Wow, we timed this just right since the hours are quite tight. Open 2-5 only gives you a short window if you are traveling from Boston. Well, we managed to squeeze in around 3ish and got to see the whole house plus garden. The house is a museum with some nice art collections. We were most impress with the music room with piano, fireplace, and wonderful wooden decorated ceiling. The gardens are absolutely gorgeous and loved the layout. We got a better look once we realized we only visited half of it. The bottom part has a nice terraced area up and down along the property. This would be better in the spring and summer, but the winter is nice too. The plus with coming on Sunday is that parking is free. So, you don't have to worry about time on the meter or the meter maid. read more

Neither the park nor the museum are ever open. My parents attempted to visit the grounds in 1986, to no avail. 21-years later, the museum is still closed for rennovation and the gardens are only open at odd hours [see the photo]. They expect to open the museum again in Fall 2007. Likely story. I don't actually believe this place exists. I'm sure it's beautiful though. read more

Dumbarton Oaks - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Gorgeous garden near the downtown Georgetown area. Definitely worth a visit. This is rated the #6 top garden in the world. Cons: Beware, there were flies and mosquitoes everywhere. The line to get in was pretty long (15 min wait) and we were in the blazing sun with no shade while waiting. read more

Gorgeous grounds, beautiful flowers, serene yet non-creepy atmosphere. The gardens are arranged in rooms, with each section more intricate and awe-inspiring than the last. My friend and I had ourselves an idyllic picnic on the back lawn as we admired the view above the grounds. It's easy to get lost in the hidden paths, but eventually you must find weave your way back to the bustling world of Washington, DC. Free admission for Harvard faculty and students with valid ID. Interestingly, the site was only open from 2-5pm on a Saturday, which seems counterintuitive. read more

Neat museum and lovely garden/grounds. Very peaceful for a mild afternoon in late February. read more

Perfect place for a summer picnic or an escape from the city with a book and some lemonade. Dumbarton oaks is a secret garden tucked away in the back streets of georgetown. I love to spend hot summers days hiding from the sun in the shade of their tree-canopied gardens. DCers should take their shoes off and wiggle their toes in the grass of Dumbarton Oaks...you won't regret it. My only regret is when my roommates surprised me with a membership to the garden last year I didn't spend more time there...sigh. read more

Dumbarton Oaks, how I love thee! This time of year you are remarkable. I bring everyone here to experience thy loveliness! You are the most *magical* place in D.C. read more

The garden is beautiful and serene but what I loved more than the garden (to my surprise) was the museum! The pre-Columbian and Mayan exhibits were absolutely fascinating. Also the Philip Johnson pavilion is such a gorgeous space (with an interesting acoustics thanks to the shape of each circular gallery). When I was visiting, the music room and the rare books library was closed to public for a private function but i would love to return to see the rest of the museum and to see the garden with different seasonal flowers. The only downside would be that it's not easily accessible by public transportation (i mean, it's do-able after transferring between metro & bus then some walking but on a hot summer day, I'd much rather drive there the next time... but that's just me) read more

Gotta love rich dead people and the contributions they make to society. If nothing meaningful, at least they leave behind a nice house. Check out the Pre-Columbian exhibit, which is showcased in an award winning architectural gem (hint: play around with the acoustics in each dome). Aside from this modern marvel housing Incan gold, the rest of the house/museum is standard. read more

What a beautiful place! Amid the hustle and bustle of Georgetown, this serene setting provides a gorgeous retreat. My boyfriend and I walked across Rock Creek park by way of Mass Ave and then hiked through Montrose/Dumbarton Oaks Park to Whitehaven Street before walking down to the entrance of the gardens at Dumbarton. It was a peaceful hike and the greenery was lush, though we did come across a homeless person near the end of the trail. Strolling the gardens was well worth the price of admission ($8 for adults). I loved the plentiful and fragrant roses and other flowers, the pools, the sculptures, and the views of the city and grounds. This place requires a lot of upkeep and the care put into it really shows. There are several benches and sitting areas to stop and admire and the brochure makes it easy to lead your own tour. We didn't go into the house and museum because we were tired from our long walk, but I was already so fulfilled by the gardens that it didn't really matter. This is a perfect place to spend a spring, summer, or fall afternoon with a significant other, or family or visitors from out-of-town. Definitely visit the gardens - you won't be sorry! read more

