Longwood Gardens Is One of the 100 Greatest Places in the World, Says Time Magazine

Let Greater Philadelphia’s winning streak continue!

There’s simply no place in the world like Longwood Gardens. And now that Time magazine has named Chester County’s premier collection of horticultural displays to its list of the 100 greatest places in the world, the rest of the globe knows it, too (if they didn’t already).

Featuring extraordinary hotels, restaurants and attractions, Time’s annual World’s Greatest Places list is based on nominations from its international network of correspondents and contributors, as well as on an application process.

Longwood Gardens earns its spot on the prestigious list alongside destinations like Alta Sanctuary (the highest treehouse in the Amazon), the Nintendo Museum in Japan and the Notre Dame Cathedral in France.

  — Photo courtesy Longwood Gardens

What Time Loves About Longwood Gardens

Comprised of 1,100 acres of lush gardens, meadows and woodlands and dotted with impressive fountains and architectural gems, Longwood Gardens has been a premier destination for botanical wonder and horticultural innovation since 1906.

In 2024, 17 of those acres — the attraction’s core conservatory area — underwent a sweeping transformation, which caught the attention of Time. Coined Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience, this ambitious project introduced several exciting new landmarks to the gardens, including its “sparkling centerpiece, a newly built 32,000-square-foot glasshouse that appears to float on water” and houses “a Mediterranean-inspired wonderland,” per the magazine.

  — Photo courtesy Longwood Gardens

Time also lauded several of the gardens’ other new additions, including its standalone glasshouse for its prized tropical Cascade Garden by Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx and 1906, an elegant on-site restaurant serving upscale American cuisine.

But Wait, There’s More

This win is just one in a long line of awards, accolades and — ahem — championships that the Greater Philadelphia region has won recently.

In the past year alone, the City of Brotherly Love has taken home not one but two USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for the Best City for Street Art and Most Walkable City in America.

That’s in addition to being recognized by top publications like AFAR, Tripadvisor and Time Out.