Singapore Botanic Gardens

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• published: 12 Dec 2013
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The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a 74-hectare botanical garden in Singapore. It is the only botanic garden in the world that opens from 5 a.m. to 12 midnight every single day of the year, and does not charge an admission fee, except for the National Orchid Garden. The linear distance between the northern and southern ends is around 2.5km. The first "Botanical and Experimental Garden" in Singapore was established in 1822 by Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore and a keen naturalist. This first Garden closed in 1829. It was not until 30 years later that the present Singapore Botanic Gardens began in 1859. Laurence Niven was hired as superintendent and landscape designer to turn what were essentially overgrown plantations and a tangle of virgin rainforest into a public park. The layout of the Gardens as it is today is largely based on Niven's design. The Gardens played an important role during the "greening Singapore" campaign and Garden City campaign during the early independence years. The National Orchid Garden is the main attraction within the Botanic Gardens. Located on the mid-western side of the Garden, the hilly three-hectare site has a collection of more than 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids of orchids. The Singapore Botanic Gardens has a small tropical rainforest of around six hectares in size, which is older than the gardens itself. The rainforest and its bigger cousin at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve are located within the Singapore's city limits. Singapore is one of the only two major cities with a tropical rainforest within its city limits, the other being Tijuca Forest in Rio de Janeiro. QUESTIONS? We would like to hear from you! If you have any comments or questions about this destination or just need some general travel advice, feel free to leave a comment below! ABOUT VideoVoyage.TV is a travel channel specializing in informative videos about various travel destinations around the world. We are publishing a short video every day starting with places around Southeast Asia, but planning to extend our coverage to Europe and the Caribbean in the upcoming months. SUBSCRIBE http://www.youtube.com/videovoyagetv?sub_confirmation=1 CONNECT Website: http://videovoyage.tv Facebook: http://facebook.com/videovoyagetv Twitter: http://twitter.com/videovoyagetv Instagram: http://instagram.com/videovoyagetv YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/videovoyagetv Google+: http://google.com/+videovoyagetv