Beautiful Botanical Gardens. Two Great Art Exhibitions inside and another one outside mingled among the Flowers
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- Denver Botanic Gardens offers limited complimentary parking in our public parking complex.
- The Sturm Family Auditorium offers films for public viewing throughout the day.
- Denver Botanic Gardens features many beautiful and inspiring art exhibitions.
- Explore the exhibition Welcome Home: Meet Your Habitat in our Science Pyramid.
Excludes
- Food and drinks
- Does not include specially ticketed events such as Blossoms of Light
Itinerary
Denver Botanic Gardens began in 1951 and is one of the most visited and well-loved botanical gardens in the United States. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Gardens’ living collections encompass specimens from the tropics to the tundra, showcasing a plant palette chosen to thrive in Colorado’s semi-arid climate. The Gardens’ York Street location near Capitol Hill is a dynamic, 24-acre urban oasis in the heart of the city, offering unforgettable opportunities to flourish with unique garden experiences for the whole family – as well as world-class education and plant conservation research programs. The three-acre Mordecai Children’s Garden sits atop the parking structure and provides hands-on plant education and play spring through fall (open seasonally). While most of the gardens highlights Colorado native plants, there are beautiful gardens designed to showcase plants from around the globe, including Asia, the Middle East, South Africa, Patagonia, South and Central America and beyond. Special events, art exhibitions and guided tours takes place throughout the year. Nearly all of the York St location is wheelchair and stroller accessible; there are a few gravel paths and stairs, but different routes can be taken to see the area. Two dining options: Offshoots Café (open all year) and The Hive Garden Bistro (three-season) offer full meals, snacks and beverages. The Shop at the Gardens presents an incredible selection of garden-related tools, books and décor, along with locally-crafted home décor, tabletop items, accessories and bath and body items. A children’s section has a great selection of educational tools, books and toys. *Does not include admission to specially ticketed events such as Blossoms of Light.
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Reviews
My favorite spot in Denver. The fall decor this year is amazing!
Cannot find any water dispenser
I loved this place! There is a vast variety of flowers, plants, and trees to look at. The staff were welcoming and helpful with the ticketing process. Great value for the price. You can explore the gardens within 3-4 hrs. Not too busy during weekdays. This is an excellent venue for special events. Highly recommend!
Beautiful Garden, good flow and overall plan Sunny and shaded areas to sit and relax Indoor and outdoor food options
We went with family on a self guided tour of the garden. I highly recommend it you are on Denver this is a beautiful place to go.
Wow what an amazing place. Would go back weekly to just hang out and enjoy the place.
Wonderful experience Spectacular grounds So many beautiful plants What a great place to visit. They had serveral events taking place. A wonderful venue to hold a wedding
Large garden with various biomes and big green house. There were multiple single and attractive young men walking the garden that only added to the experience.
What a lovely garden. We wandered around and took it all in. BTW - Cheesman Park is right behind the garden and is a short walk around the block to get there.
Lovely gardens with spectacular water Lilly ponds and naturally inspired art. Staff was very friendly and helpful!
A great relaxing place to walk around. Parking can be a problem if events are going on. Even kids will enjoy the various things to see.
This is a HUGE garden. It’s very beautiful with a lot of shaded areas with rest spots. I recommend going in the morning before it gets busy.
Beautiful & fun experience! All the flowers & plants were gorgeous and very well maintained! The Japanese garden and Lilly ponds were exceptionally beautiful! There was a wedding taking place while we were there, and they were taking amazing pictures! Groups of all ages were enjoying themselves! Great gift shop to! Highly recommend!
First time visiting garden I took lot pictures very beautiful and enjoy looking at all different garden and beautiful areas
I enjoyed the Denver Botanic Gardens. The Admission fee was reasonable and it was an enlightened experience with all the beautiful trees,.plants and bushes.
Beautiful garden . My favorite areas were the lily ponds
(Had full review entered & at last step, it disappeared, no draft - frustrating Trip Adv! You get a partial one now.) Hadn’t planned to go here but we had a time slot this would work well for so booked through Trip Advisor & $15 of rewards I had built up for writing reviews or something almost paid for one ticket. Yay. Anyway, after figuring out parking in the deck across street, entry was fine except for a friendly but unwanted solicitation from a Sierra Club activist outside (was that sanctioned by the garden?). Once in, they could help first timers with more instruction. We wandered in & made our way to an info stand where a friendly staffer gave us a suggested route & highlights. Don’t miss the large tropical greenhouse with some massive & interesting specimens. Back outside, the sprawling complex covers a myriad of flowers, trees & other plants. The garden might benefit by a few more “you are here” sign/maps in order to keep orientation & help you navigate the different areas. You can also stop in for food at one of several locations, which we did for lunch.
Needed an afternoon outing in Denver while at the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention. Spent an hour strolling the grounds and enjoying the wide variety of local fauna. My only regret is that my friend Nancy and I did not have enough time to thoroughly enjoy the full gardens. We were able to make the most of our one hour. Definitely a bucket list item when visiting Denver!
Unlike impressive, year round ones I’ve been to, this one was pretty much all outdoors (as far as plants go). Left the tranquil, low-humidity mountain environment today to come to this, so wish we’d known. At nearly $20/person, I so hope local tax payers don’t have to pay a lot for this small one(!)
Beautiful experience and grounds. Could go back again as I would want to spend more time there.
Wonderful experience and well worth the cost. Loved the different spaces and the overall atmosphere.
The gardens are beautiful and vast. Well kept and very peaceful. We hadn’t been for over 2 years, and feel like we’ve missed out!! We plan to go again soon.