Good lord, what a jewel! You must visit TOMORROW and roll on the grass. You will indeed visit TOMORROW and see: hundred-year-old trees, sparkling fountains, ancient stone walls, and the most faithfully preserved English gardens I have seen in 20 years short of the Chicago Botanic Gardens and some properties further North of here. This spot was deeded to Harvard by Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss, who were the last owners of the mansion (hardly a 'house'!) and who basically saved the place. There's an orangerie. There's a boxwood allee. There's a "lover's path" with a bridge! There are wonderful magnolia trees. Lovely oaks. And the lawn and a pebble-mosaic garden and and and. WONDERFUL spot for landscape students/garden enthusiasts and lovers of Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art, of which the Blisses were (moneyed, and therefore profligate) collectors. BEAUTIFUL gardens being faithfully restored and constantly a work in progress. Names dropped by the Blisses (their correspondents and peers) include Edith Wharton and Edith Wharton. What more do you bloody need? :) This sort of place: just one day doesn't do justice. There is so much more there than meets the eye. In five years perhaps one could learn the mere basics of what is there. Spring is best for visiting; fall also would be acceptable since the Japanese maples there turn. In the Spring, the tulip collection (directed by the last landscape gardener) was chosen to complement the Japanese maples so apparently is a lovely harmony. Summer is SIZZLING OW OW OW but still a beautiful shout of coleus, rudbeckia, lavender, boxwood, zinnia, sunflowers, salvia, and cleome from the lower gardens. Terraced "garden rooms" lead you through a superb experience of landscape architecture typical of the time. A must-see for garden and landscape design enthusiasts. Take a LOT of pictures! read more

Coming here on a Sunny December day is like taking a trip back in time. Here is a crumbling old stone house, sitting over a dissipating creek. Here is a levee to sit on and contemplate the past. Where did our forefathers go wrong? Meditate in Peace and enjoy the quiet in this green sanctum. Not many people come to places like these, and it almost pains me to Yelp about it, because I like to think of it as a secret, but if you want to get away, come here someday with picnic basket. Or bring your troubles and think about the park's long history. 200 more years and you'll be long dead and forgotten. read more

Truly a DC hidden gem. I have lived here all my life and didn't go until yesterday. There are so many gardens within the upper gardens. It's a nice little exercise too walking up and down the hills. After we walked all of the gardens (it takes a bit of time but so relaxing and enjoyable) we went down to the lower gardens which are open to the public. I can't wait to go back to the gardens and bring some friends. It feels like you are in the country but in the middle of the city. I had no trouble finding parking. You can park on the street and also access Rock Creek Park trails read more

Dumbarton Oaks - Beautiful and surprising details found within the garden - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Beautiful garden space and museum. Take the time to make this apart of your visit when in Georgetown! It's like being in another world. If you can't make it to Versailles this is worth every step up Wisconsin! read more

We visited the park many years ago and apparently we managed to go there on a rare day when it was accessible. It's a lovely, tranquil and somewhat "secret" place....we were there in early fall, but I've seen pictures of the park in late fall and when there's snow on the ground; really lovely! read more

Peaceful and beautiful. Garden is quite large and all of it is obviously very well cared for. Lots of rooms and pockets and some open grander areas. Probably one of the top gardens in this area. read more

You'll love losing yourself for hours in this enchanting and serene park. Although open to the public, the gardens feel undiscovered, with hidden paths and tucked away areas. Benches, tables and chairs are situated to compliment the surroundings, and not be obtrusive. Enjoy walking along the crisscross paths leading from one garden room to the next. Do not forget to visit the beautiful Philip Johnson Pavilion with its open roof fountain and galleries of pre-Columbian art. read more

This place was amazing. The house itself was adorable, but the gardens were stunning. It is like Versailles, if the gardens there were small scale and painterly. I lost my iPhone there and someone returned it to security. It was a really nice crowd that was obviously interested in history and beauty. read more

See all

We went to the gardens and the museum, we did not go into the residence itself- that option is a tour only option and there are no tours in August. Museum: free and incredible. The Byzantine galleries were especially well curated and the items were incredibly well preserved- like 100% pristine condition. Also, they have a painting by Goya, which was neat. Gardens: these cost 10 bucks a ticket and honestly I don't think I would recommend them. They were enormous, especially for being in the city, but I do not think they were particularly well kept and there was no map given or really information about anything available. I would recommend visiting the museum only. read more

it such a waste. I wanted to have my wedding photos taken there as it is so beautiful but on the web site they say no, and don't give a reason or explanation as to why... why let such a beautiful place to go waste?... I would even make a contribution to the gardens if I was able to have my photos taken there... read more

