Ticket sales for the Royal Greenhouses at Laken Castle, King Filip’s home, started today. The greenhouses are open to the public from 18 April to 11 May. During your visit, you will be able to discover the greenhouses from afar, from the garden of Laken Castle, but also from their interior. The rush on tickets is usually enormous. And this year it might be even bigger, because now is the last time you can also visit the Winter Garden. Soon, it will close for several years for renovation work.
Architect Alphonse Balat, Victor Horta's teacher, designed the greenhouse complex of Laken Castle in 1873. He described it as ‘a glass city in a hilly park landscape’. 150 years later, the conservatories continue to enchant people. Prospective visitors can book their ticket via the Royal Greenhouses of Laken website .
You can choose between two routes. A ‘short’ one of 2 km and a ‘long’ one of 3 km. On the first, visitors only walk inside the greenhouses, while on the longer route you start outside in the castle's garden. So these visitors can admire the greenhouses from a distance, but also see special places, like the temple ruins at the edge of one of the ponds and the rose arch.
Last opportunity for the Winter Garden
This year will also be the last time visitors will be able to see the Winter Garden for the time being, as it is closing for a while says Royal Palace spokesperson Lore Vandoorne. ‘The Winter Garden is the largest conservatory on the estate. But it needs urgent renovation. Because of water seepage, there are rust stains that need treatment, pieces of the mosaic are missing. Major renovation work is needed. This will start in May, after the opening to the public.’
The renovation will certainly take several years, leaving the Winter Garden closed indefinitely. The many exotic plants and trees will remain in place during the works. ‘It would be very bad to move these plants. So the contractor will have to be creative, to protect them during the works.’