Botanical Gardens In Korea

Seoul Botanic Garden is one of the greatest botanical gardens in Korea. It showcases some of the most beautiful and diverse gardens in South Korea, with over 8,000 species of plants for visitors to explore. It also features different types of greenhouses, from tropical and temperate to arid and aquatic habitats.

Botanical Gardens in Korea

Botanical gardens in Korea and parks are one of the best places to explore in South Korea. With hundreds of acres of natural and cultivated landscapes, they offer a peaceful hideaway from the hustle and bustle of city life.

South Korea is home to a number of botanical gardens and parks with diverse flora, fauna, and vegetation that provide captivating sights for nature lovers. From historic sites to modern day attractions, these gardens are some of the most visited places in South Korea.

The Seoul Botanic Park Garden is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. This garden features more than 10,000 species of plants and houses a number of special exhibitions throughout the year.

Visitors can explore greenhouses filled with tropical plants and take a stroll through its many pathways to marvel at the beauty of the garden's array of foliage.

The Hwagyesa Temple Garden is a tranquil spot located in Seoul and offers visitors a chance to connect with nature during their visit. This temple features many unique plants such as Japanese wisteria, wild azaleas, and cherry trees that transform into a jaw-dropping pink blossom each spring.

Seoraksan National Park offers a scenic backdrop for any outdoor enthusiast, from the towering granite peaks to the lush forests and pristine streams. This national park is full of activities such as hiking trails, cycling routes, and even local festivals during certain times of year.

The N Seoul Tower is another popular attraction that provides visitors with a breathtaking view of the city. This observation tower is located atop Namsan Mountain and can be accessed by cable car or hiking trails. It also features a variety of restaurants, cafes, shops, and even an art gallery!

The Gyeongbokgung Palace is one of Korea's most impressive royal palaces and a must-see in Seoul. The complex is full of beautiful gardens, ornate architecture and historical artifacts from the Joseon Dynasty.

During certain times of year, visitors can witness the spectacular sight of Japan's famous cherry blossoms (sakura) w-dropping pink blossom each spring. It's truly an unforgettable experience!

Outdoor botanical garden at Seoul Botanic Park in Makgoknaru

Top Botanical Gardens In Korea

One of the attractions I found worth exploring and revisiting are the botanical gardens in Korea. Many of such gardens are accessible within larger parks in the country. You can see and enjoy lots of plants that you have never seen in person.

There are many advantages to visiting botanical gardens in Korea, and fortunately, it is one of those countries that are very active and interested in establishing such nature gardens.

This page introduces the most popular botanical gardens and their related facilities that cater to visitors' needs at all age levels. Korean botanic parks are very visitor-friendly and accessible even to people with physical disabilities.

Most of these places are safe and offer facilities that do not relate to plants but also to satisfy your visit with friends or family's needs while enjoying the day.

Please, continue below to check out the exciting gardens and parks all over South Korea...

Popular Botanical Gardens in Korea

If you can spend some time today, please check out some of the links of botanical gardens in Korea below. I believe that only this website has the largest list of such gardens...

Ansan Botanical Garden
Asan World Flower Botanic Garden
Bear Tree Park Sejong-si
Bunjae Artpia (Spirited Garden)
Butterfly Garden Seoul Forest
Chollipo Arboretum
Hallim Park
Halla Arboretum
Hantaek Botanical Garden
Hwadam Forest
Jungle Dome
Namsan Outdoor Botanical Garden
National Institute of Ecology
Oedo Botanical Garden
Peaceland Pyeonggang Botanical Garden
Pureun Arboretum (Hangdong Blue Arboretum)
Seoul Botanic Garden
Saemiwon Lotus Garden
Seoul Changpowon (Seoul Iris Garden)
Seoul Grand Park Botanic Garden
Shingu Botanical Garden
Uchi Arboretum (Gwangju Family Park)
Yeomiji Botanical Garden
Yulbom Botanic Garden

Ansan Botanical Garden
Ansan Botanical Garden is a natural ecosystem in the urban environment and easily accessible by locals and foreign visitors. It is located in Seongho Park in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

The Garden is famous for its pyramid-shaped structure, consisting of three exhibition gardens, one for the tropical, middle, and southern regions.

Please see the Korean wildflowers, tropical palm trees, and the Southern countries' wetland plants and edible plants.

Asan World Flower Botanic Garden
Asan World Flower Botanical Garden is the most extensive indoor greenhouse botanical garden in Korea, where you can see 3,000 kinds of ornamental plants of horticultural species throughout the year.

Since its opening in 2004, Asan World Flower has been loved by 150,000-200,000 visitors every year. Over 1 million succulents have started to be presented to all visitors hoping that their time at the botanical garden will continue at home.

