One of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, planted in 1590 as a teaching garden for the university's medical students — at a time when botany was essentially pharmacology. The garden has grown steadily since, and now holds over 10,000 plant species across outdoor beds, greenhouses, and a Japanese garden.
The centrepiece is the original walled garden, intimate and beautifully maintained, where Carolus Clusius first planted tulip bulbs in the Netherlands in 1593 — arguably starting the Dutch love affair with the flower that would lead to Tulip Mania a few decades later. The tropical greenhouses are impressive, and the winter garden is a warm refuge on cold days. Small enough to see in an hour, but pleasant enough to linger in all afternoon. On the Rapenburg canal, a short walk from the Pieterskerk.