Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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About
Once a Du Pont family country retreat, this estate's spectacular gardens surround a 175-room mansion housing the world's finest collection of American decorative arts from 1640-1860.
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  • Greg Harris
    Yonkers, New York1,575 contributions
    Greg & Katherine Alleyne Harris Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library Experience.
    The Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library is an absolutely amazing attraction located in the heart of Winterthur, Delaware, and a definitive must see location for all who love gardens and quality decorative fine art. In May of 2021, I brought and treated my wife and myself for a visit to Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and we loved every single moment of our experience at the location. During our time at Winterthur, my wife and I went on a very enjoyable guided tour of the garden by using the site’s tram vehicle. Both my wife and I were mesmerized and swept by the sheer size of the Winterthur estate and were undoubtedly captivated by estate’s gorgeous gardens and the multiple folly’s that are located throughout the property. Following our guided tour of the garden, my wife and I then went and explored Henry Francis Du Pont’s mansion . We learned much about the history of Henry Francis DuPont and the vast estate he helped to create and develop. We also viewed and took great pictures of the immense furnishings that DuPont collected during his lifetime, such as the multitude of great quality China sets and other notable antique merchandise. In addition to visiting the DuPont’s mansion, my wife and I also visited the Winterthur Museum and came across additional extensive antique merchandise and other great quality works of art. The Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library is an absolute great attraction that my wife and I highly recommend for all travelers to stop and visit. You will enjoy every moment of your experience at the location, just as it was for me and my wife!!!
    Visited May 2021
    Traveled as a couple
    Written May 30, 2021
  • BHUANG69
    New Providence, New Jersey1,250 contributions
    Beautiful place, bundle up in winter!!!
    Came here with friends on 26DEC2020. It was a very cold day and friends warned me to bundle up, which I did. There are a few main buildings to see an spend time in but the walk between buildings in winter was visually attractive but physically challenging due to the low temperature and wind we had that day. But once you make sure you will be warm outside you can just feel free to enjoy everything you see. Oh, if you plan to take lots of pictures, bring a power bank with you. They also have WiFi if you want to upload your pictures or send them to friends!
    Visited December 2020
    Written January 4, 2021
  • Arthur S
    Edgewood, Maryland469 contributions
    Excellent Tram tour
    The garden tram tour with Mike the driver and narrator was outstanding. In particular, the vast number of trees and flowers with azaleas in bloom made for a visually spectacular display during the 30 minute ride through the gardens. The history of the gardens, where and when the various trees were acquired were well described by Mike.
    Visited May 2021
    Written May 12, 2021
  • Sarah O
    16 contributions
    House is CLOSED although website isn't clear
    As of July 18, 2020, the house is not open and the website does NOT make this clear. It's understandable if you need to close it during the pandemic (I didn't ask specifically why the house was closed when their gallery and gift shop, etc., were open). Traveled 100 miles plus to see the house simply to find it not open. They did give us vouchers to return when it is open, which is good, but I went back to look at the website and let's just say they are NOT being clear that the main attraction is closed -- although you can pay for a $15 "ticket" to see a rather inferior art collection and get access to the gardens (although they waved everyone through at the gate to the gardens, so I assume you could wander around for free right now anyway). .
    We are so sorry that our website didn't make it clear that the house was in fact closed due to COVID restrictions. We do require a ticket to walk the garden at all times, unless you are a Member and then garden access is included in your membership. I will share your feedback internally, so we can improve on our visitors' experiences. We hope you do use your vouchers to return, we would love to have you visit and enjoy all that Winterthur has to offer.
    Written December 7, 2020
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited July 2020
    Written July 20, 2020
  • J C
    24 contributions
    Huge disappointment and very poorly run
