The Best Botanical Gardens in Asia

Stroll gardens in Japan

Four of the Asian entries are Japanese gardens laid out for feudal lords: Kenroku-en in Kanazawa, Okayama Korakuen, Shukkeien in Hiroshima and Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu. They are built around ponds, shaped pines and artificial hills. Koko-en, beside Himeji Castle, opened in 1992 on the site of samurai residences and is divided into nine walled gardens. Entry to each costs between 260 and 500 yen, and a visit takes one to two hours.

Tropical gardens

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, near Kandy, are over 200 years old, with palm avenues, an orchid house and colonies of fruit bats in the trees by the river. Singapore Botanic Gardens are free to enter, and the National Orchid Garden inside them has its own ticket. Bogor Botanical Gardens in Indonesia are large enough to need a bicycle or the shuttle, and the mornings there are cooler.

Flower parks

Ashikaga Flower Park in Japan is built around a wisteria more than 150 years old and is lit in the evening during wisteria season and in winter. The Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in Srinagar opens only from about mid-March to mid-April. Nong Nooch Tropical Garden near Pattaya combines plant collections with daily shows and hundreds of dinosaur models, and a visit takes three to four hours.