Group Tours for Adults

Bring your group and explore Cornell Plantations with a guided tour. Plantations offers two types of guided group tours, bus tours and walking tours. (See below for tour descriptions.) Be sure to schedule far in advance since our tour calendar fills quickly.

Each tour lasts approximately an hour. You may wish to allow extra time to explore the gardens on your own and to browse the gift shop where maps and brochures are available. Plantations does not have dining facilities, but interesting places to eat abound in Ithaca.

Essential Information:

• Cost: There is a charge of $5 per person with a minimum of $50 for each group tour.  Registration with a nonrefundable deposit of $20 must be received at least two weeks in advance to reserve a tour date. Full payment is due upon arrival.
• To Register:  Please call or e-mail Kevin Moss, Community Outreach Coordinator, at (607) 254-7430, to make arrangements for your tour.
• Cancellations: The tour deposit is nonrefundable.  In the event of severe weather or if we are the party cancelling the tour, we will grant you a credit in the amount of your deposit towards a future tour.
• Late Arrivals: Please call our main information line at (607) 255-2400 if you are running late. If you are more than 15 minutes late and have not called, we reserve the right to shorten or cancel your tour.
• Note:  If your group is not coming by bus, please carpool! Our parking is limited.
• Self-Guided Groups: Not interested in a guided tour?  No problem.  Your group is free to tour on their own at no charge, seven days a week, from dawn until dusk.  However, please make a reservation anyway so we can help maximize your group’s enjoyment.  Brochures and visitor maps are available at the Garden Gift Shop during open hours.

Bus Tours

Knowledgeable guides will board your bus to provide your group with a tour of the 200+ acres of gardens and arboretum managed by Cornell Plantations. You will learn about the plant collections, history, and educational mission of Plantations as you view scenic overlooks onto the botanical garden and arboretum. Because of limited winter road maintenance, bus tours can only be given from mid-April through October. Buses must be provided by your group.

Walking Tours

Walking tours of the botanical garden highlight the winter garden, a one-acre herb garden, a rhododendron collection, rock garden, an unusual and beautiful ground cover collection, and a low maintenance perennial garden. Your guide will introduce the themes of each specialty garden and identify key plantings.  Although three of the specialty gardens are wheelchair accessible, the majority of the tour is over non-wheelchair accessible terrain.  Walking tours of the Arboretum can also be arranged, providing a closer look at our tree and shrub collections.