    Need to stagger the house tour times if only 6 people allowed in at the time. They tell you to leave your coat in the car and then make you stand outside in bitter wind at your appointed hour to go in even though the conservatory/lobby only has one person in there so this needs to be mentioned on the website. Maryanne the indoor person did her best to ignore the people waiting and when I asked she said she could not let people into the lobby however there was still the tour group of 6 ahead of me when she let our 6 go in so there was no logical reason for her to keep us in the cold other than she could and she made a big display of wiping down everything and checking the computer it was very very poor service. Also it said self tour but there are docents at most stations so if someone ahead of you gets engrossed in what the docent is saying the person behind is left in an alcove and God forbid you go into a room against the arrows on the floor eve if NONONE else is in that room. It should be advertised that this is docent tour but better still let it be self tour you are only going around in a circle and why stand in room with other people during Covid when other rooms are empty. Plus more information needs to be given on what you are going to see. It says the place is 175 rooms but you only go to one floor maybe 5 or 6 rooms. Then the gallery is the same thing. Supposed to be all these collections but only one floor open and that turns out to all be about Mrs. duPont that's it. I advise people that this is definitely a buyer beware experience on the tours. The shuttle driver was the best thing about the experience. He was very pleasant and considerate.
    Visited January 2021
    Written January 17, 2021
  • Karen123WV
    Elkins, West Virginia285 contributions
    Lovely place to wander
    The grounds are really quite nice with many different plantings and areas with lovely plants, flowers and trees. The house in not architecturally outstanding but the short tour was informative. There were docents in each room (the tour was only part of one floor) who give good information about the home and family. I would recommend a visit for those in the area and would suggested 2-3 hours for the visit.
    Visited May 2022
    Written May 2, 2022
  • v z
    Pocono Mountains Region, Pennsylvania35 contributions
    museum garden and library
    🌟🌟🌟🌟½ Take in ALL the tours, exhibits and flora & fauna of Henry Francis du Pont's museum, garden and library. Amazing collection of Americana & gardens. Tram tours worthwhile. Guided & self tours a must. Check out any rotating displays. (Jackie K's East room remodel currently 7/'22) Some discounts available, ask at admission. *Blue Star Museum* Tickets good for 2 consecutive days Not hard to "get lost" here. Cafeteria delicious, but a bit pricey. Masks required on mansion tours.
    Visited July 2022
    Written July 26, 2022
  • alpw
    Placitas, New Mexico2,152 contributions
    First time tour of Winterthur
    My husband and I were in Pennsylvania for the Celtic Festival in Bethlehem and we had a few extra days. We had been to Longwood Gardens and we decided to go to Winterthur instead. We took the introduction tour with a garden tram. This is not your typical formal garden, it's a nature garden. Nothing really arraigned, just natural. The intro tour included only the 5th floor of the house. Other tours took you on other floors. Only one room had the original ceiling. There are separate galleries with a self guided tour to changing exhibits. I'm not sure I would go back. I enjoy formal gardens more.
    Visited September 2019
    Written February 2, 2020
  • Elizabeth S
    Rising Sun, Maryland1 contribution
    Terrible
    The website advertised a Christmas light show and that if you did not want a guided tour you could enter the buildings for a self guided tour. After paying $25 per person we were shown a 5 minute stupid video projected on the side of the mansion, and were told we could not have access to any of the buildings. There were absolutely no Christmas lights on the outside of the house or trees on the paths. We had a timed ticket for 7pm and were told we could not come any sooner. This made it impossible to see where we were going since there were no lighted paths or Christmas light.
    We are so sorry to hear that you were unhappy with your experience. Your review will be shared internally, so we can improve upon our visitors' experiences. Thank you for sharing your feedback.
    Written December 7, 2020
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited December 2020
    Traveled with family
    Written December 5, 2020
  • ChrisH
    Frederick, Maryland477 contributions
    Excellent visit
    Two seniors visited Winterthur on the Sunday of Halloween weekend and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There is a lot to see, more than we could accomplish in one day. We rode the garden tram from the visitor center to the mansion first. The operator gave a great 30 minute introduction to the whole site and is well worth taking. We had preregistered online for our 11am self-guided tour of the 4th and 5th floors. There are docents in almost every room eager to explain what you are seeing. Lunch is available back in the visitor center, a short shuttle ride away if you like. We had scheduled a 2pm “More to Explore” tour with 3 other people that ranged on several more floors and areas not currently open to the public. The tour guide was fantastic and the tour lasted over an hour. We spent the rest of the day in the actual Winterthur museum, so never had time to explore the outside grounds nor finish the actual museum. We plan on returning in the spring to see the outside gardens in their glory. Highly recommended, although we would not bring very young children here as they most likely would be bored.
