The Cleveland Botanical Gardens is in the University Circle area of Cleveland. It’s in walking distance to the Art and History Museums. For the holiday season the gardens get all dressed up with lights, decorations and special rooms dedicated to holiday decor. Frost, the holiday event at the gardens, runs through Sunday January 5th 2025 and is open every day but Mondays. Thursday, Friday and Saturdays the gardens are open late until 9pm. I highly suggest going at night, it was just gorgeous. This is a family friendly event whether you go during the day time hours or attend their late nights. The tickets are $23 on the weekdays and $26 on the weekends. If you are a member the tickets are discounted to $10 on the weekdays and $12 on the weekends.
2024 Update: We visited again around the same time of December as we did in 2023. The weather was much colder and snowier but totally helped put us in the holiday spirit.
In 2023 we visited the middle of December and once again we really lucked out with the weather, which has been beautiful for this time of year in Cleveland. The lobby area is decorated with a couple trees when you walk in and a beautiful tree in the back.
The Glasshouse to the right of the lobby has the professional category contest of gingerbread houses. WOW there were some amazing ones. The detail to some of the houses and surrounding decor was shocking to me. They were all so good I really couldn’t even pick a favorite.
Next you enter the Spiny Sanctuary which they have added some lights to the area and since we went at night they really stood out. I’m not sure since this is a whole greenhouse area how bright the lights are during the day but it was a nice touch. The jingle jungle also had lights added to some of the trees and to the bridge. I loved the way the colors appear different depending on where you are standing and how they are reflecting off of certain plants. We also went upstairs to take some photos looking down and the lights were even brighter.
After you exit that area it brings you back downstairs to where the cafe is and another room with some more winter decor. You walk through a hallway built out of all different colored poinsettias. It was just beautiful the way the hallway was built and the flow of the colors.
This leads you into a room with some winter sculptures. This room was also pretty breathtaking. On the weekends they have different musicians play in this area, which was a nice little touch.
The cafe is open for drinks and some food. They did have some alcoholic options or just coffee, hot chocolate, cappuccinos and soda. I got a coffee and added peppermint flavoring to it and it was the perfect choice to go walk around outside and look at the lights.
2024 update: it was a pretty chilly walk but they have heat lamps to warm up by and a couple fire pits where besides warming up you can also roast marshmallows. They added some extra outdoor areas and extra lights. The kids tree house was decorated as well as some of the other surrounding areas.
2023 visit: Like I said before we got lucky and have had some beautiful weather for it being December in Cleveland. This night was no exception. They had standing tables set up outside and some benches. People were not just walking around looking at the lights they were enjoying their beverages outside and just hanging out. We spent a good amount of time out here taking photos and just enjoying the weather.
The last area we walked through was down the hallway from the cafe and the doors that lead out into the gardens. They had most of the decorated trees down this hallway and lining the walk area to the library. Most of these are themed and sponsored. There were a lot of really pretty themed trees and I got a lot of ideas for future decorations at my house.
I had gone during the day to the gardens a couple years ago and did really still enjoy the holiday decor. I do think going at night is the way to go. Everything was lit up and you could really enjoy the lights and decorations. I think the Botanical Gardens did a great job this year and I’m glad this looks to be something they will continue to do for the holidays.
Did you go? What was your favorite area or decoration?