The arc of the sun is an inverted pendulum above that swings with the complacency of the sure and the true. The sky is a pale, bleached sapphire and mirrored in the pool in front of me. I am sitting in a small courtyard with the thick, cloying presence of nature like soldiers emanating from all around me - I am a prisoner at bay. I have a hangover that hides behind thick black sunglasses, but it rises from me in clouds of steaming agony. This is a Sunday morning, and I am firmly within it. When I first found Dumbarton Oak, I was a callow youth. My age had not yet become an aspect of my existence - it lacked the sharp edges of immediate suffering that so sharply push into the back and the bone after ones 20's. As such, I hardly noticed the sprawling Katsura tree that greets the East Garden. I stepped over it's majestic sweeping branches to light a cigarette then, a sneering suicide hand rolled in pressed white paper. When I walked down the path in front of me, whispering sweet words to a blonde beauty beside me, I did not stop to marvel at the startlingly beautiful White Oak that stands as sentry to the East Lawn. I simply tried to put my hand down her ragged graphic t-shirt, a proclamation of love for a band that I hated. Her soft, pale lips held more interest for me then than the thousand stands of plums that adorn the plum walk, an arbor colored with love more than gold. Now, at 30, with even my black suits fading to grey, I still and I marvel at the beauty that is here, all around me. I close my eyes and I can trace the outlines of the courtyard - a fresh cut of grass over here, the scent of roses diffused from the gardens over there, a space where a path resides over there with the dark loamy flavor of browned and battered earth. This is a thing worth knowing about. This is a place worth remembering, when death draws close enough to note the cut of his suit. This is a love once lost, found again in desperate quarters, blades bright in the moonlight but dulled by the sun. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a place to visit when you are in Georgetown. Too often we are satisfied with the immediacy of things - we download laughter, and love, and broken hearts. Come here and let yourself recall that things are not always immediate. Sometimes it is those things that take 15 years to break, that let us feel anything at all again. Sometimes all it takes is sitting in the sun, hangover dehydrating itself, remembering a love that slipped away so easily, surrounded by such carefully curated beauty as to make you weep. Sometimes you are lucky enough to stumble upon Dumbarton Oak in the halcyon summer of your regrets. read more

Despite what you see online, THEY DON'T ALLOW PHOTO SHOOTS. Don't waste your money here. Incredibly rude employees. We came for our engagement photos but were promptly turned around by an unfriendly guard and a very grouchy ticket lady. "You're not allowed to take wedding-related photos here!" We called Dumbarton Oaks to talk about a spring photo shoot, we saw dozens of engagement photo shoots online, we visited the website loads of time, this very Yelp page has several reviews mentioning engagement and wedding photo shoots, and the sign at the ticket office does not say anything about photo shoots. We were polite and pointed out the discrepancies (even the folks in line after us were clearly doing a photo shoot - they had their cameras buried in a bag). But the ticket lady raised her voice, came out of her booth, said we were lying about what we saw online and heard on the phone, etc. Afterwards, we looked at the website for the rule. Is it on the "Planning your visit" page? No. It's only stated at the VERY BOTTOM of the FAQ page which doesn't even have a prominent link on the website. We didn't have any questions, why would we look there! But in the end we are thankful. She saved us lots of money and we got a MUCH MUCH better photo shoot elsewhere. Good riddance. read more

What a great estate! 1. Gardens don't open until 2pm (at least on Sundays, but I think that's the same on weekdays.. check website). 2. The museum is free. 3. The house is only open on Saturday afternoons. 4. $8 for the garden... but Tudor Place has got a great garden too, close by, and great for romantic walks, picnics, too... and it's free and less busy. I love them both. read more

The museum is free to enter and has a homey character; the security guard even shook my hand by way of welcome. You're still viewing the tasteful private collection of a diplomat and his heiress wife. It put me in mind of what would happen if the Frick Gallery put on an exhibition from the LACMA in one of its spare rooms. It sadly suffers the fate of so many private collections from this era and is unable to place most of its pieces in context, so the descriptions are all rather abstract and basic, and often apologetically speculative. The Byzantine collection is nothing compared to that at the Met and organized rather oddly, as if to disguise its gaps. It has an excellent lot of jewelry, coin and other small possessions of the powerful, good for seeing styles change over time, and also some fine ceramics, lamps, and an amusing big steelyard with a weight in the shape of an empress. The Pre-Columbian collection is much better. Housed in a beautiful newer wing, it has some properly revelatory Nasca and Wari pieces and wonderful bits of Teotihuacan, including a transportive panel from one of their housing complexes. On the other side of the building is a library. They had two Alexander Humboldt first editions on display that were so much fun to see that I wish I'd taken a magnifying glass. The sole disappointment is the gloomy "Music Room", stuffed higgledy-piggledy with furniture, tapestries and art that I suspect might have been beautiful in any other context, but here have an air of being forgotten in storage. I went for an exhibit of bronzes, which turned out to be just a bunch of bronze things they had about the place, but all great stuff. There was a Zhou era zun in the shape of a big ugly owl -- a style I've never heard of before -- and a gorgeous horse in an Arabian-Roman style from Yemen, which was a truly moving complement to the Byzantine collection. There was also an art exhibit, the theme of which was something like, "women wearing dresses, done by impressionists", featuring forgettable stuff by Degas and some others by second-rankers. Most of the European art in the museum is of this sort. I ran into a properly shoddy El Greco at one point, appropriately jammed into an ill-lit corner. To be fair, there was a lovely head of a woman from the rear by Seurat, angled to give full attention to the intricate details of her hair, that has stuck with me. The Blisses started rather late to be collecting this kind of artifact. Perhaps realizing this, they took a different path. More power to them. read more

