If you're visiting Madison, Wisconsin, add Olbrich Botanical Gardens to your list We went in the off-season and it was still absolutely beautiful. The conservatory feels like stepping into a mini jungle--lush greenery, colorful orchids, and that warm, humid air that makes you forget it's winter outside for a minute. It's such a peaceful stop if you're looking for something relaxing, something scenic, or just want a quiet break from exploring the city. Honestly, I can only imagine how stunning this place is in peak bloom--but even off-season, it's 100% worth it. If you're building a Madison itinerary, this one's a must-see read more

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Came to Madison for a bike ride around Monona Lake. After lunching at Ian's Pizza (at Garver Feed Mill) we took some time to stroll through Olbrich Botanical Gardens. First time, and boy were we impressed. Most of the garden is free, with the exception of the Bolz Conservancy which is $6/person. Very reasonable pricing. There is lots to see. And if you wanted to see it all without rushing through, you should probably set aside a couple of hours. There is ample parking in a lot out front. Inside you will find the information desk, a gift shop, entrance to the conservatory, or doors to take you back outside to the many different garden spaces. We walked through the Great Lawn, the Prairie Dropseed, Perennial Gardens, and ended up a the Thai Pavillion & Gardens. Most of the walking is in shade, which helped a lot on this very hot day. There is lots more to see, so we will definitely need to come back. read more

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Such a lovely place with great programming! I've been a few times for different events - GLEAM, the butterfly exhibit, a mocktail night, a tree identification class, and a watercolor class - just to name a few. Every time I'm there I feel like I'm seeing a new side of Olbrich and it just keeps getting better! The summers are stunning and the quails that live in the greenhouse are a huge delight in the winter. I love wandering around the different exhibits they have and especially the sensory garden! Overall this is one of my favorite places in Madison with lots of incredible people and activities! read more

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The grounds are huge with many different rooms and areas. Reserve three hours to do it all. Many plantings repeat and its just beautifully put together and designed. I lived the area of natural water and terrain toward the back ad well as the forested path with well marked shade foliage. Lots of educational signage and well maintained paths and just everything. Lots of solid performing perennials that I got ideas for my own garden. read more

Olbrich Botanical Gardens is an absolute delight. I do like to seek out botanical gardens when we go places and have enjoyed many a lovely wander through such gardens. Olbrich ranks among one of my favorites. It's lush, blooming, and beautiful to wander through. I love the inclusion of art installations and light up features throughout. It's whimsical and adds delight around every turn. Added bonus? Entry is free! Our party of five enjoyed an afternoon here. You'll want to reserve at least a couple of hours to really see everything. Get to it! read more

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Olbrich punches way above its relatively small size - this is an absolutely wonderful garden. Because of Covid, the indoor part is closed but the outdoor gardens are open with limited hours. The best part is, it's free! But you can and should make a donation to support this beautiful place. I loved so many things about this place - it's so peaceful, and full of wandering paths that take you past ponds, through trees and into beautiful floral displays. I loved the relative informality of the plantings and that despite being fall there was a ton to see and plenty in bloom. We saw tons of bees and beautiful hummingbirds which always makes me happy. Best of all, they seem to use lots of unusual (to me anyway) plants as accents which really adds to the overall displays. I loved our time here and I can't wait to come back - this place is a treasure! read more

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Some of the top attractions in Madison, Wisconsin have free admission, so despite having limited time, I made it a point to venture out to Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The outdoor gardens are free of charge, and there is a nominal fee of $6 to visit the conservatory which I was told houses plants that bloom in more tropical/humid environments. The outdoor gardens are so peaceful and serene, and well manicured. I especially liked the sunken gardens as there were a lot of blooms there and it was my favorite place to wander. They have a pretty impressive Thai garden pavilion over a bridge at one far end of the gardens. While some of the gardens didn't have much in bloom, it was the perfect respite and admirable for a smaller city like Madison. I'd definitely return on a future visit and dedicate some extra time to visit the conservatory. The staff were all super friendly and there's plenty of free parking. Overall, I'd recommend a visit to Olbrich Botanical Gardens to all visitors to Madison who like a peaceful garden experience. read more

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This is a stunningly beautiful garden! I can't believe they don't charge admission and parking is free too. We came late in the afternoon at 4pm so we didn't get to see the conservatory, which does have an added cost but closed at 4pm the day we went. We did get to ride the tram which takes a brief tour of the garden. Our guide was fun and entertaining and gave us a good overview of the 16 acre property. We have to come back here to visit the Thai pavilion because it was still being renovated so we didn't get to see the actual structure. Definitely check this place out if you visit Madison! read more