Bear Tree Park Sejong-si
Bear Tree Park is 82 acres of land planted with over a thousand tree species and flowers of over 400,000 thousand. The Park is home to over 150 Asiatic black bears, reindeers, carps, and other flora and fauna you can find.

Bear Tree Park offers various facilities, including a banquet of any social and official functions. You can also shop at its souvenir shops, beverage and drinks shop, teddy bear shop, etc.

Bunjae Artpia, Jeju-do (Spirited Garden)
Bunjae Artpia or Spirited Garden is the only park in Korea to specialize in potted and garden plants. Bunjae Artpia is located on Jeju Island and is the largest park of its kind in the world.

The tranquil island retreat, which features a harmonious blend of waterfalls, ponds and scenic pathways, contains more than 1,000 rotating plant specimens and displays more than 700 of them daily.

The builder and owner, Bum-Young Sung, opened the Bunjae Artpia in July 30, 1992, to revive the disappearing 700-year-old Bunjae culture.

One of the gardens at Bunjae Artpia where a banquet is held

Butterfly Garden Seoul Forest
Seoul Forest is composed of four distinctive spaces: Culture and Arts Park, Experience Learning Center, Ecological Forest, and Wetland Ecological Park.

This ecological park connects with the Han River, providing a variety of cultural and leisure spaces. Also, Seoul Forest Park is the first park with citizen participation from creation to program operation.

Chollipo Arboretum Foundation, Taean-gun, Chunchongnam-do
The Chollipo Arboretum is an internationally renowned because of its vast collection of magnolia, holly, camellia, maple, and rose of Sharon along with 16,347 plant taxa as of the end of 2017.

With such collection, the Chollipo Arboretum is one of the focal points for The Forest Plant Resources Management Facility, The Consortium of Korea Biodiversity and Sustainable Use, Professional arborist Training Course, and Forest Interpreter’s Training Course, among other educational resources in the country.

Hantaek Botanical Garden
Hantaek Botanical Garden was born in the 1970s when plants were regarded simply as weeds. The Garden has grown into a world-class botanical garden with more than 10,000 species of plants and 36 theme gardens.

Hantaek Botanical Garden was reborn in 2001 as a non-profit foundation with a sense of mission that the botanical garden should be shared by all people who love plants.

It has become a mass breeding site of rare endangered plants, restoration of native habitats, developing new varieties, and creating flower beds.

Hwadamsup Forest
Hwadam Forest is an arboretum established and operated by the LG Sangnok Foundation as part of a public service project. In April 2006, it was approved for its construction in Doung-ri, Docheok-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do.

It sits in over 165,000 square meters. In 2013, 17 theme parks and 4,000 domestic native plants and introduced plants were collected and exhibited.

Hwadam Forest is a field research facility to restore the ecosystem to settle in nature by restoring endangered animals and plants before it was a viewing facility.

Namsan Outdoor Botanical Garden (남산야외식물원), aka Namsan Botanical Garden
The foreigners' residential complex in Hannam-dong was demolished in 1994. It is turned into the present Namsan Outdoor Botanical Garden, opened on February 19, 1997.

Covering around 59 square meters, Namsan Garden was divided into 13 themed gardens consisting of 117,132 plants from 269 species.

This diverse Garden houses over 60,000 plants from 129 species: tree types and over 50,000 plants from 140 species: grass types--including a garden of herbal medicine, apricot trees, wildflowers, and royal azaleas, shrubs, commercial plants, and a garden for the blind.

National Institute of Ecology
National Institute of Ecology has a tropical biome that recreates the tropical rainforests in Asia, Central and South America, and Africa. It is one of the largest botanical gardens in Korea to date.

NIE houses over 700 species of tropical plants and over a hundred kinds of fish from tropical rivers and seas.

Such diverse flora and fauna include pirahaluke, electric eel, mudskipper, cannonball tree, Aldabra giant tortoise, tropical corals, rubber tree, archerfish, Nile crocodile, banana tree, among others.

An Aldabra giant tortoise is one of the collections at NIE

Oedo Botanical Garden
Oedo-Botania is a marine botanical garden located on an island in Hallyeohaesang National Park between Tongyeong and Geojedo Island.

What started over 30 years ago as a private garden has expanded to cover the entire island with plants in European-style gardens, accented by sculptures and statues.

The island's cafe offers drinks and light snacks, along with a fantastic view of Haegeumgang Island and the surrounding blue sea. Oedo-Botania is only accessible via a ferry tour, and there are no accommodations on the island.

Oedo Botania, Oedo Island, Geoje City

Peaceland Pyeonggang Botanical Garden
Peaceland Botanical Garden offers various themes for relaxation and nature experience facilities including a resort facility, a botanical gardens, an adventure park for kids, and a museum, among many facilities and offers.

Pyeonggang Botanical Garden preserves native plants and endangered plants, and a nature-friendly garden to study. Innosupia Resort prioritizes customer satisfaction and aims for a lifestyle enjoyed in nature with the concept of a resting place in the forest.

Pureum Arboretum
Green Pureum Arboretum, located at the tip of Guro-gu, in Seoul's southwestern part, is the first municipal arboretum to be created in Seoul. The “Eco-Island” is the center of educational programs and eco-friendly management.

Arboretum is different from a park or amusement park. Pureum is a valuable resource that all of us must protect and care for, and the cultural heritage of life must be handed down to children who will grow up in the future.

On a 103,000-square-meter site in the Hangdong area of Guro-gu, you can enjoy 2,100 kinds of various plants, lawn gardens, fragrance gardens, rock gardens, and children's gardens.

Seoul Botanical Garden
Seoul Botanical Garden is the largest, so far, garden and botanical park located in Seoul area. It offers both an outdoor botanical garden with various themes and an indoor greenhouse that houses plants from tropical and sub-tropical countries.

Botanical Gardens in Korea: A panorama of Seoul Botanic Park

Seoul Botanic Park and greenhouse in the background

Semiwon Lotus Garden
The Saemiwon Foundation established an environmental education center where history and culture coexist while nurturing a garden of water and flowers.

It is a public institution in Yangpyeong-gun. To create a beautiful and prosperous Yangpyeong and meet cultural needs through the local economy, various cultural events, and environmental education. See their website here.

Marshland at Seoul Iris Garden (서울 창포원)

Seoul Changpowon (Seoul Iris Garden)
Seoul Changpowon Iris Garden, designated as an ecological park and an impressive botanical garden filled with irises, is one of the world's four major flower garden parks.

The tip of Seoul's Gangbuk area covers 12 themed gardens, including an iris garden, a medicinal botanical garden, and a wetland garden on about 16,000 pyeong.

In the Iris Garden, you can enjoy the beauty of irises by planting 300,000 irises of 130 kinds of irises made of 'brush'-shaped buds such as yellow irises, buddha irises, tare irises, and more.

An observation deck is installed for a better view of various aquatic plants and wetland creatures. Colorful flowers such as lilies and tulips bloom seasonally in the flower garden.

Iris flower at Seoul Botanic Park

Seoul Grand Park Botanical Garden [Botanical Garden]
Seoul Grand Park's Botanical Garden was opened in 1985 amidst the lush forest situated at the foot of Cheonggyesan Mountain.

The Garden consists of a greenhouse, exhibition facilities, and themed gardens that boast a collection of over 41,000 plants from 1,262 different species.

The greenhouse preserves and exhibits tropical and subtropical plants. Moreover, the Botanical Garden offers various activities and experience programs on plants and forests.

Shingu Botanical Garden (website)
Shingu Botanic Garden includes fifteen themed gardens such as a western garden, insect conservatory, Korean tradition garden, four-season garden, arboretum, Eco center(greenhouse), endangered species garden, marshy vegetation garden, child garden, hydrangea garden, among others.

Location: Shingu Botanic Garden, 121 Sangjeong-dong, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

Uchi Park in Gwangju
Uchi Park is the largest recreational park in Jeolla Province. It offers various facilities, including a zoo, botanical garden, and entertainment and sports facilities.

Built with various convenience facilities and the Specimen Exhibition Hall, the zoo, which is the second largest in Korea, has served as a place for nature studies for children in particular.

Gwangju Family Land, which is part of Uchi Park, offers various exciting rides and sports facilities, including a snow sled park, ice rink, swimming pool, and venues for live performances.

Yeomiji Botanical Garden
Yeomiji Botanical Garden's indoor garden contains approximately 2,000 rare tropical and subtropical plants throughout the Flower Garden, Water Lily Garden, Jungle Garden, Subtropical Fruits Garden, Cactus and Succulent Garden, and Observation Platform.

The outdoor garden offers Jeju Native Garden and Korean, Japanese, Italian, and French folk gardens.

A fantastic view of Hallasan Mountain, and the nearby coast and Marado Island can all be observed from the 38-meter high observation platform. See my article.

Yeomiji Botanical Garden on Jeju Island

Yulbom Botanic Garden (website)
Yul-bom Botanic Garden in Gwangju Located near Paldang Lake, Yul-bom Botanic Garden, is a pristine area stretching over 66 thousand square meters.

Created by a natural art theme, it offers relaxation and experience-oriented activities for visitors.

The pleasant country-side environment satisfies the needs of contemporary people who are stressed out by city life and provides a new level of visual experiences for visitors while appreciating nature's mystical beauty.

It operates various experience programs such as pottery experience, natural herbal soap making, aroma candle making, and natural cosmetic making.

Thanks for visiting the botanical gardens in Korea page, and I hope you enjoyed it! See you again soon!

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