Depending on your interests, there are multiple reasons to visit a garden while traveling. For the traveler, it can be a place to learn more about the culture of your location by learning about native plants, or the garden can just be a place to relax surrounded by nature. For a traveler with interests in gardening or photography there are more advantages for visiting a garden. A gardener can get inspiration from seeing new plants or garden layouts and for a photographer, there will be many subjects to photograph and practice photography skills.
Princes Street Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland
In almost every place you travel to, you can find a garden or park to visit. Many universities and countries have botanical gardens, such as Munich Botanical Garden in Munich, Germany or US Botanical Garden in Washington DC. There are gardens attached to castles or large manors, such as Versailles near Paris. Some large cities have significant parks to visit, such as Central Park in New York City or Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Munich Botanical Gardens, Munich, Germany
Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Autria
Sometimes you may want to purposely visit a location because of a specific garden. In southern Spain the Alhambra in Granada was such a place for me and in the future I’d like to go to Singapore and visit the famous Gardens by the Bay (although a trip to Singapore would also be about the food).
Alhambra Gardens in Granada, Spain
A benefit of visiting a garden is that you may get spectacular views of the surrounding area, such as Jardin Exotique in Monaco, a succulent and cacti garden on a hillside where you have a view of the Palace of Prince of Monaco and the blue Mediterranean Sea or Giardino di Boboli in Florence where you have an expansive view of Florence from across the Arno River.
Gardens come in many shapes and sizes. They can be colorful with lots of flowers or just green with topiaries — bushes cut into certain shapes. Sometimes there can be many topiaries lined up to make a striking allée for a formal garden such as at Versailles.
Versailles Topiaries, Versaiiles, France
The Orangerie at Versailles, France
Schönbrunn Palace Palm House Interior, Vienna, Austria
Some gardens have large glass conservatories that houses tropical plants. The conservatories are usually picturesque and offer striking photographs with the metal frames holding the glass panes.
Schönbrunn Palace Palm House, Vienna, Austria
Kew Gardens Palm House, Richmond, England
Gardens have influenced many an artist over the years, whether painter or photographer, there are many inspirations to be found in a garden. From the layout of the garden to individual flower. The colors you will find in the different colors of green in the foliage of the shrubs or trees.
Yves Saint Laurent’s colorful Jardin Majorelle in Marrakesh, Morocco
Garden Photography Tips
When visiting a garden and taking pictures think of different ways to take photos that will give you a good memory of the visit. Gardens are also a great place to practice your photography skills. Here are some tips for garden photography:
1 Take wide shots to capture the bigger picture, the scenery that is the garden. Are there any specific things that give this garden in particular a distinguishing focal point, such as the bridge over the water lily pond at Giverny or a row of statues in an Italian garden.
Andalusian Gardens, Rabat, Morocco
2 Take a more narrower view and take shots of individual things. A nicely pruned tree in full bloom, for instance, a water feature, like a water fountain or a plant bed.
Lettuce in a bed of Salad Plants, Munich Botanical Garden, Munich, Germany
3 Try and use branches or leaves to frame your photos and give depth to your image.
The tree branches framed the top of the photo in Giusti Garden, Verona, Italy
4 Focus on something and adjust the f-stop so that the background is a little blurry to give your focused subject some context.
Focus is on the lilac bush in the forefront with Edinburgh Castle in the background.
5 Close up shots of individual flowers, small plants or small visitors to the gardens like butterflies, bees or birds. Macro shots work here as well.
Beehive Ginger Close Up at the Tropical Botanical Garden, Hilo, Hawaii
Taking pictures of the names of the plants will help you remember the plants that you liked.
6 If you’re traveling with someone then take photos of them enjoying the garden, they can be looking at the view, or a specific plant.
Taking a break in the courtyard of the Getty Villa Museum, Malibu, California
7 Don’t forget to look up, if you’re in an area with tall trees or bamboo you can take a photo with a different perspective.
Arashiyama Bamboo, Kyoto, Japan
If you take these photos as you wander around the garden, you should have enough variety of shots to have a good portfolio of pictures of your visit to the garden.
Practical Info for Visiting Gardens
Find out the best time of year to visit, usually it would be in the spring when flowers or trees are blooming or fall for the autumn colors, although for some locations summer is not a bad time either.
Have a meal in the garden. Some of the larger gardens will have a cafe which will give you a chance to sit and enjoy the atmosphere in the garden. Or plan ahead and pack a picnic, you can even just pick up sandwiches at a nearby shop to take into the gardens. This is an especially good way to have a meal when traveling with children.
Consider renting bicycles to get around a large garden. We did this for the day in the English Gardens in Munich, Germany. It’s a vast park and would be difficult to see much just walking, so riding bikes was the way to go.
Seehaus Beergarden in the English Garden in Munich, Germany
Visit a garden! Even if you’re not a gardener, you can still find different ways to enjoy a garden while on travel. Enjoy being out in nature in any location around the globe.
A nice place to sit and relax - Giusti Gardens, Verona, Italy
