Botanical Garden

You can see it in the distance: the Botanical Garden of Tête d’Or Park is one of Lyon’s great scientific and botanical treasures. A visit is highly recommended, especially since admission is free. Established here in 1857, it is the successor to an older garden created at the end of the 18th century on the slopes of Croix-Rousse. When it was moved to the park, several thousand plants were transferred, and the former orangery was even rebuilt stone by stone. Today, the Botanical Garden covers approximately 8 hectares (20 acres) and forms a true living museum of plants. Here, you can discover outdoor collections, an arboretum, a fern garden, a historic rose garden, a Mexican garden, an alpine garden, as well as large greenhouses dedicated to tropical plants, orchids, carnivorous plants, and species from Madagascar. The metal greenhouses, with their glass and steel architecture, are among the site’s most remarkable features. But this garden is not only a place for a stroll. It also plays an essential role in research, conservation, and the sharing of knowledge. Behind the areas open to visitors, the Botanical Garden preserves a herbarium containing several hundred thousand specimens, a specialized library, a seed collection, and other valuable scientific collections. It also contributes to the reproduction of rare and endangered species, as well as to international botanical exchanges. For those of you who are especially curious, workshops and guided tours are offered on certain dates for both children and adults.