Visiting the Palm House & Butterfly Exhibit in Copenhagen Botanical Garden!

Although the Botanical Garden of Copenhagen is sprawled out across huge acres of walkable tracks and land, an unmissable spot for your visit is the Palm House, which is essentially a collection of multiple greenhouses. These include cactus and succulent sections, an actual walkway among palm trees, as the name suggests, and a butterfly garden, which is the ultimate attraction. In my short visit to the city, I actually spent the better half of an afternoon dedicated to the Palm House, which meant that I was more at peace reading the history and science behind the upkeep of these plants. Even if that does not capture your fancy, this space is a wonderland for observing plants of peculiar shapes and colours.

The inner structure of the main greenhouse is actually inspired by the botanical garden in London, which features a white staircase to get a bird's-eye view of the entire Palm House. It is, in fact, quite interesting to see these tall, skyscraping trees at eye level, and even spot some bald spots which would otherwise be simply invisible.

The earth around such tall trees and shrubs is carefully designed to hold decorative plants with less attention-seeking vines and flowers, but if you take a second to zoom in, especially in the moist humidity of the campus, so many details of the orientation of particular branches and pots become clear. It is almost as if the greenery is part of the architecture, moving and growing synchronously with the shape of the greenhouse.

One of my favourite spots in the garden was with the succulents, because unlike the central Palm House humidity, this area is dry and breathable. But not just that, the colours and variety of caudiciforms, especially in such tiny sizes, made me stop and point multiple times. The information boards routinely describe the more popular ones among the greens, such as the tall and lengthy cacti or the mother-in-law's cushion.

When you finally reach the butterfly exhibit, your eyes will have trained to grasp at every shape and movement, which is perfect for viewing these gentle beasts. The museum itself is a late 19th-century relic, but this butterfly portion is a 21st-century addition, with over 200 butterflies introduced regularly, which means that a great amount of upkeep is required in this space. That explains why the tickets to this exhibit are rather limited, but surely worth the trouble.

Many of the visitors around me remained spellbound and charmed, staring far into the greens where the butterflies sat in silence. Only a charm that happens in person, but sure as the sun, it will happen to you.