Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

A FIVE-STAR stop at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, just off I-95 in North Richmond, VA! What a refreshing break from driving—and an uplifting experience for the entire family, surrounded by nature. This 50-acre property features over a dozen themed gardens, including a delightful Children's Garden and Storytime programs for all ages. The on-site gardens, gift shops, and restaurant are top-notch—a perfect mix of food, shopping, beauty, and exercise all in one stop! Take a look at the photos and see what I’m talking about!

Beautiful botanical gardens. We spent three hours wandering through the walkways throughout the gardens. Very peaceful and tranquil. The peonies and roses were just starting to bloom. So beautiful.

This is a beautiful and well maintained botanical gardens. We went on April 1 and the amount of tulips was incredible! Beautiful Japanese garden area with a lake, well manicured lawns, turtles in the lakes, and gorgeous flowers! It was very kid friendly with a fun tree house structure, a garden area meant for kids, and a giant sandbox. We spent an hour walking around and taking photos! They are currently doing construction to expand. They had a large gift shop and a cute cafe.

The place is under massive renovation. In a nutshell, at the current moment it's a large noisy and dusty building site, with some flower meadows and walking paths around it. The major attractions like conservatory and butterflies are out of use. The place at the moment is not worthy a visit even if it was free for public. But! They would still charge you a full price. And, the fact of rennovation and limited availability is not well illuminatied. In fact, the lady who sold the tickets told me about it only after she charged my card, and drew my attention to a small fine print sign on her desk. Which i wouldn't even notice otherwise. So, me and my daughter went in... tried to enjoy what was available, but there wasn't much. Mostly spectacular views of the renovations in progress, that only a building engineer would appreciate. So I was somewhat disappointed, since the plan of tranquil morning in nature with my daughter went down hill. I even tried to request a refund when leaving 20 minutes later (I never normally do it, but the way it was managed this time - it was just pissed). Well, no refund, of course.

A beautiful botanical garden but temper expectations depending on your season. We knew going in February wouldn't be an ideal example of this place, but it still has some charm if you look for it or judge it respectfully. At this time of year, instead of witnessing life flourishing in every direction, you find life holding on and displaying its resilience. A bit inspiring in its own way.