Wuppertal's botanical garden sits on a hillside above the Barmen district, and the climb to reach it is part of the experience — the city's hilly terrain means you arrive with a view over the rooftops and the Wupper valley below. The garden itself is modest in scale at around 2.5 hectares, but it is well maintained and densely planted, with a good greenhouse section and a collection focused on plants from Central Europe and mountain regions.
It is a genuinely local place rather than a tourist attraction — on weekday afternoons you are more likely to share it with pensioners and families with small children than with visitors. That is part of the appeal. After a morning riding the Schwebebahn and walking the streets, the garden is a good place to sit down and let the city settle around you.