I have major travel envy right now.
Or maybe it’s nature envy? I would love to see cherry blossom in bloom right now. My brother was lucky enough to go to Washington DC a few days ago to observe the National Cherry Blossom Festival with his family and the granddads. I can only imagine how wonderful it must have been to walk beneath a canopy of blooming trees with these delicate blossoms blanketing the trees. It is definitely my goal to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom in Japan one day; they are such a symbol of birth and beauty. Though cherry blossom trees are native to the Himalayas, they have been celebrated in Japan for hundreds of years (this is a great guide). They are an unofficial national flower and their bloom commences the pastime of hanami or cherry blossom viewing celebration where families have picnics underneath the cherry blossom trees. I started researching and bookmarking a few sites because I think this is such a wonderful tradition and would love to take my little family to partake in the beauty of nature as well too.
While I’d love to get to Japan, I found a few places that have wonderful cherry blossom blooms on 3 major continents. Maybe I’ll get to them all some day!
The best places to see cherry blossoms
Washington DC, USA
Washington DC received cherry trees from Japan on two separate occasions (once again in 1912 after the initial trees perished) and their annual blooms are one of the nation’s capitals annual draws.
The dates for the Washington DC festival: March 20 – April 16.
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Brooklyn, New York, USA
Check out the 42 varieties at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden – the most diverse collection outside Japan!
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Vancouver, Canada
Vancouver’s 37,000 trees were gifted by Japan and their annual festival continues to celebrate these beautiful blooms.
Festival dates: March 24, 2016 – May 17, 2016
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Paris, France
Stroll through the city of lights in early spring to see cherry trees in familiar places like the Trocadero Gardens by the famed Eiffel Tower.
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Hamburg, Germany
Hamburg’s Japanese residents started planting cherry trees here in the 1960s and it is still celebrated today with an annual festival, fireworks, and Japanese culture appreciation day.
Festival dates: May 15, 2016 – May 30, 2016 with fireworks on May 20
Osaka
Check out Sakuranomiya Park and it’s over 5,000 trees. See trees from the riverside promenade or take them in while having a picnic in the park.
Aomori Prefecture – Hirosaki Park
Over 2600 cherry trees line tunnels as well as the ancient 400 year-old Hirosaki castle. Imagine rowing through all these cherry blossoms!
The best dates for viewing: April 23 – May 6
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Love this! I didn’t know all of that history. I’m in DC so lucky for me, they’re everywhere – causing allergies left and right. 🙂
xo
Amanda
http://www.fashionablyclearance.com
You’re so lucky to live in DC! The blossoms always look so magical by the water and monuments! I hope your allergies aren’t acting up too much!
I really need to get to DC one of these years to see the cherry blossoms. The blossoms in NYC seem to be confused this year because of the oddly mild winter we had.
Cherry blossoms are so beautiful!
Lovely pictures! It makes me want to visit 🙂
xo CCMonai http://www.theprevailingeffect.com
I hope you get to visit some of these cherry blossom sites! I’ve been seeing pictures of people visiting cherry blossoms in Japan and am so jealous!
I’m so glad you posted this, because we sometimes forget about the other places.
http://www.averysweetblog.com/