Golden Gate Park is full of beautiful sites and things to do. There is the Japanese Tea Gardens, the Rose Garden, the Windmill, and the Botanical Gardens. The Park is free to visit. The Japanese Tea Garden has an additional charge, but it is under $10 per person. Everywhere you look there is something new to look at. In the botanical gardens you will discover different areas dedicated to different regions and countries around the world. One of our tour guides mentioned that there is not a single plant in the entire park that is a native Northern Californian variety, not just in the botanical gardens. This makes every tree something to be viewed.

Another nice feature of the park is that the bus line runs right beside it. It makes it easy to ride the length of the park and take in all the sights in the park in one day. I was told to visit the Shakespeare Garden; however, my map of the park didn't show it. It is suppose to be filled with plants mentioned in his works.
The Windmill is a must! It was absolutely breathtaking. It is located in the middle of a tullip garden; when I visited it wasn't tullip season, but it was still unbelievable.

The park also meets up against the Pacific Ocean on the west side next to the Windmill. It was very convient after looking around the park to go and walk on the beach.

While the park appears much smaller than Central Park, it is definanly worth the stop. It's a nice place to get away from all the hassle and traffic of the city.

Golden Gate Park was originally conceived to help urbanites escape the chaos of the city. And boy, does it ever. You would not realise that you're in the middle of a city at times! We took a leisurely stroll around it, prior to going to Alcatraz Island, although we barely touched the tip of the iceberg!

If you wanted to see everything the park offered, I would recommend spending the full day there, as it is massive—it took us 15 minutes to drive from one end to the other!

There is a lot more to see in this park than the usual Museum and Japanese Garden, you have to travel to the other side, the seaside, to find some interesting gardens and windmills.

We chose to tour an area of the park that had an abundance of gardens. It proved a perfect place to enjoy a long, leisurely stroll on a sunny afternoon.

We entered the park near the Rose Garden, which immediately captured my heart, even though no roses were in bloom. There was a sensation of tranquility that overwhelmed me as we strolled the path through the garden. Benches sprinkled the tidy, seemingly secluded area where people sat reading or chatting quietly with a friend. Different varieties of the bushes were planted in separate sections of the garden, with each variety identified, and I hope to return sometime to see the abundance of flowers that have such beautiful names.

We next visited the nearby Japanese Tea Garden, which has an entry fee of $3.50 for adults. While it was beautiful with its variety of Japanese plant life and statues, it is a relatively small area, and I personally would not pay the fee to enter again. (There is also an additional charge if you want a brochure to guide you as you walk along the paths.) Central to the garden area is a "tea room" where you can spend even more money to buy a pot of tea and sit and enjoy the surroundings as you sip if such is to your liking.

The Botanical Garden area is directly across from the Japanese Tea Garden. There is no entry fee, and yet I enjoyed this garden more. Perhaps it was the wide variety of plants that stirred my senses more. I was particularly awed by some of the Australian vegetation, which looked like nothing I had ever before seen.

By this time the sun was beginning to set and the air was getting chilly, so we were able to visit only these three gardens. Regardless, we left feeling refreshed and relaxed and will return to explore other areas of the park on our next visit.

explore golden gate park with its incredible rose gardens and romantic swan-filled ponds. you can take small boat rides around the water and see some incredible scenery.