10. Butchart Gardens, British Columbia, Canada
These beautiful gardens are among the best in the world. In 1909, Jennie Butchart began beautifying an exhausted quarry and soon welcomed friends and visitors to this landscaped sanctuary. Now The Gardens welcomes visitors from around the world to this jewel in the crown of Victoria, BC. Building on the first garden (which still remains), the Butcharts soon added an Italian garden and a rose garden, before further additions were made in the years to come, including the Rose Carousel and Children’s Pavilion. In 2004, this special space was named a National Historic Site.
9. Central Park, New York, USA
New York’s Central Park is one of the world’s most handsome pieces of parkland completely surrounded by a dense urban sprawl. It opened on 770 acres (it later expanded to 843) in 1857, when a landscape design contest was held. Among the innovations of its design were different circulation routes for horse riders, pedestrians and pedicabs and subterranean roadways for crosstown traffic – which has helped keep the park an unparalleled urban oasis.
8. Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain
Designed by world-famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and constructed in the early years of the 20th century, this stunning urban space was later converted from a housing development into a municipal garden.
7. Keukenhof, Lisse, Netherlands
Keukenhof in the Netherlands is a must-see for any lover of all things floral; a place where the blooming flowers seem to flow in rivers of color. Also known as the ‘Garden of Europe’, it is the world’s largest flower garden, with around seven million new bulbs planted each year.
6. Wiener Prater, Vienna, Austria
Austria’s Wiener Prater boasts surely one of the most impressive avenues in the world, the Hauptallee, which is closed to traffic and lined with verdant horse chestnut trees. Among the other notable attractions in the park are a narrow gauge railway, the Liliputbahn, and a micronation known as the Republic of Kugelmugel – the artist who designed its spherical shape having declared it a sovereign country.
5. Griffith Park, Los Angeles, USA
Griffith Park is beautiful for much of the untamed ruggedness of its 4,310 acres. It is also home to the Griffith Observatory – perched on the slopes of Mount Hollywood – and has been used as a location in many movies, including the James Dean classic, Rebel Without a Cause. Sadly, it has been prone to wildfires, with 817 acres burned in 2007, destroying its bird sanctuary and other attractions.
6. Roundhay Park, Leeds, UK
Roundhay Park is an unexpected treasure in the city of Leeds, England. Visiting it, you might think yourself a world away from a bustling city center! Spread over 700 acres, it is one of the largest urban parks in Europe.
3. Silesian Zoological Garden, Katowice and Chorzów, Poland
Not only does Poland’s Silesian Zoological Garden have a zoo that’s home to 2,500 animals; this urban green space is unique because of its stunning dinosaur valley, which contains full-scale reconstructions of 16 different dinosaurs found in an exhibition about the Gobi Desert. Walking through this amazing outdoor feature must be rather like walking in a valley millions of years ago when these huge creatures roamed the earth! The zoological garden – a mainstay of the larger Silesian Central Park – was founded in 1954 on 47.6 hectares of land.
2. Master of the Nets Garden, Suzhou, China
The Master of the Nets Garden is a calm and peaceful garden in the bustling city of Suzhou (home to over 6 million people!) and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the ‘Classical Gardens of Suzhou’. These beautiful gardens surround the central feature of the Rosy Cloud pool – the name alone is enough to bring peace to an overly busy mind! Different seasons are represented by different views of plants and rocks in the gorgeous western section of this 5,400 sq m garden.
1. Fort Canning Park, Singapore
On a 60-meter high hill in downtown Singapore lies a lush green park with a rich history of having been used for either government or military needs. Now, of course, it is a beautiful park containing many different elements, from the historical to botanical.
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