Seven Founding Hills

What is the Huntington Library?

The Huntington Library is a library, art museum, and botanical garden in San Marino California. It is literally a stones throw for Pasadena and is about 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles

Its world-renowned rare books collection includes a Gutenberg Bible, 15th-century Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and the original manuscript of Franklin’s autobiography.

The European and American art museum collection includes more than 44,000 objects spanning more than 500 years. The collection includes Mary Cassatt’s Breakfast in Bed, Edward Hopper’s Thomas Gainborough’s The Blue Boy, and Joshua Reynolds’ Sarah Siddons at the Tragic Muse to name a few.

However, the Huntington’s Botanical gardens steals the show spanning over 130 acres with more than 12 themed gardens (the docent handing out maps told me Disneyland is only 85 acres). A few of their most popular gardens are the Chinese garden, Japanese garden, Children’s garden and the Conservatory.

It simply felt otherworldly to follow my littles over the bridges and beside the water in the Liu Fan Yuan Garden. My kids loved playing with the fountains, gravel instrument, and plant forts in the Children’s garden not far from the main entrance.

When is the Huntington Library Free?

The Huntington Library is free the first Thursday of every month, but there is a catch.

You have to reserve tickets online at 9 AM the Thursday before the Free Thursday and tickets sellout fast. In order to avoid missing this narrow window, I set a reminder on my phone with a link to the Huntington website to go off 15 minutes before 9 AM the Thursday tickets are released.

How to get Free Huntington Library Tickets

1. Go to the Huntington Library Website before 9 AM the last Thursday of the month
2. Enter the virtual waiting room or join the online queue
3. Reserve a ticket for everyone in your group including infants and toddlers
4. Parking at the Huntington Library is free so you just have to show up the day event with your tickets.

Enjoy the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens

Walking through the meandering paths of Huntington Library Botanical Gardens feels like dream. The timeless beauty of the different gardens and the way the paths seemly transition from one garden to the next make it wonderful place for people of all ages to just be and marvel the beauty of both nature and design.

Visiting the Huntington library last year was one of our favorite field trips. But if your kids go to a traditional school, I think it is an experience wroth missing class to enjoy.