Olbrich Botanical Gardens - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Amazing experience! Spent half of our Sunday afternoon wandering these beautiful grounds. The Thai garden is one of the highlights of these gardens as well as the floating silver orbs. The orbs moved and shone in the sunshine reminding me of bubbles in a bathtub! So cool! read more

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The is regarding their management of the Corpse Flower showing THRS 7/31. Tickets are offered in 15 min blocks. I got ours (2) for 5PM. Of course the expectation was we'd be in and experiencing the Corpse Flower around 5. Silly me. We've been there since around 4:30 and it's now 5:30 and we're told it will be another hour before we'll get in. Another hour standing in line. This was frustrating and a perfect example of complete mismanagement of the event. We left since standing in line for two hours was not what we expected and who would? Shame on you who ever put this event together. read more

Absolutely beautiful & well worth the visit. The gardens have an amazing assortment of perfectly cared for plants. Well maintained pathways & a tram for guided tour. The butterfly atrium is a perfect addition. read more

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I am shocked at the quality of the Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Oh, and its free! We came over on a Tuesday morning (after a torrential rain) and were not disappointed! The only thing you must pay for here is the Bolz Conservatory. Which is a glass pyramid filled with gorgeous plants, colorful flowers, a calming waterfall, and some adorbz birds... oh and like a kajillion butterflies. It was super humid when we perused this gotta-see. And because it had rained, the butterflies weren't fluttering around-- they were all drenched, drying their wings. What a beautiful walk around the grounds. There were a plethora of gardens but my two favorites were the Perennial Garden and Sunken Garden. (Peep those lily pads!) Overall, Olbrich Botanical Garden is worth a jaunt around. It's good to get out in nature and the grounds here are very well maintained and gorgeous. (If you're not wanting to walk, there is a tram offered-- as well.) (NOTE: We were visiting with someone in a wheelchair and she had no problem getting around both the Conservatory or the grounds themselves.) read more

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Olbrich Gardens is a magical FREE place to check out in Madison. It's simply beautiful and there's lots of trails to explore and lovely flowers to admire. Their gift shop is also super cute- we were able to find a few unique souvenirs for my son, and the staff were all tremendously helpful. read more

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I love walking around Olbrich Gardens, rain or shine the gardens are beautiful and it's so peaceful. I love that there are tons of paths to different gardens, you could be there for hours. The rose garden is probably my favorite but they are all stunning. After we walked around the gardens we checked out the gift shop that had lots of great items from artists (yard/garden decor, puzzles, jewelry, etc.). We didn't go into the conservatory this time but I love it there. Especially during winter months, it feels like an escape to the rainforest. You can tell Olbrich is a place for everyone. We saw young family, a senior group that was touring by golf cart, school groups, couples, friends, etc. An awesome place to go during every season. Tip: we grabbed coffee from Ledger Coffee in the Garver Feed Mill and then walked over to Olbrich Gardens and enjoyed our coffee while walking through the gardens. There's a path behind Garver that takes you to the front parking lot of Olbrich (about a 2-3 minute walk). read more

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The Olbrich botanical gardens are a fantastic spot for a date night or place to spend time with family and friends. The space offers free admission to explore the gardens every day of the week. In addition to the free access to roam the Gardens, they also offer a variety of paid entry special events for the Madison community. Last summer they featured several shows and musical events, accompanied by wine and beer available out of a refreshments table. The staff are incredibly helpful and are very open to talking about all that the gardens have to offer. Bathrooms are available on site as well, very clean. Overall, spending an afternoon at the botanical gardens is essential to everyone everyone's Madison summer. read more

My husband took me to Olbrich Botanical Gardens for a date, and it was honestly such a vibe. Super chill, beautiful paths everywhere, and the conservatory with all the tropical plants was really cool. We even stumbled on this awesome Thai Pavilion -- felt like we were on a mini vacation. It's crazy that a place this pretty is right in the middle of the city. We just wandered around, talked about everything and nothing, and completely forgot about the world for a bit. 10/10 date spot if you're into relaxed and beautiful places. read more

Olbrich Botanical Gardens - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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What a delightful afternoon activity. The large outdoor garden is available for free and has a host of different thematic areas including a Thai inspired area with an interesting history and an English garden. During the summer months a tram drives around and gives informative tours. The garden also includes a beautiful tropical garden that is available for a small donation that I was unfortunately lacking time to visit but look forward to on the next visit. read more

