Palmengarten: Frankfurt Travel Guide (4.7★)

Glass, palms and a Duke’s old collection

The Palmengarten opened in 1871. Frankfurt’s citizens founded it after buying the exotic plants of the deposed Duke of Nassau, whose collection had stood at Biebrich. Garden architect Heinrich Siesmayer laid it out, and the street outside the main entrance carries his name.

Today it covers a large stretch of the Westend. On one side are lawns and themed outdoor beds. On the other are glasshouses where palms, orchids, cacti and tropical crops grow under heated glass.

The tall Palmenhaus is the historic centre. The newer Tropicarium runs through separate climate zones, from humid rainforest to dry desert. Expect your glasses to steam up as you pass from one to the next.

Getting to Siesmayerstraße

Take the U-Bahn; parking in the Westend is scarce. There are two stations within easy walking distance:

• Westend (U6, U7): closest to the main entrance at Siesmayerstraße 63.
• Bockenheimer Warte (U4, U6, U7): handy for the Bockenheim side and Goethe University’s old campus.

From the Hauptbahnhof, the U4 to Bockenheimer Warte takes only a few minutes. Grüneburgpark lies just north of the garden, so you can add a free walk there afterwards. The Senckenberg Natural History Museum is a short walk south on Senckenberganlage if it rains.

Timing your visit

The garden opens 9am to 7pm every day of the week, with no closing day. Weekdays are the easy choice: it stays quiet the whole time it’s open, so you can come in the late afternoon and still have room on the paths.

Weekends work differently. It’s calmest between 9am and 10am. Avoid arriving between 12pm and 6pm, when families and day-trippers fill the glasshouses and the narrow Tropicarium walkways back up.

Allow two to three hours to see the main houses and walk one outdoor loop. Late spring brings flowering beds and the rose garden. In winter the heated houses are the main draw and the outdoor sections are bare.

How the Palmengarten works on the ground

This garden is popular with Frankfurt families, so plan around the crowds rather than expecting to have it to yourself. Here’s how to make the visit run smoothly:

• Do the glasshouses first. Head for the Tropicarium and Palmenhaus as soon as you’re through the gate. Those are where the queues build, and the outdoor lawns soak up crowds much better.
• Check prices and events online. Current admission is listed on the official Palmengarten website and at the ticket desk. The site also lists the seasonal orchid and flower shows, which bring in more visitors on the days they run.
• Stay on the paths. The beds are labelled scientific plantings, not picnic lawns. Germans tend to follow garden rules closely, and staff will tell you if you step off the path.
• Dress in layers. The tropical houses are hot and humid. You’ll want to take a jacket off inside and put it back on outside.
• Leave by the far gate. Exit on the northern side and you can walk straight into Grüneburgpark. It’s a good way to end the visit without heading back through the main entrance.