The Franklin Park Conservatory is a large Victorian-era botanical garden in a domed glass building about two miles east of downtown. It contains distinct biome rooms simulating a Pacific island water garden, a Himalayan mountain environment, a desert, and a rainforest — you can walk through all of them in an hour. The plant collections are serious, and the building itself is lovely.
The conservatory has become equally known for its collection of Dale Chihuly glass sculptures, displayed throughout the botanical spaces in a combination that works better than it sounds. The vivid blown glass forms — red reeds in the water garden, cascading amber pieces in the jungle room — complement the organic setting genuinely well. There is a good café on the grounds and a children's play garden outside.