Visit the Stunning Gardens at Chateau de Vullierens Near Morges
Top Flower Gardens To Visit In Switzerland
Open Until 30th October 2022
Chateau de Vullierens – a Perfect Day Out For All The Family
A visit to the Chateau de Vullierens near Morges makes for a perfect day out for all the family. As well as probably the most spectacular flower gardens in the whole of Switzerland, it has a wonderful café, lots of parkland to discover including 9 themed gardens, a gift shop and even its own wine cellars.
The gardens stretch over 30 hectares. You can find over 400 varieties of iris, (they have the largest collection in Europe), as well as daylilies, roses, tulips, peonies and rhododendrons.
In addition there are themed walks you can take (roses, centennial trees or architecture) and you can even book a tour by golf buggy if you don’t wish to walk around.
The gardens are surrounded by the most picturesque Swiss countryside too.
Chateau de Vullierens
Chateau de Vullierens itself is privately owned, so although you can’t visit the interior of the castle you can enjoy all the grounds and the wine cellars. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance and has been in the same family for over 700 years.
The Gardens at Chateau de Vullierens
The gardens at Chateau de Vullierens are truly stunning and each is unique. There are 9 separate gardens and each has a specific theme.
They are as follows: Doreen’s Garden, Dorianne’s Garden, Daria Garden, Bunny’s Shade Garden, Secret Garden, Muni Garden, the Allée Cavaliere, the Enchanted Woodland and the Summer Garden.
Most of the gardens bear the name of someone historically connected to Chateau de Vullierens. The famous “Jardin d’Iris”, was originally created by, Doreen Bovet, some years ago and you can find nearly 50,000 irises from late April to late July, and more than 400 different varieties. There is also a collection of late tulips, rhododendrons, peonies, roses and lily-lilies. You can view the irises in the gardens and each variety has a separate number so that if you wish, you can also select and order on site.
The Enchanted Woodland is perfect for families with young children as there is so much to discover and to play with. You can pull a lever on this huge bird below to get its wings to flap.
The planting throughout is simply marvellous and we were lucky enough to be visiting in early May – so we could admire so many of the May blossoms. I particularly loved the laburnum arches and the wisteria and trailing clematis.
The Sculptures at Chateau de Vullierens
The owner of Chateau de Vullierens is an avid collector of sculptures and you will find 85 sculptures located in various places in the gardens. One of the most spectacular ones is the installation of 6 giant bronze cats by English artist Laura Ford which is entitled “Days of Judgement”.
Other striking sculptures include the Corten steel sculpture “My Twist” by American artist Beverly Pepper.
I really liked Julian Voss-Andreae’s “The Head”. It is an anamorphic sculpture which disappears when you change your angle of view. It is made up of many metal plates all created with an identical space between each one.
Other pieces which caught my eye include a labyrinth of intertwined pine joists which you can walk through by Swiss artist Mireille Fulpius, ten installations by Frenchman Christian Lapie representing characters made of burnt oak then oiled and painted black and many more. If you would like to see the full list of all the sculptures at Chateau de Vullierens take a look here.
I think my favourite has to the impressive “Bing Bang” by Swiss sculptor Étienne Krähenbühl It’s an architectural phenomenon which goes off ever day at 2.30pm. Bing Bang is a kinetic sound sculpture and measures 3.5 metres in diameter. It was the winner of the 2009 FEMS Prize and its reverberating sounds can be seen in this video.
Le Cafe Des Jardins
Located close to the entrance before you go into the gardens, the Café des Jardins is open daily from 10am to 6pm serving a great selection of fresh, home made, locally produced dishes. On a few Sundays during the year they serve special brunches – for example, Mother’s Day, Easter and for the Swiss National Day.
The wine cellars are a great place to visit and they are stocked with wine produced on the vineyards belonging to Chateau de Vullierens. You can “try before you buy” the wines and the Chateau produces 7 different wines on its 14 acres of vineyards. As well as buying the wine in the shop you can also buy the wine online.
Gift Shop at Chateau de Vullierens
Events at Chateau de Vullierens
There are also numerous events taking place at Chateau de Vullierens throughout the year. One to look out for is the Hot Air Ballooning event in September.
Portes Des Iris at Chateau de Vullierens
Chateau de Vullierens Occupies A Stunning Location
Chateau de Vullierens Near Morges
Address: Les Jardins du Château de Vullierens, 1115 Vullierens
Open: 17th April – 30th October 2022
Admittance: Tickets CHF 15 for adults and seniors CHF 12. Children under 5 are free and CHF 5 for ages 5 – 16.
Dogs: Dogs are allowed, but must be kept on a lead.
How To Get there: By car it is about 15 – 20 minutes by car and there is car parking very close to the gardens. By public transport it takes 17 minutes by bus to the village of Vullierens, from where it is a 5 minute walk to the castle.
Where to Stay: We had a wonderful stay at La Maison d’Igor, which is a very friendly small hotel located in the centre of Morges.
La Maison d’Igor
Visit the Chateau de Vullierens Online Shop here
For more information on Chateau de Vullierens visit the website here.
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