Gardens and arboretums to visit with kids around Washington DC

The secret to gardens with kids: water, fish, room to run and a restroom. The DC area's gardens tick every box and most are free, which, after the Smithsonians, is the region's other underrated perk.

Brookside Gardens in Wheaton is Montgomery County's prettiest 50 acres, with turtles and koi in the ponds, two conservatories warm all winter, a summer butterfly show and a miniature train next door; the US Botanic Garden below Capitol Hill is a free indoor rainforest with a holiday train show. Meadowlark in Vienna is Northern Virginia's best stroller garden, with three ponds and a Korean bell pavilion; the Capitol Columns lawn at the National Arboretum is where kids run wild, with a hillside of azaleas in late April; and early on a July morning, Kenilworth's lotus blooms are bigger than a toddler's face.

• 5 places
• 4 free
• 5 stroller-friendly
• closest is 15 min away