ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden

Next door to the Aquarium, this expansive botanical garden is one of Albuquerque's real gems. The place is an oasis with a variety of gardens to explore, with an emphasis on high desert plants but also with many highlight exhibits that are great for children: an indoor conservatory with lush Mediterranean plants, an insectarium with plenty of creepy-crawlies, an indoor butterfly pavilion that's open in the summer, a large Japanese garden with a koi pond and a waterfall, a recreation of an early 20th-century farm with a barnyard petting zoo, a model railroad, and a fantastic children's "Fantasy Garden" made to look as if you've shrunk down to a bug's size, with giant pretend vegetables, garden tools and bugs.

• outdoors
• family

Address

2601 Central Ave NW

Getting there

just east of the Rio Grande

Hours

9AM–5PM daily, except major holidays

Price

$12.50, $5.50 seniors, $4 children, under age 3 free (includes admission to Aquarium; train rides require separate admission, unless you have a combo ticket)

Phone

+15057646200

Website

cabq.gov (opens in a new tab)