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New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show Description

Leave the holiday hustle and bustle of Manhattan behind and head to the Bronx for this beloved family event. Now in its seventeenth year, visitors to the Holiday Train Show get a birds-eye view of nearly 150 miniaturized five borough landmarks (including the Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Terminal, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the Bronx's own Yankee Stadium) that are brilliantly recreated entirely from natural materials like twigs, seeds, tree bark, and berries. More than a dozen model trains, from late-1800s steam engines to modern high-speed passenger trains, make their way throughout the recreated landscape.

Planning Notes

Separate admission required. Tickets to the Botanical Garden are $6 for adults, $1 for children 2-12, and free for children under 2. Admission to the Holiday Train Show requires a separate admission of $20 for adults and $10 for children.

Buy tickets in advance. Although some same-day tickets are available, purchasing tickets in advance for this popular event is strongly recommended, particularly for weekend visits.

Extended hours. The garden is open until 7 p.m. on November 28 and 29; December 6, 13, 20, 22-23, and 26-31; and January 1 and 2.

Parking extra. Regular parking costs $10; valet parking (available on busy days) costs $20.

So much to see. The New York Botanical Garden, spread over 250 acres, is the largest city garden in the United States. It includes 50 gardens and plant collections (more than a million plants in total), a rock garden, rose garden, 30,000 trees, 50 acres of forest land that used to cover New York City, and much more.

Reviews of New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show

Super-disappointing; gingerbread "adventure" a total misnomer.

By CeeDub01 December 30, 2010

Babies

Toddlers & Pre-K

School-Age Kids

Pre-Teens & Teens

What we loved:
Buildings were fascinating.

What we didn't love:
Parking; Gingerbread area disappointing.

This was super-disappointing overall. After burning 45 minutes worth of gas waiting to park, while cars kept trying to cut us off to get in ahead - and paying $12 to park not to mention about $15 tolls to get there, we expected much more for our $25 adult and $15 child admissions. While the buildings in the Holiday Train exhibit were pretty interesting, the kids couldnt have cared less about them and the few regular trains they had barely held their interest. A "train show" this is not! So, we hoped for more from the gingerbread "Adventure". What a joke. The gingerbread adventure consisted of a few hastily-thrown together activies none of the kids and when I say kids, I dont mean just ours seemed to want to participate in and a few regular-sized gingerbread house like you and I would make at home encased in glass in a really small room. We expected life-sized gingerbread houses - like the spectacular one at the Grand Floridian at Disney World - and got ones that were not even as nice as the one I made at home this year, which was my first time doing so. Save your money!! While the weather was decent for walking around, it was definitely NOT worth the ticket price, plus the aggravation of trying to get into the parking lot. Next year well go see the tree at Rockefeller Center instead... Read More