The gardens are wonderful. I enjoyed the variety of plantings. The greenhouse was very interesting and informative. The bistro was also good and reasonably priced.
Worth the trip, great serene walkthroughs.
More shade than expected so it wasn’t too hot even in late June. A good way to spend time with my teen.
Easy to use and useful . Helpful to have this app available for a first time visitor to the Denver area. This enabled us to arrange for our admission at a convenient time for us and to be able to get admission ahead of groups.
Like others have said, bring shoes, water and energy cause this place is BIG! I absolutely loved the art inside, they even had a book in one room about the artist and his other pieces were scattered through the gardens. Kudos to the staff who obviously work their tails off to maintain this facility. I am not a plant person but had fun wandering the grounds and even identifying plants I had recently used in my landscaping.
We last minute decided to visit Denver. We bought a Groupon CityPass and visited 2 places today and will go to 2 tomorrow. An overall straight path through the part, but with small offshoots where you can take the road less travelled. There were art installations, food in the middle, lots of flowers, a Japanese garden, and lots of places to sit in the shade and enjoy nature in relative peace and quiet. We also found out that members get a special fob to enter through the entrance at the back. Spiffy!
Beautiful ! Everyone was nice ! The grounds are just exquisite. Well thought out and the history behind each experience or floral design was amazing. Expeditions beyond met. Thank you
We went in the middle of the day on Wednesday and it was wonderful. My elderly mother loved having the wheelchair accessibility to enjoy your grounds comfortably.
A beautiful venue with something for everyone of all ages. The flowers and plants are clearly marked. The trees and benches offer a cool respite. Lots of areas for kids to run and play. The OFFSHOOT cafe has food and drinks. Or you can bring a picnic meal. The parking garage with 4 levels can be daunting if you forget where you parked. Stairs and elevator are available.
This has to be one of the best places in Denver. Breathtaking. We spend 3 hours and it still I feel like I didn’t even see all of the gardens. Great place to have a take the family, wander and lunch. Perfect.
Absolutely beautiful and very peaceful. A great place to sit or walk and relax! ❤️ We only spent about an hour, but could easily have spent twice that. Lots of benches to sit, and lawns for blankets and picnics. Take your water bottle! Our only concern was that on the day we were there, there were at least 4 weddings there which restricted our access to some locations. It would be better if the gardens limit how many events are hosted on one day.
Super fun experience on an electric bike and I had never ridden one before our guide Chris was very good and patient in teaching us
The whole place was amazing. There were so many trees, flowers and bushes. We were in awe. We especially lived the bonsai garden. We were amazed by how many different trees could be bonsais!
Undoubtedly the most beautiful and extensive botanical garden I have seen. The current temporary art exhibit of emergent humanism artist Jaume Plensa infuses welcome optimism for our time.
Beautiful place to spend the day. So many amazing areas - from bonsai gardens to lily ponds. The art exhibits are incredible.
It was a good time. But I got double charged for me and my wife, and then I got charged again for me , my wife and my sister in law. So can I get the refund for me and my? Which was my first purchase.
The Gardens are huge. Other reviews suggest spending 2 hours; I spent 4.5. The native (steppe) and water-wise gardens are especially impressive, plus the indoor conservatory. I really enjoyed my visit. On a Monday it was not crowded and the cafes didn't have a wait/line. There were shady spots and indoor exhibits (especially the conservatory) for breaks. I scored a TripAdvisor credit, so paid only $1 instead of $16 for a ticket, but it was definitely worth $16. (You must book in advance, online, and tickets are timed-entry.) Lots of sculpture. I saw many families (some with babies/toddlers) and some disabled visitors (wheelchair, blind, developmentally disabled) all enjoying themselves. (Almost all paths are wide concrete, the rest solid boardwalk. Elevator out of order in conservatory, else everything wheelchair-accessible. Many bathrooms. Big lawns for kids to run and roll down. Sensory and children’s gardens. Map is double-sided: English and Spanish.) It truly is a garden for all.
I scored a TripAdvisor credit, so paid only $1 instead of $16 for a ticket. (Yes, you must book in advance, online, and tickets are timed-entry.) The Gardens are huge. Other reviews suggest spending 2 hours; I spent 4.5. The native (steppe) and water-wise gardens are especially impressive, plus the indoor conservatory. I really enjoyed my visit. On a Monday it was not crowded and the cafes didn't have a wait/line.
The gardens are lovely. We will go again when the flowers are in full bloom. Parking is convenient just across the street from the gardens.
Even at the end of April, it was great to be outside and walk around the various gardens. Plantings and landscaping are done by region. Only a moderate number of blooming flowers and bushes.
Friendly and well maintained Probably May is a better time for a visit There was a wedding and a retirement farewell which did it affect the visitors
Absolutely stunning. Beautiful, quiet, and thoughtfully built. Truly an oasis.
Beautiful and serene location. Enjoyed walking outside in the nice weather and the stunning orchids exhibit.
Visited on our recent trip to Denver for the Christmas Light Show. Definitely worth seeing. Kids enjoyed it. Being from Florida it was great to see the holiday spirit.
We have gone multiple times a year, and there is always something different. This latest trip was to see the Blossom of Lights. The music and lights were in sync. We have been trying to get tickets for 10 years, and this was our first time seeing the Christmas lights. We booked early rather than waiting for good weather.
It was a beautiful experience, for someone who love nature. I got to see plants that I would never have gotten to see being in Missouri. It was calming and peaceful to just sit on the side and feel the warm breeze and the sun. Going at your own pace to just relax to read or draw. Just breath taking
The Gardens were very good even though many of the outside flowers were dead due to the time of year of our visit. We would like to visit the Gardens again during the Spring or Summer.
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
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