MAY 2023
Three weeks a year there is a special event in Belgium, which is that the royal gardens open up their doors to the general public. The other weeks of the year you cannot visit these spectacular gardens. In 2023 these gardens were open from April 14 until May 7, so you cannot visit anymore. However, I highly recommend to make some time to visit these stunning gardens next year. In this blog I will explain just what to expect!
Practical information
The Royal Gardens of Belgium are located next to the Castle of Laeken, in Brussels. They only up their doors for visitors for three weeks a year, which is usually around April-May. This year I bought my tickets on March 23 and I was able to secure a timeslot for the end of April. I think the ticket sales usually open up around that time, so keep an eye out on the official website. Tickets cost only € 5 per adult, so they always sell out. We made sure to book a timeslot in the morning, so we would definitely have a parking space, as these are quite limited.
In the Orangerie you can have a drink and a cake (light meal), we found this pretty affordable.
The bluebells of the Hallerbos sometimes are in bloom at the same time as the opening weeks of the Royal Gardens, I would recommend to combine a visit. You can read more on the Hallerbos here.
The Royal Gardens
The greenhouses are the real showstoppers of the garden and I loved the fuchsia alleyways, I have never seen anything like it. However, when we visited at the end of April the outside gardens were looking their absolute best as all the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. You do have to get lucky with this, as they can bloom earlier. The wisteria was pretty late in 2023, so we didn’t get to watch that one in bloom. You can take a long route through the gardens and greenhouses of about 2,5 hours, but we took the short one of 1,5 hours. The greenhouses are always busy, but as they fence off specific areas it is easy to get pictures with unobstructed views. I don’t think words can explain how pretty the greenhouses were, so I think it is best to check out my pictures.
