Hotels near the Eden Project

The Eden Project near St Austell, east Cornwall, has a 45-acre "global garden" and the world's largest geodesic domes. The aim of this Charitable Trust is to improve relations between "plants, people and resources, for a sustainable future for all".

The Project was built on a disused clay pit that has been transformed into a vast bowl of plants and flowers. Architects Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners designed the gigantic domed structures, known as "covered biomes", constructed from hexagonal panels that clip together like a giant Meccano set.

You'll find thousands of plants from three of the world's climatic zones housed within these giant structures. The Rainforest Biome (representing the tropics and Oceanic Islands), and the warm, temperate, Mediterranean Biome (featuring plants from the Mediterranean, South Africa & California). The third, or Roofless Biome, allows the native flora of Cornwall to thrive alongside plants from Chile, the Himalayas and Australasia in the open air.

The extensive Visitor Centre is complemented by a major Education Centre. With on-site restaurants, a lake (or seasonal ice-skating rink) and entertaining art, both indoors and outdoors, a visit here is an inspirational day out.