Botanical gardens might be the most underrated day trip in America. The idea traces back to 1545, when the University of Padua planted the world's first university garden for medicinal plants — and the East Coast now has some of the oldest and best in the country. A recent roundup highlighted nine standouts, and together they make a strong case for planning a whole garden-hopping holiday.
The headliner is Longwood Gardens near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, named the best botanical garden in America for 2025. It's also the country's largest, at over 1,100 acres of fountains, waterfalls, glass conservatories and themed flower beds — all started when Pierre S. du Pont bought a farm in 1906 to save its trees. Adult entry starts at $35, and it's about an hour from Philadelphia.
Maine offers the most atmospheric option: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, where 325 acres of woods and shoreline hide a fairy village, a bee garden and five giant wooden trolls by artist Thomas Dambo. It's open daily May through October, with tickets from $28 online (on-site costs $4 more).
History buffs should head to Bartram's Garden in Southwest Philadelphia. Started by botanist John Bartram in 1728, it's North America's oldest surviving botanical garden and a National Historic Landmark — and it's free, with riverside paths along the Schuylkill open sunrise to sunset. Also free is Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland, a 50-acre escape under an hour from Washington, D.C., that runs classes in everything from tai chi to forest bathing.
City dwellers are well served too. The New York Botanical Garden packs 250 acres into the Bronx, including a 50-acre old-growth forest and a huge botanical library; its spring Orchid Show and winter Holiday Train Show are fixtures on the city calendar ($35 entry). Atlanta's Botanical Garden, beside Piedmont Park, has a Canopy Walk that lifts you above the treetops of a 30-acre urban oasis ($27.95). In Richmond, the 82-acre Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden grows produce for local food banks, wraps trails around Sydnor Lake and hosts evening concerts ($24).
Rounding out the list: the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston, Massachusetts, about 20 minutes from Worcester, with a walled Secret Garden and a farm-to-table restaurant ($22–24); and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida, where the Wings of the Tropics exhibit sets hundreds of butterflies loose among the palms ($24.95 online).
Why does this matter for travellers? Because these gardens slot easily into trips you're probably already planning — a Philadelphia weekend covering both Longwood and Bartram's, a New York city break with a Bronx detour, or a slow New England summer with Boothbay on the itinerary. Entry fees run roughly $22 to $35, two of the nine cost nothing at all, and most are open year-round or for a long warm-weather season. If you're chasing a quiet day outdoors that doesn't require hiking boots or a park permit, a garden is a very easy win.
Story via Explore.com.
