Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

Posted on

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events – Kirstenbosch is South Africa’s national botanical garden, located south of downtown Cape Town. It is said to be one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the world, located at the foot of the impressive Table Mountain. There is a lot to do in the Botanic Gardens, but even if you only have a few hours to spare, Kirstenbosch is well worth a visit!

You can easily spend a whole day at this beautiful botanical garden in Cape Town without getting bored. Here are some of the funnest things to do in Kirstenbosch.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

In 2013, Kirstenbosch celebrated its 100th anniversary. To celebrate, they built the Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway, an elevated walkway made of steel and wood. It can be accessed from two different points, from where it slowly rises from the forest floor to the trees and finally emerges above the canopy.

National Botanical Garden Images, Stock Photos & Vectors

The trail is informally known as “Boomslang” (meaning tree snake) as it winds through the trees of the arboretum. If there’s one thing worth doing in Kirstenbosch, it’s the 130m walk. It lifts you 12 m (~ 40 ft) above the ground and offers spectacular views of the surrounding mountains, including the famous Table Mountain.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

Walking on the Canopy Walkway is perfectly normal btw, it doesn’t fall from below.

In addition to the flora (and fauna), Kirstenbosch Gardens has a lot of art. There is a bust of Nelson Mandela, and the sculpture garden displays African stone sculptures.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

Visit Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

The sculptures we liked the most are the anatomically correct, life-size pewter dinosaurs in the Cycad Amphitheater. We thought it would be fun to try and find all five of them, but apparently the purpose of this exhibit is to raise awareness of the threat of extinction to many South African cycad species. Since these palm-like plants were abundant during the Triassic and Jurassic periods, and the dinosaurs also became extinct, we can certainly appreciate the importance of this exhibit.

Kirstenbosch also has a small fragrance garden. Rub the leaves of different plants between your fingers to smell the scent they release and see which ones you recognize. Note that you should not pick the leaves, just rub and smell without harming the plants.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

King Protea is the national flower of South Africa, it grows in Kirstenbosch. It blooms almost any time of the year, so you should definitely find it.

Everything About Calum Scott At Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

Picnicking is allowed at Kirstenbosch, but you cannot bring chairs, umbrellas, barbecues or other ‘picnic furniture’. In any case, just a blanket and a basket is the coziest and most romantic way to have a picnic, isn’t it? Don’t worry if you don’t have a blanket, Kirstenbosch Tea Room rents them out.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

You can bring your own or order a picnic (basket) at Moyo Restaurant or Kirstenbosch Tea Room. Please note that you cannot play ball games, fly kites, skateboard or play music in the garden to protect the plants and keep the peace.

See the Kirstenbosch Tea Room picnic menu here. Order a picnic at least 24 hours in advance by writing or calling them. Or click here and then the Book Now button to book a picnic at Moyo Restaurant. Do this at least a few days in advance.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

An Afternoon At The Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden In Cape Town • Outside Suburbia Family

Challenge your travel buddies to spot the wildlife at Kirstenbosch Gardens. Loser buys a drink! You should definitely spot some birds, with over 125 species in the garden, and a squirrel or two. You might even see a turtle, tortoise, lizard or frog. If you want to see a grysbok (antelope), caracal or cape fox, you will have to be lucky as they are mostly active at dusk or at night and hide during the day.

Kirstenbosch offers guided tours of the garden every day except Sundays. These tours are free and last approximately 90 minutes. An experienced guide will take you on a walk through the highlights of the season. From Monday to Friday they leave the nature center at 10:00, 11:00 and 14:00 and on Saturdays at 10:00. There is also a tour of the garden center, which is every day at 10:45.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

If you don’t want to walk, you can buy a Shuttle Car Tour ticket which costs R80 (~€5.40-€4.90) per person in addition to the Kirstenbosch entrance fee. These tours depart from the nature center every hour between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

Where To See Unique Flowers Near Cape Town, South Africa

Another option is to book a guided tour that combines Kirstenbosch with The Company’s Garden, a large park in the center of Cape Town. For more information, take this guided tour of the botanical garden.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

If you prefer to hike rather than walk through the garden, Kirstenbosch will not disappoint either. 5 hiking trails of different difficulty levels have been organized on the farm. All are well maintained and marked.