    Visited October 2022
    Written November 1, 2022
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Bernard
London, UK237 contributions
Jul 2023 • Friends
This is an amazing place with lots to see inside the house and museum as well as in the gardens/park. There is a visitor centre where you buy your tickets with an overpriced cafe (tip- take your own picnic lunch with you) after. Then there are two bus/trolley options, one which just ferries you from point to point (it's a big estate) and the other which takes you around the gardens and park. This is the best way to see everything in the wider area. The museum has displays of art, furniture and porcelain. The house is full of treasures but it's rather gloomy and everything is behind ropes. The staff are helpful and fairly well informed but we kept getting contradictory bits of information which left us puzzled by the end.
Written July 25, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bill B
Bel Air, MD7,971 contributions
Jul 2023 • Solo
Winterthur is a combination of experiences based on 1,000 acres of science and history. We were told that the property was reduced from 2,500 acres so that it is more manageable. The structured experience is good for a first visit. There are busses and trolleys at the visitors center to take one to several destinations on the property. I chose the open trolley that passes through natural and planned gardens as well as forests and open meadows. Farming is still being done as is biological research in collaboration with a nearby university and the state ( e.g., the fresh water mussel project). The trolley driver/garden docent emphasized the rolling hill landscape that contrasts with flat coastal areas of the state further south. He indirectly made a pitch for visiting the gardens monthly from early spring so that one could see the blooming of different types of flowers and shrubs. Some sections feature native plants, while others like the conifer section contain trees from around the world. Some treats included two ancient cherry trees and a purple saucer magnolia that had a second round of blooms. The 100-room Winterthur mansion is seen from various angles during the ride. The trolley stops after about 20 minutes at the museum galleries. This is based on two floors with either stairs or an elevator between. Extensive collections of artifacts ranging from furniture to glass, China, and ceramics. Larger thematic descriptions are written on the walls near or above displays, while more detailed cards are found near specific items. There are even exhibits that depict lifelike settings from previous centuries. The emphasis overall is on American material culture. Outside the west entrance to the gallery is the entrance to the Campbell's soup tureen exhibit with both whimsical and stately designs. The adjacent library requires an appointment as the guard instructed. Out the east side of the galleries is the museum store, a bright and airy building with a host of items of all sizes. Having enough things at home, I bought edibles, rosemary infused honey, and three kinds of chocolate bars. Next was a brief uphill walk to ironically the ground level entrance to the fifth floor of the main house. Within one could see that the du Pont collections went beyond individual artifacts to whole rooms and buildings, including floors and molding from old houses around-the-clock USA, again in keeping with the theme of America material culture. One room, named Marlboro, was moved from an estate in Marlboro, Maryland. Each room had a docent who was glad to answer questions. Somewhere in the midst of all these glamorous displays were actual rooms that were part of the original early nineteenth-century home. After touring the fifth floor, one depended a staircase to see more on the fourth floor and eventually exit. Nearly 90 rooms and spaces in the rest of the house are similarly furnished but only accessible through special small tours. Walking around the corner back to the gallery area, I caught a bus back to the visitor center. Fortunately, photographs are permitted throughout, giving me the ability to review in depth what I had experienced and plan for what to see in depth next time.
Written July 22, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Richard S
Washington DC, DC153 contributions
Jul 2023
As an amateur woodworker, Winterthur has been a "bucket list" destination for years, because of its world-class collection of American decorative arts. We had a wonderful visit this week. However, getting the most out of our time there required a bit of research and some managing of expectations.

