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The most beautiful parks and gardens to visit in Flemish Brabant

Meeting nature designed by landscape architects
3 August 2025 by
The most beautiful parks and gardens to visit in Flemish Brabant
Lorenzo del Marmol

Just a few minutes from Brussels, theFlemish Brabantis a territory rich inshaped landscapes, elegant parks and inspiring gardens.Here, the art of gardening is not limited to ornamentation: it becomesa tool for education, contemplation and connection to the living.Several emblematic places have been imagined or rehabilitated with the help oflandscape architects, passionate gardeners and artistic collectives.

Here is a selection ofparks and gardens to visit in Flemish Brabant, combiningcontemporary creations, historical gardens, andspaces dedicated to biodiversity..

1. Meise Botanical Garden – One of the largest in Europe

On the edge of Flemish Brabant, theBotanic Garden Meiseis alandscape and scientific masterpiece.Its 92 hectares include impressive greenhouses, a castle, a medicinal garden, a forest, a reconstructed marsh, as well as numerousspaces designed for walking..

  • Highlights: 18,000 plant species, educational trails, monumental greenhouses.
  • Walk: free, expect between 2 hours and a day.
  • Address : Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise
  • Website : https://www.plantentuinmeise.be/fr
  • Landscape Architects: redevelopments carried out by teams integrated into the institution, with occasional collaborations in landscape design

2. Provincial Domain of Huizingen – landscaped park and sandstone cliffs

This park combinesnatural landscape and human intervention, with its characteristic sandstone cliffs, its water feature, its rose garden and its viewpoints. It is amultifunctional parkvery popular with families, where landscape design enhances the existing natural elements.

3. Coloma Park in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw – the royal rose garden

A true gem dedicated to the rose, withover 3,000 varieties from around the world. The park surrounds a neoclassical castle and combinesgeometric rigor, symmetrical paths, pergolas and water mirrors.

4. Provincial Domain of Kessel-Lo – balance between nature and leisure

Located to the east of Leuven, this 100 ha domain offerswoods, ponds, gentle hills, play areas and quiet zones. It is a landscaped space that combinesecological management and visitor comfort, often used asa living laboratory for environmental education.

  • Highlights: diversity of habitats, accessibility, space for all ages
  • Walk: loops of 2 to 6 km
  • Address: Holsbeeksesteenweg 21, 3010 Leuven
  • Website : https://www.visitleuven.be/fr/provinciedomein-kessel-lo
  • Landscape architects: provincial service + occasional interventions by local offices

5. Tuinen van Hoegaarden – a village garden with contemporary accents

Aset of thematic public gardensestablished in the heart of the village of Hoegaarden, famous for its beer… and its landscape heritage. The site combinesflower beds, educational vegetable gardens, ponds and gardens inspired by local heritage.

  • Highlights: revisited village style, sustainable approach, contemporary gardening
  • Walk: short loop (45 min to 1h)
  • Address: Houtmarkt 1, 3320 Hoegaarden
  • Website : https://www.lokaalbestuurhoegaarden.be/park-van-hoegaarden
  • Landscape architects: partly designed with the assistance of the gardening school of Leuven and regional landscapers


6.Tervuren Park – between classical majesty and preserved nature

Long the hunting residence of the Dukes of Brabant, theTervuren Parkis today one of the most beautiful landscaped areas in Belgium. It is organised around astraight canal lined with trees, poetic ponds, vast lawns, and wooded areas that extend theSoignes Forestnearby.

The park is also the prestigious setting of theRoyal Museum for Central Africa, and benefits from ameticulous landscape restorationthat respects the original layout while enhancing biodiversity. It is a place that is bothhistorical, aesthetic, and vibrant, highly appreciated for walking, sports, or photography.

  • Highlights: alignments of lime trees, water mirror, royal atmosphere
  • Walk: numerous possible loops (2 to 10 km), flat terrain
  • Address: Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080 Tervuren
  • Website : https://www.visittervuren.be/fr/parc-de-tervuren
  • Landscape architects: initial layout in the 18th century, contemporary renovations carried out by the Buildings Agency in collaboration with specialised landscape offices

7.Water Botanical Garden – Kruidtuin Leuven, between science and contemplation

Founded in 1738 by the University of Leuven, thishistoric botanical gardenis a place that is both scientific and poetic. Here you can discoverclear water basins, rare aquatic plants, classifiedbotanical collections, tropical greenhouses, and a magnificentterraced medicinal garden. The staging is understated, elegant, and perfectly suited to theslow and curious stroll.

The garden has benefited from several renovations, with the help oflandscape architectsspecialised, who have managed to preserve the soul of the place while opening it to the general public.

  • Highlights: large central basin, greenhouses, botanical diversity, tranquility
  • Stroll: free route, approx. 1h to 1h30
  • Address: Kapucijnenvoer 30, 3000 Leuven
  • Website : https://www.visitleuven.be/kruidtuin
  • Landscape architects: contemporary developments carried out in collaboration with urban landscape architects (names not publicly specified)

8.Wespelaar Arboretum – a haven of rare plant diversity

In Wespelaar, not far from Haacht, lies one of themost renowned arboretums in Europe, recognised for its exceptional collection of rare trees and shrubs from around the world. More than2,000 woody speciesare carefully planted, labelled, and maintained according to the rules of botanical art. Theatmosphere of the place is calm, almost sacred., and invites you to a mindful walk, where one discovers, through the seasons, spectacular foliage, delicate blooms, or astonishing bark.

The arboretum was designed with the support ofrenowned landscape architects and botanists, with a focus on the clarity of the collections as well as landscape harmony.

  • Highlights: botanical diversity, rare trees, blooms of dogwoods, magnolias, stewartias…
  • Walk: free route, allow 1.5 to 2 hours
  • Address: Grote Baan 63, 3150 Haacht (Wespelaar)
  • Website : https://www.arboretumwespelaar.be
  • Landscape architects: partly designed by Baron Louis van der Linden, in collaboration with botanists from the Wespelaar Arboretum Foundation

9.Kreftenbroeck Arboretum – a hidden botanical treasure in Huldenberg

Located inHuldenberg, in the heart of the Voer valley, theKreftenbroeck Arboretumis aremarkable collection of rare trees and shrubs, planted in a carefully tended hilly setting. The site covers approximately 15 hectares, blendingmeadows, groves, clearings, and landscaped areas, with great attention paid to autumn colours and plant textures.

Created and maintained by theW.S. Kreftenbroeck Arboretum Foundation, this private garden is open only by appointment or on special days. Its careful design makes it a reference for landscape professionals and dendrology enthusiasts.

  • Highlights: rare trees, natural staging, preserved biodiversity
  • Walk: guided tour (1.5 to 2 hours), slightly hilly terrain
  • Address: Bosstraat 7, 3040 Huldenberg
  • Landscape architects: planting and landscaping carried out with the support of botanists and specialised landscape architects (names not disclosed)

Conclusion

TheFlemish Brabantoffers a beautiful array of gardens, betweenintelligently designed public spacesandparks with high botanical value. Several of them have been conceived or reinterpreted byexperienced landscape architects, with a focus on balance between beauty, accessibility and ecology.

Parks and gardens of landscape architects to visit in Walloon Brabant