San Francisco Botanical Gardens Review

This place is unbeatable for San Francisco residents, as it is free with proof of ID. The various regional gardens encompassing the whole area are literally a breath of fresh air!

Beautiful garden with lots of paths to enjoy the plants and flowers.

Large variety of plants for researchers and to enjoy

Botanical Gardens are free with an SF ID, and worth whatever price you might otherwise pay. Walking through, you will find floral surprises no matter the time of year. It often feels like you're alone, even if it is busy. Have a picnic and enjoy.

Great place to relax and enjoy the day. Many gardens to see. The employees were helpful and seemed to love their jobs! Maps are accurate and easy to read. Dont forget your camera!!

Beautiful garden full of cute animals (squirrels!) and plants. Definitely recommended if it s sunny outside, it s a pleasure to wander around the park and relax.

Out the tunnel. over the bridge. Take my hand...Off to NEVER NEVER LAND!

Beautiful garden, reasonably priced entrance and a variety of interesting plants and flowers. It's a nice way to spend some time with someone.

Superb family outing. To see redwoods without leaving San Francisco is a good option (note, however, that the oldest specimens on the site are only 125 years old and therefore not as impressive in size as those in national parks).

Its pretty and is a lot of walking. Needs more signs and maps to show how close you are to the sights like strawberry hill. Just know theres uphill stuff too !

So beautiful to spend time here whether you're siitting or walking around enjoying nature. There are different gardens featuring plants/trees indicative of the climates in each region: Australia, Chile, New Zealand, Asia, Redwood Grove, and more.

We happened to be here for the second Tuesday of the month, which is free. It's worth the money to stroll around or sit and relax. They had people playing pianos in the flowers! We absolutely loved music with nature. It's a great oasis to escape the city. There are restrooms and no cafes; bring a picnic lunch with you and enjoy.

This is an excellent botanical space with a couple hidden gems. However, the map is a slight bit confusing and may take a couple extra minutes to orient yourself to the layout/paths. However, this is definitely worth your time to explore!

This place is huge! You could get lost in here but it's so beautiful that you won't want to leave!

Great place for a leisurely stroll through nature, beautifully designed(landscaped). A Gardner's paradise and inspiration.

Absolutely beautiful, a nice way to spend the day. they have free admission day once a week

Beauty of this place is that it represents the biodiversity of the third rock from the sun!

Just joined as an "Avid Gardener" member because I know I'll be back often throughout the year. The garden is worth the entry cost, but it is also free early mornings, holidays, and for San Francisco residents. The park is full of gorgeous plants from many regions and it's super relaxing to stroll through. It would be manageable for all ages as there are benches throughout the garden. Spring in the garden is absolutely amazing! In Feb/March the magnolias put on a great show, which you can tour through with a guide or with garden maps. Butterflies and hummingbirds mingle with blooming, colorful flowers throughout the season. Definitely worth checking out!

This place is great for a walk to enjoy the magnolias, fragrance garden and so much more. You can bring in food and drink to have a picnic just make sure your clean up. They have a great family special for $19 which I was totally grateful for. Well kept and clean.

great garden, a lot of space to explore and free to residents!

Lovely set of gardens in the middle of Golden Gate park, within an easy walk of the Academy of Sciences. Makes for a relaxing morning walking around and seeing the various species of plants from all across the world.

Magnolia trees from across the globe in bloom in early March

The Gardens are a beautiful cross section of the most interesting and amazing plants from all around the world. I highly recommend that if you decide to go plan on spending the better part of a day.

This was amazing! What a great collection of plants. Could spend hours here just wandering around! We will definitely be back!

We had such a great time at the Botanical Gardens we highly recommend that vist when you come to San Francisco. We are from Southern California and are used to seeing such parks but this one is special and unique... a definite 10 !!

Its like getting to trek the globe, all in an afternoon.

Varieties of plants and flowers from different region of the world, nice for an early morning walk.

Beautiful place, it's better if you can bring your lunch and sirens some time reading a book under some tree

The SF Botanical Garden is incredible. Many, many plant varieties from around the world

Beautiful. Have to come back when the flowers are blooming in the spring.

