The Schynige Platte Alpine Garden is a very special botanical garden. As the first in the Alps and one of very few, it shows plants in their natural plant communities, and as far as possible all plants that occur in Switzerland above the timberline.
Here you can enjoy around 800 species, i.e. about two thirds of the Swiss alpine flora, in the course of the summer on comfortable paths and tracks (about 1000 metres with a difference in altitude of about 40 metres) in a very small area, without having to climb many peaks. You can look at the alpine plants in peace, take pictures and get to know them by means of the labels.
For the Alpine garden, a good 8000 square metres of alpine pasture was fenced in 1928, thus removing it from centuries of cultivation. The varied small topography in different exposures leads to a great diversity of ecological conditions and thus of plant communities. The largest proportions of the area are taken up by the blue sesleria scree, the rusty sedge scree and the milkwort pasture; they are also the most common in the surrounding area. These have been enriched in small plantings by species that grow elsewhere in Switzerland in these plant communities.
The entrance to the Alpine Garden is located right next to the mountain station of the Schynige Platte Railway. The walk through the garden takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours (main path 420 metres, with side paths about 1000 metres), depending on the interest of the visitor. Guided tours are also available on request.
