Orchideeën Hoeve

Last year I visited the Orchideeën Hoeve. It is a lovely place to visit when the weather isn’t great and we spent the whole day walking around the place and it is a nice day out for adults as well as children.

Part of the center is made up of tropical gardens. The first two areas you walk through are filled with an amazing adornment of tropical plants and flowers. Off from the main route are little side paths that children can have fun exploring along amongst the greenery. And there is seating dotted around for parents to enjoy the scenery while the kids explore.

Winding amongst the plants is a stream with ponds and a mini waterfall. The streams are home to turtles and it is fun to see who can count the most. There are also ponds with different species of fish where you can purchase small cups of fish food to feed them, although the amount of food for sale is limited so the fish don’t get fat.

Another amazing (and new) part of the center is their ‘Lory Garden’. This garden contains more than eighty colourful Rainbow Lorikeets, a native bird to Australia. There is no extra charge to pass through the garden, but I really recommend purchasing a little cup of nectar for €1,00. Once inside the area you can hold up the nectar and the birds will flock to your arm and take turns enjoying the sweet snack. It is an amazing photo opportunity and was lots of fun. If you are a bit nervous of birds, fret not, there is a bird free route you can take that goes around this area.

After the Lory Garden you will pass through some of the nursery buildings where you can see the huge assortment of orchids that they grow and sell at the center.

The next stop was the Butterfly Valley, a lovely area with butterflies flying around freely. They had some sitting areas here and we paused for a little snack as we watched the butterflies. Dotted in the area are little feeding tables for the butterflies and also a rack containing chrysalis waiting to hatch. It can be a great opportunity to teach children about the life cycle of butterflies.

To finish off the route is the children’s play area. There is a variety of playground equipment, including climbing areas, bridges and jumping stones of a little stream. There is a seating area where parents can enjoy a cup of coffee while the kids play, and if you can, be there for 2 o’clock when they feed the turtles.

After you leave the paid area of the center you can also browse the gift shop and nursery shop and there is a restaurant that serves pastries, fresh made sandwiches and hot dishes.

The center is open 7 days a week; information about their opening hours, admission rates etc can be found in English on their website, www.orchideeenhoeve.com