Conservatory and Botanical Garden of Geneva

The Conservatory and Botanical Garden of Geneva is Switzerland’s largest public botanic garden on the lake’s right bank between the Nations district and the waterfront. Founded in 1817, it combines a major promenade park with a world-class scientific centre.

• Founded in 1817 by Augustin-Pyramus de Candolle – among the country’s oldest botanic gardens.
• Moved to its present site in 1904 – landscape by Jules Allemand with rock gardens and geographic beds.
• Area 28 ha – a vast park with collections from all continents.
• Herbarium ~6 million specimens and library >120,000 volumes – a leading European resource.
• Living collection >10,000 species – winter garden and greenhouses with tropics, succulents and palms.

• The Winter Garden and the temperate greenhouse – tropical humidity, an eight-metre gallery, succulents and towering palms.
• Rock gardens and the alpine area – about 110 rock beds featuring the Alps, Corsica and the Atlas flora.
• Thematic beds and the arboretum; by the lakeside, the family-oriented Botanicum and a small rare-breed animal park.

The first garden opened at the Bastions in 1817 under de Candolle, soon gaining an orangery and a Conservatory, which seeded the early herbarium and library for university teaching.

In 1904 the garden moved to the Ariana estate on the right bank, where Jules Allemand laid out rock gardens and new greenhouses 1908–1911. During the 1950s–1970s the grounds expanded to today’s 28 ha.

In 2010–2012 a new herbarium complex and visitor pavilions were built. Today The Conservatory and Botanical Garden of Geneva pairs major holdings – a ~6-million-specimen herbarium and >120,000-volume library – with an open park and robust public programmes.

Location: Chemin de l’Impératrice 1, 1292 Chambésy-Geneva; right bank between the Nations and the lakeside.

Getting there: buses 1, 11, 22, 25 to Jardin botanique; tram 15 to Maison de la Paix then 6–10 minutes on foot; Léman Express to Genève-Sécheron.

Access: Free entry; main paths are step-free; greenhouse galleries involve stairs. No dogs or bicycles inside the garden.

Visiting hours: Daily – winter 8:00–17:00; summer 8:00–21:00; greenhouses close at 17:00.

Visit duration: 60–120 minutes for the highlights; longer with greenhouses and the library.

Best time: April–October for blooms and long daylight; in winter, the heated Winter Garden is a pleasant alternative.

Notes: Multiple entrances – Place Albert-Thomas, Avenue de la Paix 4 and Chemin de l’Impératrice 1; P+R Sécheron and Nations car parks about a 10-minute walk.