First off, we did NOT visit any of the gardens. It was a beastly hot day, so this review does not cover that aspect of the venue.

Second, this is a unique museum--not a traditional house tour. It displays H F duPont's collection; it is not an attempt to reconstruct life at Winterthur.

The self-guided tour is fine, covering a number of rooms with docents in each to explain what you are seeing. BUT, don't expect to learn much about how this branch of the duPont family lived. Instead, you will see rooms full of exquisite furniture and other pieces of decorative art (the Chinese wallpaper in one of the rooms is extraordinary). That said, this is a tiny fraction of the collection. The galleries present another fraction of the holdings in a more traditional museum setting and are certainly worth looking through.

However, to get a full feeling of the larger collection, I strongly recommend taking either the Closer Look or the More to Explore tours--or both. Here, a docent guides a small group through floors of the mansion not covered in the self-guided tour. For example, in the first room of the self-guided tour you see a monumental spiral staircase, but can't get close to it. In the More to Explore tour you stand at the top of the same staircase several flights up and look down to the ground floor. Instead of viewing the rooms from behind ropes on the self-guided tours, the docents take you right into many, many rooms were you can get up close to literally thousands of pieces--but no touching. We did get some sense of how the duPont family lived in the house, especially in the master bedroom suite, but the focus is on the collection.

The major drawback is that these tours are small and only held a few times a day. They are small because you travel up and down in a tiny elevator and the docent has to wrangle visitors through priceless objects. They are few because of the "student-teacher ratio" of five visitors to one docent. Nevertheless, the tours turn an interesting visit into a once-in-a-lifetime event. Well, if you're really interested in furniture, anyway.
Written July 14, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kelly S from NJ
South Plainfield, NJ55 contributions
May 2023 • Couples
We’ve attempted to visit Winterthur twice before but life got in the way. Thankfully, the third attempt was the charm! We loved our visit and will definitely return. Not as large was Longwood Gardens, nor as crowded. For us, much more enjoyable.

If you haven’t been - go! And to the wonderful folks who work/volunteer there - thank you. Friendly, informative, welcoming. Absolutely wonderful day!
Written June 2, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ktbeenthere2015
New York City, NY244 contributions
May 2023
The gardens were stunning. The house interior was gorgeous. The narrated tram rides and the shuttle services were a boon. We took the self-guided/paced house tour, which I am not sure how I feel about because it seemed we learned everything out of sequence or piecemeal versus in a flow, but the docents were all VERY informative and helpful. Other visitors commented that the guided tours were well worth registering for. I was delightfully surprised by the cafe which served an excellent hot sandwich. Depending on your interest level, you can easily while away the entire day here.
Written May 17, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Christine E
12 contributions
May 2023
Wonderful house tour. Thank you Mitchell for a wonderful private tour. I highly recommend a tour. And the gardens are lovely. So nice.
Written May 12, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jbienst
Clarksville, MD145 contributions
Apr 2023 • Couples
We didn’t intend to go here. We came only because Longwood Gardens was sold out and we had driven two hours to see the gardens. This was a very lucky happenstance as Winterthur was absolutely beautiful and uncrowded. Their “white arrow path” varies by the week and leads you to where the flowers are currently blooming. The walking paths were lovely. The house museum was interesting. We were quite glad in the end that we “had to” come to Winterthur.
Written April 16, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Venturesome
Maryland Line, MD132 contributions
Apr 2023
What is one to make of this statement at Winterthur's website? "Due to COVID-19, we have reduced the number of areas available to the public." I accepted that without question when I visited two years ago. But in 2023? Have the trustees dropped the ball? "Let's do less, it's easier"?
With difficulty one may find an apparent way to go beyond the minimal walk-through of 2021: at the site, go to "Plan Your Visit" and scroll down to "More to Explore".
Written April 10, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Laurene35
Maryland9 contributions
Mar 2023 • Friends
Outstanding tour of an incredible house. Our tour guide, Barbara, was knowledgeable and enthusiastic. She made the house and the Du Pont family come alive.
Written March 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

NancyDPA
Horsham, PA207 contributions
Dec 2022
We visited Winterthur during the holiday season, and had a wonderful time! There was a special exhibit dedicated to Jackie Kennedy, and the house was decorated for Christmas with trees inspired by first ladies. Mrs. Kennedy was friends with Henry DuPont, and she appointed him to assist in restoring some of the rooms in the White House. We took the tram around the grounds, then visited the home, which was incredibly beautiful, and then to the museum. We had a wonderful visit, and I really felt in the holiday spirit. I can't wait to go back in the spring to see the azaleas in bloom!
Written January 9, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

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Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library is open:
  • Sun - Sat 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM




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