Terra Botanica, Route d’épinard, Angers, France, said to be the world’s first plant-dedicated theme park, opens for the season March 25, 2023.

The attractions range from the fanciful (a virtual reality tour) to the practical (a park tour via the Little Plant Train). Roses? Yes! Orchids? Yes! Plants from the age of the dinosaurs? Bien sur! There’s even a butterfly house.

Terra Botanica is located just outside Angers, a city in western France alongside the Maine River at the edge of the Loire Valley.

The medieval seat of the Plantagenet dynasty, Angers has an old town with half-timbered houses such as the ornate Maison d’Adam (now the Maison des Artisans). La Maison d’Adam building (at right) is counted among the oldest half-timbered houses in France. According to the town archives, the building has always been a shop. Now it is La Maison des Artisans, a shop founded in 1992 that offers thousands of creations that are always hand-crafted, usually signed, and totally unique.

The Cathédrale St-Maurice, in central Place Sainte-Croix, features twin 75m spires and elaborate stained-glass rose windows.

Angers was named France’s greenest city in 2020 and its €178m ‘Smart City’ project aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2034.

(Photos courtesy of Touraine Loire Valley)