Very beautiful area of the park, worth price to get in. Trees and plants from all over the world. Great places to picnic

A very beautiful relaxing place to view nature with your child

A great place to spend an hour or two just walk in a monks all the different flowers, plants and trails

Amazingly beautiful place. I visited when it was free due to a piano event that further added to the experience

a nice and quiet place! bring a picnic mat to lay down

Calming place with lots of flowers and plants to explore. Great for nature lovers.

Beautiful and relaxing spot for a picnic or stroll. So many interesting native and exotic plants, along winding paths to explore. Also ponds with coy fish and turtles. This is a great spot for families and couples. Street parking can be difficult but you can find a spot within ~10 minutes if searching. Weekdays are much less crowded than weekends. The restaurants on 9th Ave are a short walk.

Amazing place to go on a walk. Beautiful landscape, fun place for couples to enjoy time together. Recommend the best time to go on a weekday if you don t wanna see many tourists.

It is a botanical garden where you can relax. Residents are free to enter.
Walk along the winding roads to explore and observe a variety of plants. There is a pond, and there are also fish and turtles. It's just a botanical garden, so kids may want to move to a nearby playground with playground equipment. Many people have picnics on weekends. There are no shops, so you need to bring your own. Or I think lunch is good around 9th. Parking on the streets nearby can be difficult, as there are Academy of Sciences and museums, but if you're looking for one, you'll find it by luck.

Beautiful place to take peaceful strolls... We bring our kids and let them wander and enjoy the garden.

It incorporates the teagarden and several other gardenson the grounds of Golden Gate Park.

Anything with the word Botanical is a great place to visit. There is an entrance fee but so worth it. A huge place with a large variety of plants. So many different sections to wonder around. There are area where you can just play a piano and benches for you to relax and read a book. I was short on time and wish I had stay longer and explore the place. This is a must see if you just want to relax or take a date to.

Perhaps January is not the best time for coming to a Botanical Garden. I'm sure this garden is very beautiful during the summer times, but it just didn't meet my expectations when I went. Nevertheless, it is a very relaxing place to take a walk, and the place is huge, so there's lots to see. The garden is fairly well-maintained; the plants are well kept, the pathways are kept clear. There also a lot of open areas to hang around with friends. They have a fairly wide variety of plant life--all very beautiful to look at. Would definitely check this place out when the weather's nice.

Go during one of their free admission days and you can enjoy one of the largest botanical gardens around. Winter is probably the worst time to go, but I still found it a good place to hang out with friends and talk.

Initially I thought such a small garden would not have much things to see. This place proved me wrong. There are so many varieties of plants to see here. Also, there are flower piano performances that people can enjoy on weekends. One of the entrances also has a piano (that is in tune and not spoilt) that visitors can play. Wonderful place to visit for a walk and for a picnic. San Francisco residents have free entry. This sweetens the deal even more.

Like a cleaner, better-planted version of the east half of GG Park. After going at the same time for a few weeks the attendant learned my face and started waving me in without checking my address. Love to have it so close to my neighborhood.

The area is a great place to chill though. The pizza was so yum and I love how creamy it was.

It is a very beautiful and very large park, divided into plantations from different countries, there was a moment when we could not find a particular place and an employee noticed that we were confused with the map and came to help us and accompanied us to the place where we were searching and he took the time to be with us and show us the different plants and trees and show us their peculiarities, it was very good to know new things for my family and for me. That is why I highly recommend it for lovers of plants, trees and flowers.

Amazing place to spend the whole day, there is a park also nearby so you can spend a good sunny day over there.

Bring your camera or sketch pad. Or simply relax and enjoy a beautiful quiet corner of San Francisco.

Prepare yourself to walk!!! This is an amazing place even though I wasn't amazed by the succulent garden area.

Those pianos scattered around the park left me fascinated!

Beautiful, but bring allergy meds if strong pollen gets to you easily.

I love how peaceful it is, despite being in the middle of the chaotic city life.

Beautiful open space is a great way to enjoy a relaxing day in this bustling city. Love the plants from all all around the world

Superb collection of plants from across the globe, including a lovely fragrance garden

Great getaway in the city to be taken away to different corners of the world. The plants are well maintained.

What a great place to learn a lot on plants obviously and so good for a walk or picnic

A nice place to see the different plants. More beautiful in spring