World's most beautiful city parks

 

Namba Parks, Osaka, Japan

Opened in 2003, Namba Parks spans eight levels of a 30-story office tower and mall. It’s an urban oasis with terraces, a narrow central canyon, vegetable gardens, waterfalls and rock clusters — and the ingenious solution of what to do with the space formerly occupied by Osaka’s baseball stadium. Adjacent to the Namba train station, the park makes a big first impression on new arrivals.

(Photo: jeremy sutton-hibbert / Alamy) 

 

  

Forest Park, St. Louis

An ongoing $100 million restoration project is sprucing up Forest Park, with projects that include the renovation of the Jewel Box, an Art Deco greenhouse and event space. The former host site of the 1904 Summer Olympics and World’s Fair now contains a zoo, art and history museums and a science center. Join one of the regular bird walks for the chance to see wild turkeys, great horned owls and more of the 100-plus species that have been documented here.

(Photo: Bill Grant / Alamy) 

 

  

Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, Brazil

World-renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer worked with landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx on a vision for Ibirapuera Park (opened in 1954). Niemeyer designed many of the signature buildings, including the flying-saucer-like planetarium and the Ibirapuera Auditorium, with a flamelike red structure at its entrance and concerts held inside. On Sundays, near the duck pond at the Bosque da Leitura, visitors can sunbathe with a book or magazine courtesy of the park’s lending library.

(Photo: Marcelo Rudini / Alamy) 

 

  

Englischer Garten, Munich

City officials had the foresight in the 1790s to set aside more than 900 acres of prime real estate for the Englischer Garten, one of Europe’s largest. You can rent a bike to explore trails that wind past green lawns and bridges toward a central lake with paddleboats. Warm weather brings sunbathers (some known to strip down to nothing), surfers and plenty of thirsty locals and tourists who head for the Chinese Tower, where the beer garden has room for 7,000.

(Photo: Franz-Marc Frei / Corbis) 

 

  

Balboa Park, San Diego

Along with the San Diego Zoo and 15 museums, the park offers an award-winning rose garden, and a 1910 carousel with hand-carved animals. Its most picture-perfect spot is the Botanical Building, with morethan 2,000 plants on display and a lily pond.

(Photo: Richard Benton / Balboa Park Central)