Xiamen Botanical Garden is a lush escape from the city’s hustle. Home to over 5,000 species of tropical plants, the garden weaves together picturesque winding paths, ponds, and rock formations in a setting that feels both serene and expansive. There are also themed areas such as the Bamboo Forest, Bonsai Garden, and Rose Garden. The Xiamen Botanical Garden is the kind of place where you can wander aimlessly, discovering hidden corners and marvelling at the diversity of plant life. If the city buzz is starting to wear on you, an afternoon here offers a refreshing reset.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is one of the oldest museums in the Netherlands. Throughout the year, the museum hosts a rich spectrum of temporary exhibits on a variety of subjects. Besides that, the collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings, etchings and objects is impressive. It features many major Dutch and European works spanning the period from the early middle ages to the 21st century, from Jeroen Bosch to Rembrandt and from Van Gogh to Salvador Dalí and Dutch Design. The museum building is closed for major renovation, but the entire collection of 145,000 objects accessible to the public in other museums. Within the Museumpark, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen has built an art depot: Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen.

Convict Lumber Yard was once an industrial workplace for prisoners. This museum now houses sculptures and charts that will bring you back about a hundred years and show you what a convict's life was like. You can also get an insight into the development of the local settlement.