Image source: CapeTownSightSeeingTours.com 

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cape Town.It is world-renowned for the beauty and diversity of the Cape flora it displays and for the magnificence of its setting against the eastern slopes of Table Mountain.

Kirstenbosch Gardens lies across an area of 528 hectares.The landscaped and developed section has increased in size over the years to 36 hectares, and there is also a nature reserve.The Garden centre is open everyday excepting Christmas Day and Easter Saturday. There are restaurants in the Gardens and just outside the Gardens are many shops,offering gifts, clothing, homeware, curios, books and plants.

Overview
Kirstenbosch, founded in 1913, grows only indigenous South African plants. The estate covers 528 hectares and supports a diverse fynbos flora and natural forest. The cultivated garden (36 hectares) displays collections of South African plants, particularly those from the winter rainfall region of the country.A number of trails lead through natural forest and fynbos surrounding the developed garden.

Location
Kirstenbosch lies 13 km from Cape Town city centre, on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain.

Facilities
The Visitors' Centre includes an information desk and various retail outlets as well as a coffee shop. The Centre for Home Gardening has outlets for plants and other services to support the home garden. There are also several Restaurants at Kirstenbosch.

Wheelchairs or golf cart/shuttle tours are available for physically-challenged visitors (bookings should be made in advance at the Information Office).

A map is available from the Information Office (at a cost of R2) for all walking trails.

Events
On Sundays during the summer months from December to March, musical sunset concerts are held on the lawns.Families bring their picnic baskets on Sunday evenings to enjoy what has become a Cape Town institution.  The concert area includes a well-designed, inconspicuous stage and a steep lawn which provides a perfect natural auditorium against a magnificent mountain back drop.

Craft markets are also held at the Stone Cottages (opposite Kirstenbosch) on the last Sunday of every month (except June, July & August)

Hours and fees
The Garden is open 365 days a year from 08:00 - 19:00 (September -March) and from 08:00 - 18:00 (April - August). The entrance fee is R30 for adults and R20 for South African students with student ID cards. Fees for school children (6-18 years old) are R5. Children under 6 years old and Botanical Society members have free entry. SA senior citizens have free entry on Tuesdays, if it is not a public holiday

Some Special Features
The Botanical Society Conservatory
This enables Kirstenbosch to display South African plants which cannot be grown in the outdoor gardens. There are plants from high mountain peaks, shady forests and hot, dry deserts all together under one roof. The main house, dominated by a large baobab tree, features succulents from the arid regions of southern Africa. Special collections of bulbs, ferns and alpines are displayed in smaller corner houses.

Peninsula Garden
This garden displays some of the 2 500 plant species found on the Cape Peninsula.

Water-wise Garden
This beautiful area demonstrates how to create a garden which needs far less water and maintenance than a conventional garden.

Fragrance Garden
The main feature in this garden is plants with interesting textures and scents.

Medicinal Garden 
Find out about the many medicinal uses of South African plants.

The Dell
This is the oldest part of the Garden, featuring Colonel Bird's Bath, tree ferns and a variety of shade-loving plants.

Protea Garden
Different members of the protea family (Proteaceae) are featured here. This part of the Garden is most magnificent in winter and spring, when the proteas, conebushes and serrurias are in flower. 

Restio Garden
This garden focuses on the incredible variety of texture and form found in the reed family (Restionaceae).

Van Riebeeck's hedge
The remnants of the hedge planted in 1660 to protect cattle of the Cape colonists.

Sculpture Path
A recent development of an old and often overlooked area of the Garden, designed to exhibit African sculpture with the Gardens as a backdrop. It is a special experience to see how the landscape and the sculptures interact and compliment each other.
 
Vlei Garden
This is a natural seep, or vlei, rich in plant and animal life. A raised boardwalk carries the visitor over the vlei.

Bushveld Garden
The Bushveld Garden is located on the hottest, sunniest and driest slope. In this area are plants that come from the north of South Africa, the Bushveld. There are a variety of thorn trees, Acacia species, and herbaceous plants that are at their best in late summer.

Source: SA National Biodiversity Institute