Having visited the Breakers in Newport, RI and Biltmore House in Asheville, NC, the du Pont family's Winterthur is a little underwhelming size-wise. But what makes Winterthur unique is the rich history behind the mostly American furnishings. The largest collection of George Washington's china dishes is located here, along with original American artwork that hangs among the elaborately decorated rooms. We only had time for the 25-minute narrated garden tour (nice guide, but not as informational as we'd hoped) and the 1 hour introductory house tour (things to know: you can't take a tour of the house without a guide, and the last one is scheduled at 3:30pm every day). The house tour guide Terry was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic---she made for a great experience. If we had more time, we would've toured the grounds more, or maybe signed up for one of the longer specialty tours of the other floors. read more

I am a huge fan of Longwood Gardens and have been there dozens of times so I was excited to finally make it to winterthur. Admission was $20 which I wouldn't call pricey, but I was expecting and hoping to get more for my money than I did. The main problem was that we went on a Saturday and they oversold the event. We parked in visitors parking and were met by a twenty minute line at the ticket counter. After waiting to get to the tickets there was a twenty minute line for the garden tram. The garden tram was nice enough and you got to see the scope of the property but once we got to the home of Henry Dupont we were told that there was more than an hour wait to see the house. Further the other exhibits were sold out for the day so there was really nothing else to do. Further it was not like you could make a reservation for the house tour and come back later. You just were expected to stand on the line and wait with a whole bunch of other disgruntled people. It was annoying and disappointing. We left without even seeing the house. I am going to check out Nemours and may attempt to see Winterthour again but for the most part I left with a bad taste in my mouth. read more

We visited for the Downton Abbey Exhibit. Once we arrived we went to guest services got our tickets went straight to the shuttle which was waiting and went on the tour of the Grounds/Gardens. The grounds were beautiful but wish more flowers were in bloom. They said beginning of April is a great time. We got to walk around and explore the house. Then we view the Downton Abbey Exhibit. If you are a fan of the show you will not be disappointed. I loved looking at the outfits and reading the clips about the scene they were in. Also, there was some live footage playing around some of the outfils. There was a store to purchase tokens from. Then we went to the cafe where we had Afternoon Tea. It was buffet style with a great selection of finger foods, and the great selection of deserts. The only thing I did not like and gave 4 stars was it was not a real afternoon tea. We used tea bags, although there was a great selection of flavors. Loved the experience all in all. read more

As a native Delawarean, it is so easy for me to take for granted all of the wonderful museums and gardens that are in my immediate area. This Friday, I met my cousin and her two kids at the Winterthur Enchanted Woods. We had a blast - you can take the tram or walk. We really enjoyed the woods and it got gradually more crowded the longer we were there. My cousin (clearly an experienced mother) brought a snack to eat at the tea party tables in the Woods. The Winterthur Yuletide tour is also magnificent. Last year, my Mom's first cousin (who is a docent) arranged for us to have a private tour after-hours. It was amazing. read more

It is a nice place to visit on a beautiful cool day -in early spring when the flowers are blooming. I visited in June and there were only a couple of bushes in bloom and they were dying off. Also ask about what rooms you will see on the mansion tour. I was disappointed. The tour is a little pricey and I expected to see the living space of the Dupont family. The tour guides were underwhelming. read more

I went here primarily for the gardens and house tour (not being a fan of Downton Abbey). The house is being renovated, but I get the impression you never really get to see most of the 170+ rooms. The collections were interesting to, I think, people with a particular interest in those items (soup tureens, for instance). The furniture display was an elegant one, but some of the portraiture was laughably poor. The children's garden (the Enchanted Forest) is easily the highlight of the grounds. Frankly, I was disappointed by the limited plantings and rather tired repetition in the gardens. It was a nice walk, but not much different than a stroll through a forest. read more

Wow this place is spectacular. The house was beautiful. The art work amazing. The furniture showed wonderful craftsmanship. The grounds were blissful. The gardens extensive and breathtaking. read more

Superb. I recommend this to anyone who has been looking at too much iPod screen lately. This is an environment to sharpen your senses.

