Jardin Botanique

The Conservatoire Botanique and the Botanical Garden are situated behind the Palais des Nations and thus closer to Lake Geneva. This site opened in 1904 is home to over 15,000 catalogued species covering an area of 18 hectares (44 acres). The garden is divided into several areas such as the Alpine garden, groves and rock gardens. The name of the "Garden of scent and touch" stands out: this is the most interactive part of the garden. The winter garden from 1913 features tropical plants such as banana,... coffee and papaya trees. The Botanical Garden is home to 300 animals, including 250 exotic birds. Admission to the garden is free and it is thus a popular recreational area.
The Botanical Conservatory houses a publicly accessible science library with over 220,000 volumes. Furthermore, the building houses the herbarium with over 5.5 million specimens, one of the four largest in the world after Paris, London and New York. The herbarium can only be visited by prior arrangement. more

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