This wonderful botanical garden was originally laid out as an herb garden for doctors and pharmacists in 1682 (after existing at another location since 1632) before it began collecting exotic plants from the East India Company's foreign fields of plunder. Today it is a labyrinth of ornamental gardens and greenhouses set to a variety of climates (desert, swamp, tropical, and subtropical) where a total of 8,000 species are represented -- including one of the oldest potted plants in the world, a 300-year-old Cycas palm. Its café-terrace is one of the most peaceful in the city, and buying a coffee here is alone worth the price of admission. In fact, you can add some historical resonance to your sipping with the knowledge that Hortus harbors the descendants of the first coffee plants of Europe. A Dutch merchant stole one of the plants from Ethiopia, presented it to this Hortus in 1706, which in turn sent a clipping to a botanist in France, who finally saw to it that further clippings reached their destination of Brazil…where an industry was born. COST: EUR6.