Located close to the Queen’s University, Belfast, the Botanic Gardens is a worthy stop for you to admire wondrous flora. Feast your eyes on a fine array of geraniums, fuchsias and begonias or just lounge in the gardens enjoying the views for free. If you are visiting with children in tow, there’s a lovely ground specially made for the young ones to play. There is a large rose garden and long herbaceous borders and the tree enthusiast can seek out the rare oaks planted in the 1880s, including the hornbeam-leafed oak. The Palm House is a paradise of tropical flora, hanging baskets, seasonal displays and gorgeous birds. It is the earliest examples of a glasshouse made from curved iron and glass, and shows how advanced glasshouse technology enabled the horticulturists to grow exotic plant species during the Victorian era. On the other hand, there is Tropical Ravine which consists of the oldest seed plants available in modern times, as well as banana, cinnamon, bromeliad and orchid plants. Similar to the Palm House, it is a standing example of how the greenhouse environment was utilised by the farmers to cultivate rare species.