Frequently asked questions

We are open every day from March 1 to December 1 from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

For groups of 15 or more people, a group discount of € 1.50 per person applies. You will also receive the group discount if you take a guided tour. We appreciate it if you inform us about your visit in advance, and let us know whether you wish to use the catering service. To take advantage of the group discount, one person must pay the entrance fee for the entire group in one transaction. If there are people in the group with a Museum Card or other discounts, please give these to the person who will be paying.

The terrace and indoor space of Garden Café Botanica are open during the Gardens' opening hours. Additionally, coffee and sweets to go are available, and it is possible to order a lunch to go (picnic) until 10:00 AM for the same day. The terrace is only accessible with a valid entrance ticket to the Gardens.

Reserving a table on the terrace or in the Garden Café is not possible. Would you like to use catering services with a group? Please contact Rachel de Groot from Botanica Catering. She can be reached by phone at 06-5353 8003 and by email to info@tuincafebotanica.nl.

Restrooms are available next to the terrace and in the Tropical Greenhouses. Disabled restrooms are also available in both the Entrance Building and the Tropical Greenhouses.

The shop in the Entrance building is open during the regular opening hours of the Botanic Gardens. This is from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM. In the shop, we sell (organic) seeds, outdoor plants, decorative items, and books. You will find the plants outside next to the terrace, and you can pay for them inside.

The Botanic Gardens feature a wide variety of plants, ensuring that there is always something beautiful to see at any time of the year. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news.

The Botanic Gardens are accessible for people in wheelchairs, with the exception of parts of the Rock Garden. For more information, check the accessibility page.

With the exception of guiding dogs, dogs are not allowed in the Botanic Gardens.

In the vicinity of the Gardens, there are several parking areas that are free on weekends and public holidays and paid during weekdays (between 7 AM and 6 PM). (€ 0.90 per 30 minutes)

• Opposite the entrance of the Gardens is the 'Budapestlaan Parking Area' (entrance Princetonlaan)
• Diagonally opposite the entrance of the Gardens is the 'Padualaan Parking Area' (entrance Leuvenlaan)
• Behind the Gardens is the 'Olympos Parking Area' (entrance Uppsalalaan).

You can also park your car at P+R Utrecht Science Park. Here, you can purchase a combination ticket for parking and public transportation in the city. Additionally, you can rent OV-bikes at this P+R.

Are you traveling via Utrecht Central Station? Take tram 20, 21, or 22 to the Padualaan stop, or bus 28 to the botanic Gardens stop. Note that the tram does not run on weekends. For traveling by public transport from other locations, visit 9292.nl.

Yes, throughout the Gardens, visitors can use Wi-Fi for free. The Gardens are connected to the 'eduroam' network. On staticweb.hum.uu.nl/eva/ you can receive a day code. Students and staff of educational institutions can use it with their personal login details.

View the digital map (pdf). Physical maps are available at the information desk in our Entrance building.

Do you want to change your ticket? Visit the Ticketsupport page for more information.

Our rates can be found on the opening hours and prices page. Buying and/or reserving an online ticket is not necessary for people who may enter the Botanic Garden for free. People who may enter for free include: children up to and including 3 years old and holders of a: Museum Card, Friends of the Botanic Gardens pass, UU / HU / HKU staff/student pass or USP partner staff pass.

Only showing the physical Museum Card entitles you to free entry. You can also enter the Gardens using your Museum Card at the tourniquets. Showing a copy of the Museum Card is NOT considered a valid entrance ticket.

Yes, you may. Bring your admission ticket with a unique QR/barcode, either printed or on your phone.

Upon presentation of the confirmation email you receive immediately after signing up as a Friend, you can visit the Gardens for free.

We offer several options for your group:

• First, it's good to know that for groups of 15 or more people, you receive a group discount of € 1.50 per person.
• You have the option to book a group tour.
• Rent one or more of our spaces for your group.
• Your group is also welcome at our Garden Café Botanica, email: info@tuincafebotanica.nl. Unfortunately, it is not possible to reserve a table, but there are many beautiful spots to have lunch and plenty of picnic tables in the Gardens! You can also have your lunch packed for a picnic. Reserve this vegetarian picnic bag for your group a day in advance.

Plan your visit

Unfortunately, there is no parking available for your touring car/bus in the vicinity of the Botanic Gardens. Passengers can be dropped off at the main entrance. The bus driver will then need to find a place elsewhere to wait during the visit.

On the Venue hire and Catering page, you will find detailed information about renting our spaces and the available options.