The Dumbarton Oaks garden is a great way to spend a weekend afternoon, especially in fall when it's bearable to be outside during the day. On the weekends, the grounds are filled with families and dogs, because there is a lot of land and a tiny playground. There's a small wooden alcove of sorts that's great for climbing on and just lying there -- at least that's what I like to do! Dumbarton is a short walk from places like Glover Park and Georgetown. Check it out if you just sort of like walking around aimlessly sometimes. read more

Gorgeous gardens nestled in upper Georgetown. Well worth it for a walk and conversation when the weather is nice. Don't worry if there is a line to get in. It moves pretty quickly. read more

Beautiful gardens and grounds--lovely in most every season & different, making you really think about the seasons & how they change your experience with nature. Wanted to post the key rules, also: - No wandering off the paths; don't climb on the trees or disturb the plants. - No loose children - No dogs, no animals in general, (except service animals). - No picnicking. FYI the public Montrose Park is next door, to the east on R Street & has picnic benches, dogs, children and a playground. - No professional photography: No tripods, lighting, or other bulky equipment. No commercial, promotional, or professional photography. No special event photography, including engagement or wedding photo sessions. It's possible that one could get permission for more-than-personal-use photography, but you'd have to call to find out. read more

Imagine the secret garden from your childhood fantasies incarnate. Well, Dumbarton Oaks is better than your wildest dreams. With each turn you discover a new, charming enclave; I never wanted the discoveries to end. For only $5, I leaped through the gardens with glee, reveling in the splendor of each scene. This place is one of the reasons I miss DC so much. But please visit from Spring through Fall, before the leaves and flowers die. As one of my friends found, dead flowerbeds do not make for a romantic date. Oh, and check their rather limited hours before visiting. read more

I love this place.......I have been walking the park since I was teenager in the 80's and stumbled in to it. It is a place of beauty for beauty's sake. There are so few places like this one. read more

How did i miss Dumbarton Oaks garden for all these years. Such beauty and serenity in the heart of DC.

This is a great detour off the Rock Creek trail as it parallels Rock Creek Parkway. It's like a secret garden, although when I was last here, I met some friendly and crafty german tourists who managed to find it! There is no rushing through this space. Even the creek here is lazy as it wends and winds through the trees and natural-style landscaping of the gardens. There are a couple tucked-away benches to steal a kiss with your sweetie or just contemplate life, the universe and everything in it. read more

Absolutely divine, fabulous, off the charts garden. Do not miss this heavenly place. Just beautiful.

I'm in love with this place. Absolutely stunning, magical, serene. Have only been during peak season so we had to cough up the $8, but can't imagine there would be much to see from Nov-March (when admission is free). You can use the self-guided tour in the flyer they give you at the ticket office or just spend hours wandering around aimlessly. Either way, there is plenty to see and lots of great benches for pausing and taking it all in. My favorite spot has the crystal things hanging overhead...but this is probably because I love shiny things. The rose bushes are not too shabby either. The only way this place could be better is if there was a winery on the property :) read more

And this is why Yelp is amazing. This place is a magic secret garden in the middle of DC. Definitely a great date spot.

Alice in Wonderland? I felt as though I'd fallen through the rabbit hole into Queen's garden. Everything was in bloom (except the roses) gorgeous, landscaped and a great escape from the madness of Georgetown on a weekend. The little paths, trees and different scenes make it a truly magical escape into a bit of nature. read more

Wow! Incredible place with multiple gardens - make sure you don't miss any. Free entrance during the off season. The museum next door is worth a look too for it's ancient Bryzantine artifacts and gold. A MUST go. read more

Stunning garden views. Incredible pre-Columbian and Mayan collection. A great place to spend an afternoon.

This is a spot of joy in an unassuming neighborhood. Very beautiful garden and peaceful strolls throughout the property. It's an ideal place for lovers or long lost friends to reunite and reconnect in a paradise-like environment. The music room is nice but I think the gardens are simply breathtaking. I don't know if they let you picnic here but it'd be a great spot for a sandwich and an apple if they did. read more

Wow. Just wow. I wouldn't have believed this existed in Georgetown if I didn't see it.

Beautiful gardens but no idea why there was a 45 minute wait in line to buy tickets. Pls get some additional help at the gate or let people buy online. Truly soured the experience read more