Although the Town Musicians of Bremen remain the top tourist draw for this city in northwestern Germany, there’s a better reason for Road Trips Gardeners to stop by this former Hanseatic League member.

There are more than 5710 acres of green space in the parks and gardens around Bremen.

The city is especially known for its rhododendrons and azaleas. The best place (and time of year) to view the rhododendrons is from April to the end of May in the Rhododendronpark, Deliusweg 40, Bremen, Germany. The park itself, which opened to the public in 1937, began four years earlier began at the initiative of the German Rhododendron Society.

The park’s Botanical Garden, which dates to 1905, was transferred to its current location in the late 1930s. It includes a Rhododendron rockery, with rhododendron species from the Alps, Himalayas, and mountains of China and Japan.

(Photos courtesy of Bremen Tourism and Syker Fotograf)