That is certainly possible. On the Garden Café Botanica and Shop page, you will find more information about our caterer, Garden Café Botanica.

That is possible. Before your visit, please read the general conditions on our information page about photography and filming. During our regular opening hours, you are welcome to take photos in the botanic Gardens. For family photography (such as wedding photos), we do not charge any additional fees besides the regular entrance fee. For commercial photography, we can provide you with a quotation.

We warmly welcome school and after-school care (BSO) groups. Please notify us prior to your visit. Check the page "Visit with Primary School or BSO" for all the information to register your visit.

We occasionally have internships available in the Botanic Gardens; check the Jobs and Internships page for the latest information.

You can contact our communication staff via email at communicatie.botanischetuinen@uu.nl.

To find out if your lost item has been turned in, you can contact us.

In general, our collection focuses on North and South America. You will find more than 10,000 plant species in the Gardens, from 350 plant families. We have a large collection of rock and alpine plants in the Rock Garden, a broad collection of almost all Orders and Families of the plant kingdom in the Evolution Garden, a collection showcasing the many relationships between humans and plants in the Discovery Garden, and a large collection of (sub)tropical plants from America in the Tropical Greenhouses.

The composition of our collection is the result of an agreement between the Botanic Gardens in the Netherlands at the end of the last century, regarding the areas they would focus on. It was agreed that Utrecht would mainly focus on South America. We have since broadened our ambitions to include both North and South America, with our collections in the Tropical Greenhouses and the North American Woodland Garden being prime examples.

In Utrecht, there are also 14 special national collections registered with the National Plant Collections Foundation (SNP).

On the terrace next to the Entrance Building, various outdoor plants (from third parties) are offered and sold for part of the season. In our Entrance Building, you will also find a large rack of seeds for sale. We also organize events annually where various third parties offer plants for sale, such as during the annual Spring Market and the Plant lovers’ Market.

We do not sell plants from our own collection. Due to international agreements, we cannot share plants from our collection freely; this is only allowed under strict conditions.

Almost every country in the world has botanic gardens dedicated to scientific research and the preservation of plant diversity. They form an international network within which plant material is exchanged for research, education, and/or conservation purposes.

Each year, we compile a catalog (the 'Index Seminum'). For this, seeds and spores from the Garden are verified, collected, cleaned, packaged, and sent. The catalog contains seeds and spores of more than 100 plant species each year, which are shared with more than 600 different botanic gardens via an online platform. This seed exchange follows the rules of the International Plant Exchange Network (IPEN), meaning the seeds can only be used for non-commercial purposes in research, education, and conservation. Sometimes plant material is also exchanged for the same purposes through umbrella organizations for botanic gardens:

• Dutch Association of botanic Gardens (NVBT)
• Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI)

Yes, making plant material available for research and education is one of our main goals. Do you need plant material for a course or research project? Then contact our collection managers.

No, we do not have plants available for events.

Unfortunately, we do not have space to accommodate all plants. Occasionally, we make exceptions for plants that have been collected directly from the wild and for which the collector's name, date, and location are known, or for plants that are extremely rare in cultivation. The plant must not be on the CITES list (in Dutch) under paragraph I and/or II, and the plant must not have been collected illegally. If your plant meets these criteria, please send us a message to curation@uu.nl with clear photos and this information. If your plant does not meet these criteria, you can contact the nearest plant shelter (in Dutch).

For advise on plant caring, it is best to consult a garden center or a gardener. We offer various courses in Dutch to help you choose good plants for your own garden.

We recommend contacting a garden center or a good florist. You can also try identifying the plant using one of the many apps available for this purpose, such as ObsIdentify, Pl@ntNet, Flora Incognita, iNaturalist, and Google Lens.

To view our plant collection, you can use Garden Explorer (coming online in 2024). Within the network of the Dutch Association of Botanic Gardens (NVBT), you can search for a plant via the NVBT website. The same can be done through the network of the global organization Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).

We have some plants listed on the European Union list of Invasive Plant (in Dutch). These are used as a reference collection, including by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). Invasive plants can only be controlled if we know what they look like and how they behave. The (potentially) invasive plants in our collection are closely monitored to ensure they do not spread uncontrollably.

As Botanic Gardens, we are committed to the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This Convention advocates for the preservation of the earth's biological diversity. As Gardens, we contribute to this by housing endangered plant species (ex-situ conservation) and by contributing to the preservation of plant diversity in endangered areas (in-situ conservation).

Our conservation goals are based on the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, a strategy that outlines the ambitions of the Convention on Biological Diversity for botanic Gardens.