriving in Linz at 8:15 gives you the possibility to enjoy more and I suggest you start with the place that opens earlier: The Botanical Garden (other useful information here).

It is really close to the main station and you don't need to buy tickets (I think). In 20 minutes walking you are at the garden just in time for the opening.

Linz’s Botanical Garden

I don’t know if it is one of Europe’s most beautiful gardens as advertised, but it sure has its own style and beauty. The garden is not that big, quite small compared to others I’ve seen and the five greenhouses are all crowded inside one medium sized place. It does however give the impression of some sort of multi - themed maze and the variety of plants do take your breath away.

As an overall description, me and my boyfriend have decided on the word “coquette”. What the garden gives you is a lovely opportunity to walk around and enjoy your coup of fresh air. A break from your daily hectic life and an opportunity to immerse yourself in the variety of well-presented gardens. You can find a small Japanese garden and a rose garden, while also having the possibility to sit and enjoy a couple of drinks at a nice table all surrounded by flowers and greenery.

What is special about it and what we do recommend you to visit is the themed like greenhouse maze. Although small, you will find interesting flowers with beautiful colors and funny shapes. There are also a few fruit trees and the most interesting one is the Indian lemon tree with its peculiar banana/chilly – grape shape and its strong scent (you can feel it from the entrance of the greenhouse). The cacti room is also surprising and what I really liked were these mushroom looking cactuses with various colors that were hiding between rocks. You have to look really careful otherwise you might just pass them as simple rocks.

Citrus Medica

Brown, purple, yellow mushrooms

Our visit did leave us with pleasant memories and if you are lucky like us, you might even have a very special guide to show you around. Meet Whiskers (or however you want to call him/her):

While strolling around the garden we saw this beautiful white with grey cat that was kind enough to show us the garden that he likes so much. I am not sure if the cat lives there or just likes to go from time to time, but it sure knows the place. After politely greeting us and enjoying a warm pat (probably that’s the fee you need to give for the tour, that is if you do not have some fish with you or anything else to munch) Whiskers closely followed us through the garden and we followed him all the way to the entrance of the greenhouse. I guess Whiskers is not allowed there as he waited for us outside…I wonder why?

As a piece of advice: Try to go there sometime in late spring (end of April, beginning of May) or summer. Considering our situation, we went in late March close to April, but since winter keeps prolonging its reign with each year, some of the plants were still not green and not all flowers were blossomed. This time of the year, the greenhouse seems like the most beautiful to visit, but the garden itself shows a lot of potential and, as we found out, there are also many activities happening in warmer seasons.

If you get there, tell us about your experience and share some of your pictures that depict the perspective you have about the Botanical Garden.

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