Edinburgh Hotels near Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

But most visitors to the Royal Botanic Gardens, regardless of the season, are just as likely to be entranced by its history as by its present research efforts. The Garden’s herbarium is a depository of over two million preserved plants, some of which it has sheltered since 1697.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Attractions

The Garden, existing in some form since 1670, contains ten large public Glasshouses; the Temperate Palm House is the tallest glasshouse in the UK. Visitors can enjoy the Windows on the World Glasshouse tour, during which they can point an audio “wand” at any of the displayed specimens for a detailed description.

The Royal Botanic Garden will surprise some, especially those from the Pacific Northwest, with its stand of eighty-year old Sierra Redwoods in the Woodland Garden. Asian visitors, on the other hand, may stand in awe of the Pringle Chinese Collection, which has more Chinese plants than any place except China.

The world-renowned Rock Garden is rich in lilies, bellflowers, and marsh orchids, while the Alpine Collection fills a courtyard close to the Victorian Palm House with primroses and tulips. Even the Scottish winters cannot triumph here; the shrubs, bulbs, perennials of the Winter Garden were selected to be at their peak in the deep cold of year’s end.

While admission to the Garden is free, there is a charge to tour the Glasshouses.

Hotels Near the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

The Apex City Hotel Edinburgh in Grassmarket in the heart Old Town, with splendid views of Edinburgh Castle and less than four kilometres of the Royal Botanic Garden, offers all the contemporary amenities including in-room DVD players and wide-screen TVs Garden.