For the holiday season, the Meadowlark Botanical Garden in Vienna, Virginia, hosts a Christmas light display called the “Walk of Winter Lights.” The walking tour includes 500,000 LED lights and unique animated displays with a nature theme like a bubbling stream, leaping fish, deer, and dragonflies. There will also be seasonal displays including a gingerbread village and a pumpkin patch. Dress for the weather and wear good walking shoes. The garden path is about a half mile long.
Meadowlark Gardens is a 95-acre botanical garden operated by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. The resort includes unique collections of native plants, walking trails, lakes, gazebos, a visitor center, and a restored 18th-century cabin.
how to visit
Winter Walk of Lights will run from November 9, 2018 to January 6, 2019, from 5:30 to 10 p.m., seven days a week. The event is open rain or shine.
Timed admission tickets are required and available online. A limited number of tickets will be sold at the door at a higher cost while they last. The pre-purchase price is: $ 14 adults, $ 8 for children 3 to 12 years and children under 3 years free.
How to get to the gardens
The Meadowlark Botanical Garden is located off VA-267 (Dulles Access Rd). Take Exit 45A towards Wolf Trap, make a U turn, turn right to stay on Trap Road, take the second right onto Beulah Road, follow the road for .8 miles and the gardens will be on the left.
Direction:
9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court
Vienna, VA, 22182
Fun for kids
Kids can search for a variety of animals and other fun displays along with their winter hike. Request a Light Search activity sheet at admissions in the Visitor Center. Children, who complete this activity, can get a neat vacation sticker when they return it to the Visitor Center before leaving.
Where to eat nearby
There are light soda concessions for hot (coffee, cider and hot chocolate) and cold drinks, s’mores kits, marshmallows and popcorn in the gardens. It is not allowed to bring food to the event.
In the area are:
Ristorante Bonarroti, an excellent Italian restaurant and wine bar. The address is 428 Maple Avenue East, Vienna, Virginia.
For something casual and quick, try Super Chicken, a Peruvian-style chicken restaurant in Tyson’s Square. The address is 8357 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, Virginia.
Also in the area is Nostos, a Greek restaurant with hearty Greek food and a good Greek wine list. The address is 8100 Boone Blvd, Vienna, Virginia.