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Lovely customer care! Lent us a wheelchair for free and it worked great! Perfect day! read more

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16 acres of beauty! During my last trip to Madison, Wisconsin, I missed out on these botanical gardens! I've heard amazing things about it, and I was curious about the Thai structure. The gardens did not disappoint. There was a variety of plants species, and the gardens were easy to navigate. It was lovely, and I would absolutely go back! The outdoor portion of the gardens is free. The indoor portion is an costs $6 for adults and $3 for children as of September 2022. read more

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Went to Olbrich Botanical gardens with the family during our Madison vacay. Great place! One of the favorite things about this place which my husband loved is that it was free! Beautiful garden with a bunch smaller different gardens, passage ways, a Thai castle, etc. One of the fav things to do in the Madison area. It also has a free trolley which gies a 20-25 minute tour of the gardens which was great. The conservatory is about $6 which we ran out of time to do as the little ones kinda pooped out towards the end. Very peaceful, well maintained. There is a gift shop and a penny machine for a souvenir of the garden. It's free to park as well. Definitely recommend! read more

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One of my favorite things that we did in Madison! We had so much fun exploring the 16 acres of botanical gardens. The main garden was free and we enjoyed walking around. The Thai pavilion is stunning! It's made of gold foil but since it's a delicate material, it's being renovated currently. It still was an impressive structure. It was a hot day and they had umbrellas you can use as you walk the premise. There's even a free 30 minute tour on the trolley which was very informative. If you have an afternoon to kill, definitely go check this gem out! read more

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It was such a treat to walk around these stunning outdoor gardens on a summer morning. The grounds are well kept and it's a reasonably sized garden and we thought it was amazing that the outdoor garden was free! Our favorite garden was the Thai Pavilion but there were many other picturesque areas. We'll definitely be back! read more

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We had a company event here and it was nice! They have a greenhouse where birds such as quail walk the premise. Really cute place to visit. I advise visiting during the GLEAM Exhibit. read more

Beautiful free botanical garden. We paid the $6 to go into the beautiful tropical garden. We biked here from downtown on the Madison bike share bikes, and there's a bike share dock here. It was hot the afternoon we were here, but the shade garden was cool. The roof top terrace is awesome. read more

Compared to other botanical gardens we have visited, we were surprised to find this one quite wild. The plants had most grown into each other. Perhaps the number of volunteer gardeners was fewer in this year's late summer/early fall. We did see some around the garden. Rarely were we easily able to see identification cards for the plants. We do recommend visiting there & walking the nice trails. The gardens are the right size for a pleasant 2 hr or less stop. read more

My wife and I visited the Madison area over MDW and decided to stop at Olbrich Gardens - what a great experience! The gardens and grounds are spread out beautifully with plenty of paths to get lost in the different sections & gardens. This is a free attraction which is nice because it's such a nice place for having no admission fee. When we visited the conservatory was closed for some work but that only means it's an excuse to visit again! read more

This is a delayed review for visiting in early October, whoops! It was an unexpectedly warm, sunny day to stroll through the gardens. I can't believe I've never been here before. Definitely felt like a hidden gem to me, because when you're driving past it, you wouldn't really know what you've missed. There are two parts to the botanical gardens - the outdoor gardens, which is free for all, and the Bolz Conservatory, which is free on Wed & Sat 10am-12pm (otherwise it's $6, not bad at all). Both were wonderful to meander through, and it's definitely a great place to spend the morning. I look forward to returning in the spring & summer to see what new plants have blossomed. read more

Olbrich Botanical Gardens - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Wow - I can't believe this is a free botanical garden! As a botanical garden enthusiast, this certainly ranks up there in terms of best gardens to visit in a city, in part due to the low price and light crowds, even on a holiday weekend with perfect weather. This was a great place to walk around and explore, and learn a bit more about the nuanced culture of Madison. If I'm ever back in the city, this will be a must-stop for me! read more

If you enjoy seeing a well organized garden with many different plant species displayed, this is the place to go. There are also quite a number of water features so be prepared for the little kids to get wet. The gardens are free, but the conservatory costs $6.00 per person (May 2021). Donations are requested. Enjoy this park as you can wander in relative peace, except on the weekends. Parking is no problem as they have a large parking area. Definitely worth a trip if you are visiting Madison. read more

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I highly suggest you pay the $6 donation fee and go inside their beautiful tropical garden. Not only do they have extremely interesting and beautiful tropical plants & a huge collect of all types of orchids, they also have canary birds flying around that you can hear singing. Other types of small birds and quails walking around. It's a really beautiful spot to visit when it's cold out and pretend you're somewhere warm. Tip: when you sit in a bench, make sure to look up for a bird perched above. read more

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A beautiful place to stroll in any season. Walking through the conservatory in winter feels like being transported to a rainforest.

Me and my buddy were going to do the let's be a tourist in Maddison Wi for the afternoon and this was our first stop. With C19 you don't get the full experience because the indoor area exhibits are closed but parking and admission is free so it is what it is. The outdoor paths through the gardens are filled with beautiful and not so beautiful plants, bushes, flowers and trees. One of the coolest things is all the little spots with chairs etc to sit down along the paths to talk or just take in all the beauty, not for us because it was raining and everything was wet. There is a few bridges over water and even a wooden deck area on the water. The Thai pavilion on the property is the only Thai pavilion in the USA and a gift from the Thai government so that alone is worth seeing. Overall it's a really nice property to visit for an outdoor activity with plenty to see. read more

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This place is amazing! And best part? It's free! I would have happily paid $20 (and probably spent that in the gift shop) to wander around these wonderfully landscaped grounds. You can spend as much or as little time as you would like and I would absolutely go back! read more

Olbrich Botanical Gardens - Walkway through one of the gardens - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Love stopping here when we're in the area. Absolutely stunning gardens for next to nothing or free, depending on the time of day/year. Beautiful monuments and education. Thank you for sharing this with the community! read more

Olbrich Botanical Gardens - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

This review is for the special event, Gleam. I love nothing more than visiting Botanical Gardens. Even more than that, special events at Gardens! Gleam was right up my alley. At the prompting of my sister we came to Gleam to take in the sights, lights, sounds and smells. It was an amazing interactive event and great fun. So much that I can't wait to come back to the gardens during the day and check out what I missed! read more

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Here for the Christmas Train display. Beautiful job done by the staff there. Each year they have a different theme and decorate accordingly. The kids have a blast watching the two trains go around the decorations. Admission is free if you are a member. Note that the building opens at 9 am but the displays and Gift shop don't open until 10 am. read more

Olbrich Botanical Gardens - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Highly recommend! Hubby and I spent over 3 hours here this past week. Well preserved. Beautiful grounds. The conservatory was our favorite. So many beautiful plants!! We will come back any time we are in Madison. Wished we stayed one more night to see the light show. read more

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one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to! I was raving. There are so many pathways and the place feels huge. There's so many plants around, it's beautifully maintained and has all of these small pathways that lead off to go to a bench if you want a second to yourself. There are literal walls of plants and trees and shrubs, so each part of the garden feels completely different. It's so late in the season, I wasn't expecting to see many flowers, but there were tons I different kinds. We also got to see lots of hummingbirds and monarch butterflies! It was so fun to just sit around and watch them bounce from flower to flower. There are beautiful ponds and little streams too, and plenty of bridges. I could've spent so many hours here happily. The most beautiful place. It also wasn't super crowded, I expected it to be pretty busy on a Saturday. There were definitely people around, but everyone was able to keep distance and there were plenty of moments where I felt like I was alone and able to admire in solitude. read more

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I went here with my dad and we were blown away by all the fabulous plants & trees & I loved the little birds. There was also a very friendly & knowledgeable guy walking around who informed us about several things going on there we found fun to chat with. Then we ventured over to the gift shop & found a bunch of fun little trinkets in there. I plan on revisiting at least the store where there were also informative & friendly staff. read more

Olbrich Botanical Gardens - My dad & I standing under a carnivorous pitcher plant - the first one I've seen in person; very cool! - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Must visit if you're in looking for something to do in Madison. Kids and adults will love it and the gardens outside are free. Their gardens are so varied and include a stunning Thai pavilion, a rose garden with a tower to view a larger section of the gardens, side paths, and sculptures throughout. You could visit continually and always find something new and beautiful. Inside, for a small fee, the conservatory has a tremendous variety of plants that thrive in a more tropical environment. I visited while they had their 'Blooming Butterflies' event inside which meant you're in the midst of butterflies alongside all the plants, with placards containing information to help you learn and identify what you were seeing. Very cool! I've been a couple of times now and I expect to visit again in the future when I'm in Madison. read more

Olbrich Botanical Gardens - Butterflies! - Botanical Gardens Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin