The Stunning Beauty of the Hershey Gardens
The Hershey Gardens and Butterfly Atrium is located in downtown Hershey, Pennsylvania. You’ll find them located on Hotel Road, right across from The Hotel Hershey (within walking distance). They’re open year-round and as the seasons change, so do the botanical gardens.
If you want to plan a family afternoon…bring along a brown-bag picnic lunch. They have a small picnic area with picnic tables and public restrooms that you can use. You can use that picnic area for FREE on the day of your visit.
There is an admission fee to get into Hershey Gardens and the Butterfly Atrium which you’ll pay at the ticket counter as soon as you enter. They will give you an arm band, so that you can wonder through the gardens and atrium at your own leisurely pace.
We decided to start our visit wondering around the botanical and herb gardens on the property. The map that they give to you will help you get around. You can decide which path and which areas you would like to visit. We started off by checking out the water fountain and then moving onto the beautiful rose garden.
Our granddaughter was with us during our visit, so naturally our next stop was to visit the Children’s Garden. There are fun activities for kids to do in this particular area. They can sit in a faux Native American hut, sit on a cow statue, play an outdoor xylophone, wonder around the pretzel maze and all sort’s of different things.
One of the things that I absolutely LOVE about visiting Hershey Gardens is that they have “theme gardens” and all of them are marked on the map. You’ll find rose gardens, wildflowers, tropical flowers, herb gardens, vegetable plants, trees, shrubs and anything related to the horticulture world.
As you walk through the various theme gardens you’ll want to look at some of the hidden treasures along the way. We spotted all kinds of different birdhouses, garden statues, etc. as we went along. It was fun trying to spot them all and some of them are really unique looking. In addition, I enjoy sitting by some of their gardens that have beautiful water features.
From start to finish…I think we spent a total of 2 hours leisurely wondering around all of their gardens. You could go through them quicker, but we enjoy exploring and we enjoy sitting down from time-to-time on one of their beautiful park benches. Don’t be surprised if you spot some cats, frogs, toads, butterflies, squirrels and various birds as you go along.
Once we were done exploring the gardens we headed inside to visit the Butterfly Atrium. A few months ago I published a thorough review on what we thought about the Butterfly Atrium and some of the beautiful butterflies that we saw. You can re-visit our Butterfly Atrium post to re-read that information.
We then headed into their small on-site gift shop to pick up some souvenirs. I ended up buying myself a handcrafted birdhouse made from a gourd and my granddaughter selected a pair of butterfly earrings. We love picking up souvenirs when we visit tourist attractions. It’s a great way to remember your visit.
If you ever plan on visiting the Harrisburg, Hershey, York, Gettysburg and/or Lancaster areas in Pennsylvania, make sure you stop by the Hershey Gardens and Butterfly Atrium for a visit.