We went for the Downton Abbey exhibit and tea. The exhibit was great, if a bit pricey. Had it just been the exhibit, I might have given it 3 or 4 stars. But we made the mistake of having tea in the cafe. It was the poorest excuse for tea I've ever experienced. Bagged tea (even though they were flogging 3 different varieties of loose tea in the assorted gift shops) and self serve food. Scones that were like little nuggets of dried out concrete. But that's not the worst of it. At $30 per head, this was Four Seasons pricing for a McDonald's experience. read more

I took the Yuletide Tour yesterday. The tour guide, who I believe was probably a docent, was quite knowledgeable--she says she has given the tour for 26 years or so. I give tours myself where I work, although I am not a docent. I am a professional in rare books so I hope my review is somewhat useful. Winterthur is known in my field, at least, for its graduate program in history and conservation. Graduates from this program are amazing and Winterthur is a renowned place as a result. Since this was my first visit I was hoping to see more historical objects and that sort of thing. We did see a number of items throughout the house, but the Yuletide Tour is focused more on the Christmas decorations, and doesn't allow much for people to look at things closely as they're passing through. Of course, there must be hundred of people coming through each day--there is literally one group after another, so it must be hard for a guide to let people linger. My boyfriend felt that he felt too "controlled" by being in the group. This is something I wouldn't have much complaint about--it's important to be able to protect the objects, and when you have that many people coming through all the time you need to have a certain amount of control, in my opinion, to make sure things don't get brushed against or broken, etc. I've seen some other reviews in different sections of Yelp complaining about this aspect of Winterthur, and people do need to understand that the items need to be there in the future for others to see and appreciate. I found the docent to be quick on her feet for all kinds of questions, which I of course appreciated (although I didn't ask any!). Gift shops: I liked the book store better than the regular gift shop, but I imagine the regular gift shops satisfies many types of shoppers. I hope to go back and explore some deeper historical aspects of the place in a non-Yuletide season. read more

Amazing gem in Delaware, I wish I had visited earlier! This first visit was with my sis and 2-yr old niece and we had an amazing time, exploring part of the gardens and attending the house tour. The house is a beautiful 8-storey structure with 150+ rooms full of treasures from the early 18th to 20th centuries. I loved the music/entertainment room with its great big piano, Chinese scenery wallpapers and floral decorations. The Atlanta room was also fascinating. The special exhibits in the galleries was both informative and aesthetically appealing. My niece also had loads of fun in the "please touch room" building houses and setting a tea party! Parents with smaller kids would do well to brings strollers although you are allowed to borrow them on the premises. We (adults) regretted coming late as there was so much to see before closing but our toddler was tired after 3 hours and we missed the enchanted garden! The 65$ annual membership is definitely a fantastic deal for locals since the garden blooms change with every season. Plus, you can easily use up 2-3 visits to view all the different attractions. I will surely be going back for a second visit. read more

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Since my concern was not responded by any higher up I am going to try and keep this as short as I can. My first trip and probably my last, with my family. Grounds are great, museum nice. I went into the shop as did my kids and as any parent a kind reminder don't touch because it will break. There were two workers there and we went into the back portion where it's for children. Well one of the workers was "fixing" a card, yes ONE card for the time we were there. Worker didn't think I didn't notice well I did and so I told kids to let's go because she thinks we might steal AND to put back the things I was going to buy. If it's going to be that way I don't need to go back to place where I feel uncomfortable. Please train your staff better. read more

An American Treasure. There is nothing like it for those who love American decorative arts. If you go at Christmas it is gorgeous. In spring when the azaleas are in bloom the gardens which are magnificent become truly spectacular. Combine this with a visit to Longwood, the Brandywine River Museum and the Hagley Museum to make any visit to this area a dream trip for those who love gardens and American treasures. read more

