The Penang Botanic Gardens (Taman Kebun Bunga) is a pleasant place to escape the heat of the busy city and enjoy walks or just relax in the tranquil gardens.
The gardens (also known as the Waterfall Gardens) were established by the British back in 1884 on the site of an old granite quarry.
Garden Features
Wildlife
The
park has plenty of wildlife to see. The most common of which are
Long-tailed Macaques, Giant Black Squirrels and the very cute Dusky Leaf Monkey.
The Macaques can be a bit of a problem, as people have fed them in the past (and some still do), so they can be quite aggressive at times and have been known to snatch bags in the hope that some food is inside.
Penang Botanical Gardens Opening Hours : Open daily from 05:00 - 20:00
Entrance Fee : Entry to the gardens is Free
How to get to the botanical gardens by bus :
Rapid Penang Bus 10 from Georgetown is the only bus that takes you all the way to the gardens and stops in the large car park just outside the entrance.
Going back to Georgetown, you will have to leave the car park and walk down the road for a couple of minutes where the bus waits to go back to town.
The bus travels via the roundabout at the end of Gurney Drive, then
stops close to the Komtar bus terminal, before terminating at the jetty.
Bus 10 departs every 45 to 60 minutes.
The first bus leaves the jetty at 06:30, the last bus leaves the gardens at 22:15.
There are plenty of paths around the park, with short jungle trails on the surrounding slopes.
You can get a copy of a map of all the trails in the gardens from the office, which is a couple of minutes walk from the entrance (just follow the left path when you enter the gardens).
If you are interested in a longer trek all the way to the top of Penang Hill, this is the easiest place to do it from - not that it is an easy walk, it is very steep in places, but it is easy in the sense that there is a road to follow all the way to the top.
For more information on getting to the top of the hill, click here >>