Benmore Botanic Gardens, Scotland
Whilst on our holiday at the Lochgoilhead Lodges in Scotland we visited Benmore Botanic Gardens. It turned out we could get in for free with our National Botanic Garden of Wales annual passes, and since I love a good botanical garden, we had to go and check it out. I am so glad that we did, as it turned out to be one of my favourite parts of the whole holiday.
There wasn’t a whole lot of information I could find online about what was there or how big it was, so we had no idea what to expect. But I did know there was an avenue of beautiful redwood trees which I knew I had to photograph…
The Avenue.
Whilst looking at the map to see where we should go I was surprised by the size of the gardens and the wide range of things to see and do. The viewpoints at various heights throughout the gardens sounded like a good place to head to, so we made our way up the hillside and through the beautiful woods.
The view from the Wright Smith Memorial Viewpoint, it did not disappoint…
We then wondered round to the Chilean viewpoint refuge, and we timed it perfectly with the most magical light. It was so breathtaking.
Making our way to the Chilean Shelter “The Condor.”
With so many beautiful little paths to follow through the woods and the most incredible mountain views around every corner it’s not hard to see why I fell in love with this place.
There were also some lovely, more formal garden areas as well, which included a squirrel hide where you could sit and watch for red squirrels. We actually saw quite a few whilst exploring the gardens, and even saw some at our holiday park too. Seeing the red squirrels was such a treat!
Can you spot the red squirrel? I’ll give you a clue, he’s running across the tree trunk!
After spending a good few hours exploring the amazing grounds we finished our day in the garden’s cafe where they serve some seriously delicious cakes. As I mentioned before this was one of the highlights of the holiday for me, and if you find yourself in the area I would highly recommend a visit. It really is a beautiful place to explore.
You can find out more about Benmore Botanic Gardens here.
And you can read more about our holiday in Scotland here.