My wife and I visited 2015-05-02 Saturday. The tram tour was very nice. The daffodils were mostly all past prime and many azaleas were just about ready to start coming. There were still blooms to see and miss Sue (with her English accent), the team operator have a great tour. We did the 3:30 general tour of the mansion. There was so much to see and hear about. Seeing the dishes from when George Washington was in the whitehouse and the portrait of Washington were highlights. There is quite a lot of walking on hills if you want to venture out, but much to see if you do. The enchanted Forest was great imaginary play for children. Tip: when you buy tickets, be ready to decide on what options you want, apparently there are several choices. read more

Really enjoyed our visit here, all the personnel was very helpful and knowable, they make you feel right at home. There are many things to see but you have to pay separate for it, general admission is $18. I find it a little pricey. After we did the tour I found out a passport in which you have access to 11 Museums for $35 which I got, only thing is you have to complete all the visits by September 2nd and I got it on August 4th, I have to hurry!!!! read more

Visitors need to unerstand that, although this is one of the great houses of the world, visits are tightly controlled. Of the 176 rooms, the casual visitor will only see eight! My husband and I visited there last week and were wrongly informed that we could not see a different tour but must take the "introductory" tour once again. We have now seen this for the third time and it was perhaps the most unpleasant of our visits. Before you are allowed into the house you are herded into the second of 2 anterooms. You are required obliged to sit where they tell you to ,and lectured on all the things you cannot do, including carrying anything over your shoulder, not touching walls, not smoking of course, not using your cell phone. Oh yes, you are told not to chew as well. Suitably monitored, you are finally allowed entry to contemplate a portrait of the great man, who musters a tight smile. The attitude veers between school-marmish ("We are letting you do this under suffrance") and folksy, once you get inside. Our guide prefaced every sentence with "You guys" and would not be dissuaded when a female visitor protested she was not a guy. The information was conveyed by rote in a singsong and almost all other questions were turned aside by "I dont know." At the exit, another staff member was stationed to watch us leave. We were the first out, and she demanded to know where the rest of our group was, as if we were being held personally responsible for their non-appearance.. We have been to far more impressive houses all over Europe and have never experienced such a the level of brusque officialdom and regimentation .We came away with the feeling that the administration is so concerned about security that they really do not want to show the building at all. read more

Really beautiful place, world class. The children's enchanted garden alone is worth a stop if you have little ones. A bit pricey to get in, but a great stopover if you're driving from New England to D.C. or points nearby. read more

If you didn't discover this place yet you are missing a lot. The most beautifull gardens we ever saw (and we saw a lot of them around North America). Lots of paved trails and little walking pathes. Everywhere your eyes meet the land you'll see the absolute beauty of the "nature inspired" landscaping. The best veiwing is happening in Spring time and Fall, but if you can stand the heat and humidity of the Summer there are lots of things to see too. It's our absolutely favorite place on the planet Earth and we encourage you to discover it for yourself. read more

