An oasis on the fringes of Berlin’s urban metropolis, the Botanical Garden is a lush paradise bursting with flora and fauna from all over the world. Second largest in worldafter London’s Kew Gardens, it’s an unmissable leafy retreat when visiting Berlin, especially in the summer when it comes alive with blooms and dazzling events. Let Hotel de Rome organise your picnic hamper!
Go Green
Back in 1889, the garden’s first director, Adolf Engler, had a dream to create ‘the world in a garden’. Strolling around its immaculately manicured grounds, it’s clear his vision became a reality. Home to over 20,000 types of plant, Berlin’s Botanical Garden is packed full of horticultural wonders from all over the globe.
Take a journey to the tropics in its incredible Great Pavilion—a giant Art Nouveau glasshouse filled with palms, orchids and carpets of ferns. Journey to Japan in the Victoria House, a colourful plant paradise teeming with lilies, with an attractive bamboo bridge. Its famous giant South American water lily, ‘Victoria’, makes an annual appearance here each summer. And don’t miss the grand Italian Garden, which evokes the grounds of a regal Tuscan estate.
After you’ve explored the grounds, unfurl a blanket under a shady tree in the arboretum and tuck into a picnic with your family.
Summer sensations
In summer, the Botanical Garden reverberates with the sounds of Portuguese fado music, 60s funk & soul and classic swing & jazz. Every Saturday their Summer Concerts series sees nine spellbinding performances of open-air music, the perfect entertainment to enjoy as the sun goes down. On 20-21st July, the garden transforms into an illuminated wonderland during the scintillating Botanic Nights. During this nocturnal spectacle, flowerbeds and pavilions glow with colour while dance performances delight guests and fireworks light up the skies.
Occupying Berlin’s historic Bebelplatz, Hotel de Rome makes a luxurious destination from which to explore the German capital’s beautiful gardens, parks and iconic sights.
Photo Credit:
Gewaechshaeuser © I. Haas, Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin
GrossesTropenhaus_aussen3 © I. Haas, Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin
Italienischer_Garten © I. Haas, Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin
Paris is always a good idea. Except, perhaps, when it’s hosting the Olympic Summer Games, and the usual tourist throng looks set to multiply almost prohibitively. Of course, the Games are exciting, but if wading through crowds feels like a marathon effort, try a cultural relay around one of these stunning European cities instead.
As the gentle glow of each ornate chandelier begins to dim, a hush descends upon the audience before an all-consuming world of tragedy and triumph unfolds. Both exhilarating and deeply moving, a night at the opera has the distinct power to evoke emotion, while offering a unique insight into a perhaps unfamiliar city.
Journey through Europe’s symphony of unmissable opera houses, each steeped in history and grandeur.
This summer, Masseria Torre Maizza turns up the volume on a cause that needs our attention. Save the Olives, a non-profit organisation championed by Dame Helen Mirren, whose mission is to raise awareness of Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterium devastating Puglia’s olive trees and impacting the local economy and ecosystem. In support, we have devised an incredible calendar of music and art amidst our Masseria’s olive groves – a poignant setting, grounded in the cause.
