The Royal Botanic Gardens are a great place to visit at any time of the year.
If gardening or horticulture is something that you enjoy, then here is the place to come.
There is an endless array of walks around the gardens and I am sure you will not be able to take it all in on one trip.
There is a beautiful rock garden with waterfalls, which is a particularly nice spot to stop on one of the many grassy sidings for a quiet picnic and a nice glass of wine.
The glasshouses are particularly interesting as they contain some wonderful species and different climates, from arrid desert to tropical forest.
A fairly recent addition to the garden is the beautifully designed Queen Mother memorial Garden, a must see!
It can become a wee bit noisy in places when school trips are on or other guided tours like foreign students, however it is big enough to avoid this as there are so many quieter spots to enjoy.
There is a cafe on the grounds where you can enjoy some home baked cakes and a coffee, but again in peak times can be very busy, my reccomendation, take a picnic basket!!
There is a garden gift shop selling, souvenirs and other things.
The plants on sale can be expensive compared to other places.
There is always work going on in the gardens to improve and build, so take care where the work is being carried out and obey any signs there for your own safety.
Go there, take a picnic and enjoy yourself.

beautiful, i love going in and sitting on the benches and reading a book.lovely atmospehere and very educational too.

Great if you love botany, okay if you don’t.
Different greenhouses with diffrent levels of humidity and temperatures, gift shop and beware of the pigoens whcih tend to land on you if you are trying to feed them

calm in the centre of the metropolis. You wouldn’t know you were in a city. eassy to get lost hence a great place to take the kids for a day out

The Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh are a great place to visit for a day out.
There is so much to do, all the lovely gardens to explore, the hot house with all its plants and the nice little cafe to relax in after a nice stroll.
Best of all the Botanic Gardens are free and it is only a small fee to get into the hot house, I think it is a couple of pounds.
It is a great place to go for a nice fa,ily day out, espacially fi the weather is good!

The gardens are a really good day ou, with lots to do and plenty of reasons to visit again and explore. I love them!

A Place of Astounding Beauty!

This used to be a 5 star garden without a doubt - a wonderful rock garden, superb rhododendrons, beautiful garden celebrating China’s plant contribution and splendid Victorian glasshouses. Overall an atmosphere of peace and tranquility combined with splendid views to the centre of Edinburgh. Recently though funding changes have altered the ambience. The addition of a completely inappropriate ‘Queen Mother’s Memorial Garden’, laxer rules on user behaviour and a massive new building threaten to change this wonderful place forever. A pity but it must lose a star!

In the summer time there is no better place to go than the Botanics. If you're looking for a park with a few added features then you can't go wrong- from the rock garden to the wild grass area, together with the conservatory, there is an endless amount of corners and hidden gems. The rock garden is my favourite part, with a nice stream running through and a meandering path to the top of the mound where you can get good views of the town centre. It is easy to spend a day here, exploring each corner and enjoying the beautifully landscaped gardens. If you do go in the summer look out for the wedding parties, the marquee and folk in kilts tend to give the game away!!! If you're lucky you might also catch one of the outdoor exhibitions that they hold every now and then too. A good day out, and entrance is free too!!!

If you're looking for somewhere to take a nice leisurely stroll or just want to chill out for a bit The Botanical Gardens are ideal. With its vast open grounds and colourful gardens the botanics has something for everyone.
There are rock gardens, greenhouses, Chinese garden and more plus a small pond so you can feed the ducks and birds that visit.

The Botanics have plants from all over the world and the greenhouses hold some of the more fascinating.

The gardens look lovely whatever the season and once your in there you soon forget your in the middle of a very busy city centre.

Well worth a visit.

One of the best places in the city to relax on a sunny day (if you're lucky enough to live long enough to expirience it!).
Full of exotic and european flora, spacious and quiet - its ideal for a picnic!
Wondering around you can drop in to see a hughe greenhouse (buy a ticket) or just walk around the area for as long as you like (admitance free). If you have a good eye you can spot a rare bird or a squirrel (bring nuts with you as most of them are not afraid of humans and eat right out of your hand).
On the exit you can visit the Botanical Gardens souvenir shop to top up your day...
Great place and higly recommended for anyone!

The Royal Botanical Gardens is a place every visitor to the city should go. It's a haven for outdoor-lovers, with its vast spaces providing ample opportunity to enjoy a long-stroll and an absolute must for plant lovers/gardening types. I particularly adore the glass houses; there is something very special about them. From one room to the next it is like you are changing continents; one minute you might be in the desert, surrounded by cactai and the next you could be in the rainforest. It is a place I found utterly fascinating as a child and I think I will always be captivated by it's endless element of charm.

