Visiting Padua Botanical Garden

Welcome to Padua Botanical Garden - or Orto Botanico di Padova - nestled in the centre of Padua, a university town just half an hour from Venice.

This is the world's oldest botanical garden, founded in 1545 and still retaining its original design. The garden is home to over 6000 species, representing the world's horticulture. It is awe-inspiring to think that every other botanical garden in the world can trace its origins back to this one. The collection has been carefully curated and hand labeled, serving as a source of knowledge and wonder for nearly 500 years.

The €10 ticket - which you can buy online in advance or on site on arrival - gives you access to wander through the gardens at your leisure, visiting the many labeled plants, organized into careful sections. The greenhouses were closed during our visit for restorations and enhancements, but the Botanical History Museum was open giving a brilliant walk through the history of botany, including gorgeous pressed flowers and plants, each pressed, pinned down, labeled, described and framed, some dating back hundreds of years.