Top 10 Gardens in Belgium
Belgium has long been a meeting point of French, Dutch and English garden traditions, and its modest size hides a remarkably high density of significant gardens. The Brussels area alone holds several of Europe's finest collections, and the country's mild Atlantic climate suits both perennial borders and rhododendron woodland.
1. Annevoie Gardens, Namur Province
An eighteenth-century water garden, the only formal water garden in Belgium still using its original gravity-fed hydraulic system. The fountains, cascades and parterres of Charles-Alexis de Montpellier run without any pumps.
2. Botanic Garden of Meise
Belgium's national botanic garden, with 18,000 plant species across 92 hectares — one of the largest botanic gardens in the world. The Plant Palace glasshouse complex covers a hectare.
3. Royal Greenhouses of Laeken
Built by Alphonse Balat for King Leopold II between 1874 and 1895, these monumental cast-iron greenhouses open to the public only three weeks each spring. The camellia collection and the Winter Garden rotunda are extraordinary.
4. Beervelde Park, East Flanders
Renowned for its twice-yearly garden fairs that bring growers and designers from across Europe. The park itself is a fine Lievin Bauwens estate with mature plantings.
5. Hex Gardens, Limburg
The eighteenth-century estate of the prince-bishops of Liège, with a famous rose collection and one of the country's best ornamental kitchen gardens. Open only a few weekends each year.
6. Coloma Castle Rose Garden, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw
Around 3,000 rose varieties — the most comprehensive rose collection on the Continent. June is the moment to visit.
7. Castle of Freyr, Dinant
A seventeenth-century walled garden along the Meuse with the world's oldest collection of orange trees in pots, some over 350 years old and still in production.
8. Kalmthout Arboretum, near Antwerp
A nineteenth-century estate now a major dendrological collection, particularly strong on witch hazels (Hamamelis), magnolias and ornamental cherries. Winter and early spring are peak.
9. Park van Beervelde
An English landscape park of around 25 hectares, designed by Louis Fuchs, with significant mature beeches and oaks. The biannual plant fair draws thousands.
10. Bouchout Domain, Meise
Part of the Botanic Garden of Meise estate, with a medieval moated castle and the Belgian National Plant Collections garden surrounding it.
Where will you go first?
All of the gardens mentioned in this article are pinned on the interactive map. Use it to plan a route, group nearby sites into a single trip, or compare gardens by style and season.