The Royal Botanic Garden is a lovely place for young families and no wonder. Plenty of space to run around, no dog mess to worry about (dogs are not allowed) and thousands of beautiful plants and trees to look at.

You can enter the Gardens from two sides, then venture off to explore the various nooks and crannies. Climb to the top of the Rock Garden and look out across the city, visit the ducks in the pond, get back to nature with the Scottish Heath and Woodland Gardens, wind your way up the Chinese Hillside, explore the fantastic glass houses filled with exotic plants, or simply sit on the grass and make daisy chains!

There is so many exciting things to see here and the amount of wonderfull and rare plants and animals are just amazing. I don't think i have enough space to say it all so check out the web site and see for yourself how beautiful this place is.

A fantastic place for a stroll in Edinburgh, whether you are a visitor or a local, is the ‘Botanics’. These gardens originated in 1670 and are at the forefront of international scientific research into botany. In fact, about 6% of the total plant species on this planet can be discovered here.

This venue attracts some 600,000 visitors each year but what I personally love is the sense of travelling throughout the world in a couple of hours. As soon as you enter the tall gates you leave busy streets far behind. Tree-lined walkways lead you past a dizzying abundance of flowers and plants. Each species is identified along with its native country – and believe me that could be anywhere from New Zealand to Tibet.

A popular trail takes you to the Chinese Hillside, opened in 1997. This showcases the world’s largest cultivation of Chinese-origin plants. Many were first collected by keen explorers in the early 19th century – botany’s answer to Indiana Jones. These intrepid collectors shared an enthusiasm for acquiring rare plant specimens from remote locations that sometimes brought them face to face with hostile bandits! One of them, George Forrest, brought back some 30,000 specimens (not all on the same trip!) The Chinese Hillside also boasts a secluded pond where kingfishers sometimes hunt for small fish.

Other highlights include a heath garden, an extensive rockery with a waterfall, and a woodland garden. There are exhibitions, events and activities throughout the year.

But my favourite venue are the glasshouses. Each structure leads you into different parts of the world – from temperature zones, to rainforests to deserts. You’ll see Britain’s tallest palm house, cycads which can live for 2,000 years, orchids, insect-eating plants, and aquariums boasting everything from water snails to piranhas.

The interactive exhibitions are particularly child-friendly, and the gardens are alive with birds and squirrels – feed for all these can be purchased at the well-stocked souvenir shop. But the best thing of all about a day in the Botanics is that sense of shelter. Once you’ve left the bustling city beyond the railings, you are transported into a quiet oasis of natural beauty.

The sanctity of the Royal Botanic Gardens offers a haven of peace and tranquility away from the hubbub of the busy city centre. Although relatively central, the Gardens are a tapestry of colour and harmony. The grassy slopes are dotted with mischievous squirrels and grandiose trees and flowers that are all accessible by well guided (and wheelchair friendly) footpaths. The splendour of the Gardens lies in its sheer diversity as a Chinese Hillside Garden, a Rock Garden and a number of glasshouses are scattered throughout the premises.

On a clear day, coffee and cake at the Terrace Café is a must as their assortment of fresh goodies is heavenly and the coffee is rich and flavoursome (the cappuccinos are particularly good). However if you are feeling adventurous, a picnic is also a wonderful and relaxing experience.

I really enjoy going to The Botanic Gardens, they are so pleasant to have a wander round. Its also very nice that they are free too! I think the Glashouse now has a small fee to get into it but I dont believe it is much.
The Chinese Garden is definately worth a visit.
Dogs have to be on a lead and no cylists or runners are permitted so its pleasant for a leisurly stroll!

The Botanics are such a lovely place to go for the day. Theres so much to do- the chinese gardens, the glass houses, the bamboo section and the fantastic gift shop and nursery. The only bad point is that last year they introduced a charge to visit the glasshouses, but it's only about £3.50 and still worth it to see the beautiful plants and the desert chamber. The botanics is peaceful but popular and theres a small art gallery and a great cafe.

They have everything - woodlands, Alpine Gardens, Chinese Garden. The glasshouses are amazing too and hold some of the oldest plants in the world. It's so lovely to wonder around whether you are a garden fanatic or not. And if I remember rightly you don't have to pay!

The botanic gardens is not everyone’s ideal place to go, but on a nice summers day there can’t be too many places nicer in the heart of the city. Be it a quiet wander, sitting in the sun or shade with a good book, or just having a picnic with friends, this place provides the venue. The Café is so so, but does provide the cold drinks and ice-creams you can’t take yourself, but a picnic lunch might be better. Just watch out on busy weekends as it becomes packed.

The Royal Botanical Gardens have been visited by families as a nice day out for years. They are beautiful and a really nice place to go for a walk. It is child friendly and is a greta place for flying a kite or relaxing with a book.