The Bamboo Plantation of the Cévennes

This fantastic garden transports you instantaneously into a tropical setting covering 12 hectares. Even if the bamboo is the star of the show, you can also admire trees that are remarkable for their size and longevity, such as the sequoias, the gingko bilobas or maidenhair trees, the cryptomerias, the tulip trees, magnolias and camellias.

The landscaped areas transport you into different worlds such as the aquatic garden, the bamboo forest, the alley of Chinese windmill palms, the Japanese garden, the maze, Eugene's ponds and the Mazel greenhouses.

The Bamboo Plantation is intimately linked to the history of sericulture, or silk farming, in the Cévennes. It was created by the botanist Eugene Mazel at the end of the 19th century. Having gone to the Far East to study the mulberry trees that were favourable to silk production, he came back with many tropical plants, bamboo in particular, which he started acclimatizing in loamy soils bordering the Gardon River. Today, the Bamboo Plantation boasts approximately 200 different varieties including the giant bamboo, the biggest in Europe. It is also classed as a Remarkable Garden and listed as a Historic Monument.

In addition to having inspired filmmakers for films such as “The Wages of Fear” and "Paul and Virginia", the Bamboo Plantation is a cultural centre that hosts temporary artistic installations, readings, musical gatherings and many other events throughout the season.

You can buy works and decorative objects at the Bamboutique, and bamboo and many different plants at the Garden Centre.

The Petit Train des Cévennes sightseeing train stops at the Bamboo Plantation and also takes you to Saint-Jean du Gard and Anduze, two other must-see places in the Cévennes.