More information on these different walks can be found on the Kirstenbosch website: The Braille Trail and the Boekenhout Trail are shorter (about 15-30 minutes) forest walks, and the Stinkwood Trail explores the oldest part of the forest in about 45 minutes. For a longer hike around Kirstenbosch Estate and up to the waterfall, choose the Yellowwood Trail (about 1.5 hours) or the Silvertree Trail (about 3 hours). You can find a map of marked hikes here.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

Beautiful Botanic Gardens You Can Tour From Home

You can even climb Table Mountain from Kirstenbosch, but be careful. These slopes have steep ravines, unpredictable weather and people have been robbed. Play it safe and book a guide for this hike, like this guided hike from Kirstenbosch to Table Mountain Cable Car. Also read the Kirstenbosch Mountain safety instructions if you plan to hike Table Mountain.

The Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts are musical concerts held on the green grounds of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. The perfect lazy Sunday activity if the weather is nice. We didn’t get to attend, but we heard that this place is on Sundays between the end of November and the beginning of April.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

Coinciding with the Summer Sunset Concerts, Kirstenbosch National Botanic Gardens also hosts an outdoor cinema. On Wednesdays and Thursdays from October to April, doors open at 6pm and the movie starts after sunset. Get there early to get the best seats and sample local artisan foods and drinks sold at the market. Or you can bring your own food and drinks.

Behind The Scenes In Kirstenbosch, Cape Town

Ticket prices range from R109 (~$7.40 ~ €6.70) to R195 (~$13.20 ~ €12) depending on whether you want a blanket, recliner or premium seats. Good to know: if it’s your birthday, you get in for free with a blanket and lounge chair. And if you’ve seen 5 movies, the 6th is free!

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

The entrance fee to Kirstenbosch is R75 (~$5~€4.60) per adult, and is payable on entry at one of the garden entrances. The Visitor Center and Gift Shop are at Gate 1, the Home Garden Center is at Gate 2, and Gate 3 is the only entrance for visitors who bring their dogs.

If you want to buy tickets in advance, you can also buy them on the Webtickets website. Click here to go directly to the Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens ticket page.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

An Augmented Reality Art Exhibition And 9 Other Reasons To Visit Kirstenbosch

Kirstenbosch Gardens is open every day, 365 days a year, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. In the summer, from September to March, they close an hour later, at 19:00.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is about 13 km (~8 miles) south of the center of Cape Town, adjacent to Table Mountain National Park. Here are the different ways to get to Kirstenbosch Gardens.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

If you have a car, like we do, it’s usually only a 10-20 minute drive from central Cape Town to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. It is well signposted on all main roads and there is free parking at each of the three gates: Gate 1, Gate 2, Gate 3. Please note that there may be parking attendants on duty who require a tip. A few changes are enough.

Prince Charles South Africa Tour Hi Res Stock Photography And Images

Kirstenbosch is one of the many attractions in Cape Town where the sightseeing buses stop. You know that red open top bus you see in every major city around the world? Depart to the blue mini peninsula to reach Kirstenbosch among other attractions. You can buy tickets on the City Sightseeing website or search for offers on GetYourGuide.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

If you don’t like those red tourist buses, you can always take a taxi or Uber or Lyft to get from Cape Town to Kirstenbosch and back. Click here to learn more about Uber and here to learn more about Lyft.

Get $5 off your first Uber ride by clicking here. In return, we get a free ride. Win-win!

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens In Cape Town

Kirstenbosch is a litter-free garden, meaning that anything you bring with you must be taken back to the Botanic Gardens. It is intended to keep the garden clean and repel scavengers such as rats.

Dogs are only allowed in certain parts of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens. See Kirstenbosch’s dog map for dog-friendly walking routes.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Events

Enough fun

Cape Peninsula Tours

Gravatar Image
Justina Kageni is an information scientist with passion for Information Technology.She is on a mission to share her knowledge and skills.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *