Visiting Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is one of the prettiest botanical gardens in the entire world and definitely in the entire state of Pennsylvania. The botanical gardens are massive in size and bursting with color and fun activities for the entire family to enjoy.

You'll find Phipps Conservatory located at One Schenley Park in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. They are open year-round, hours of operation vary depending on the particular season of the year. Admission fees of $11.95 for children up to $17.95 for adults. Children under the age of 2 years are free with a paid adult admission. Parking is FREE in the main parking lot with paid-meter parking along the surrounding streets.

Throughout the year they host various special exhibits, events, classes, programs, etc. You can find the schedule for these directly on their website. We're hoping to attend a special event the next time we're visiting the Pittsburgh area.

Many of the garden areas are accessible via wheelchair for those who are disabled and are available for free use for those who need them, or bring your own. When visiting, you want to wear comfortable shoes, because you'll be doing a lot of walking and dress appropriately for the season.

Phipps Conservatory is broken down into numerous different gardens that are spread out over the entire property. Each garden (section) has it's own specific name and theme. I highly suggest you take the virtual tour online before visiting and grab a map when you pay for your admission, this way you'll know what to expect ahead of time and can make a plan to visit all of the areas on your must-see list.

On the day that we visited, we took the self-guided tour and went along at our own leisurely pace. They can get very crowded, especially during the late Spring, Summer & Fall seasons and during the weekends. If you want to avoid crowds and long lines, try visiting them during a weekday or arrive early in the day.

As you walk along you'll be amazed at all of the beautiful flowers, trees, shrubs, bushes, plants, etc. that you'll see. Many of them are identified by information plaques that give you more information about them. You can really get up-close to many of them which makes for great picture-taking purposes. That's another thing, make sure you bring your camera!!!

From start to finish, we spent 2 1/2 hours wondering around their beautiful botanical gardens and stopped many times to admire the beauty and to take photographs. Everyone that we encountered (staff and visitors) were friendly and helpful. You can tell that their employees really enjoy working there and went out their way to help you with whatever you needed.

After we were done, we grabbed a nice lunch in their on-site cafe (food was hot, delicious and reasonably priced) and picked up some souvenirs in their gift shop. They had some really cool souvenirs and gifts available for purchase and I picked up several while we were there.

The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a beautiful place to visit! You'll learn all about different plants, trees and flowers and it's a great educational experience for the entire family. We enjoyed our visit and are hoping to bring our grandchildren along with us next year when we return.

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