Skip the line and get ready for a blooming brilliant day in the oldest botanical gardens in the Netherlands. Leiden's Hortus botanicus was first planted in 1590, and it's home to all manner of flowery treasures. See the Japanese herbal gardens, a rare tulip tree that's been here since 1716, a famous lily that only blossoms once a year, and much more!

The Hortus botanicus Leiden is world-renown for its collections of rare flora, and researchers still flock here to study its prestigious plants. And it was in these grounds that Carolus Clusius cultivated the first major tulip crops in Europe.

Soak up the natural beauty of 100-year-old trees like Golden Rain and giant Weeping Beech in impeccably manicured gardens filled with sweet smells and colorful sights.

See protected and threatened plant species, fearsome carnivorous plants, and the Wollemia conifer – thought to be extinct until the Hortus brought it back to vibrant life in the 1990s.

Take the time to stop and smell the flowers - there's no better place.