We went for the Downton Abbey exhibit which was excellent, and because I'd been wanting to go here, in general. I used to live a mile or two from here and never went, but now that I'm an adult I can't believe the amount of museums and parks that are in DE that I never bothered to see (I was a kid, so I have a valid excuse). We took the tram to the house 'cause from when I talked to the lady on the phone when ordering tickets, she said this was part of the tour. Which, we weren't sure how to get to the house, so, the tram worked fine and actually added to the experience. I don't normally use the word delightful but I think it would perfectly describe our tram guide. I've never seen someone so excited to talk about flowers and it actually put us in a good mood with her infectious glee. It was also interesting to learn something about the estate and the family that used to live there, on our way to the house. The Downton Abbey exhibit maybe had about 50 costumes and had descriptions of what it was like for people of that era, what their specific jobs were, and compared it to the differences of how an American household of that grandeur would run its manor. It was actually very interesting and enhanced aspects of the show with in depth things I'd never thought about. I also thought it was interesting that they included quotes from magazine articles from that era so you could get a feel for what things were like at that time in our country. There were also large monitors that ran clips of the show and had large images so that you could compare the costumes to where they were used in the show. It also talked about fashion in that era, and methods the costumers must use to get the outfits to present well on camera. Some historical insight as well as a look into the show. Really well done and well worth it. The grounds are beautiful. The Enchanted Garden is a must see for kids...and adults. We loved it and were told by children to "Get out of our house." They weren't into sharing their hobbit-like cottage and had already established ownership. I would describe it as sort of a small fairy tale village. The grounds themselves are expansive rolling hills. When we went it was just at the start of spring, which has been delayed because of the long winter, so there were some flowers out, but I can only imagine in a few weeks when everything goes into bloom it will be pretty breathtaking. They said that Henry duPont planted seasonally so there will be a variety of different plants that bloom from February through August, so, the appearance will change depending on what time of year. We didn't go on the complimentary house tour, as we didn't think we would be able to cover the grounds if we did. If we hadn't walked all through Philly the day before we probably would have tried to tackle both, but you really need ample time and energy if you want to do some strolling, since it's 60 acres of grounds, along with a massive mansion. It is possible to hot-foot it from one thing to the next...but, the place really makes you want to do some lounging and enjoy the scenery. We also went through a couple of the gift shops, which were cute, and stopped at the cafe by the museum. It's more of a snack bar for coffee, beverages, baked goods, and a choice of a sandwich or chili. If you want to sit down and have a meal the cafe by the visitors center is your best bet, but the museum cafe is good for a nosh and to take a break. Well worth the $20. I originally thought that was a bit high but after seeing what they have to offer and how professionally they put things together, it seems about right. Being a member at Huntington Library and Gardens for 10 years, I'm aware of the cost it takes to keep up a place like this. A lot of maintenance and upkeep is required and people should be supporting them or they won't be around for us to enjoy and would end up a strip mall or something equally ugly. read more

what an amazing space, 175 rooms, 9 floors and 5 elevators! the grounds were beautiful, you could make an entire day of hiking around the woodlands, but it was too hot for us. the tour was a 12 people, the guide was nice and took many questions. we then waited for the guide to talk to us about the map rooms. we were his only guests so it was nice and intimate, able to ask lots of questions. they we walked the grounds, the gift shop and headed out. would have liked to see the bedrooms but that was another the tour. read more

Winterthur grounds encompass over a square mile and it is beautiful. I was not interested in the house so I did the tram ride around. We did a lot of walking and the grounds, the enormous trees, and the many private outdoor spaces are breathtaking. Admission is on the pricey side, but it is good for 2 days. read more

i love this place. if you want to just wander in a beautiful setting, and enjoy the scenery, come here. The kids area is great too. Not to be missed... Azaleas, and the March bank, and the tulips in the back end of the property (large field/hill). Bring your walking shoes, and skip the tram. read more

Having been to Longwood Gardens I was excited to see Winterthur. I was disappointed. Taking the tram up to the house was educational and enjoyable, but when we arrived at the house; to our amazement, the whole front and sides of the house is draped in construction and scaffolds. It seems that they are replacing all the windows in the house-NOW in high tourist time??!! In order to see anything you have to walk around and sneak into the construction area to get a sense of what it looks like. The Downton Abbey collection was great as I expected it to be, but as for the house tour being timed and only a certain few floors to see-no. But if you want to pay more you can do a few more floors-No. The food in the café was overpriced and just so-so. I really expected more from Winterthur but I will go back to Longwood any time. read more

Wonderful museum. My favorite is the Downton Abbey exhibit by far!!!!

Enjoyed the tram ride through the gardens. Tapestry, furniture, and dinnerware was remarkable. However, I enjoyed the discussion with the conservation students the best. read more

The grounds are beautiful and the Downton Abbey exhibit is something worth seeing. I recommend swapping the house tour for the garden tour or a walk in the garden if time is at a premium. Good for families and also good for couples. read more

I was disappointed. I had been to Chanticleer, in Wayne, PA the day before and was so delighted by the flawless,artistic sense in all their gardens. They were so intimate, enticing, surprising,delightful. Winterthur has some magnificent old trees and big vistas, but the shrubs are overgrown and the garden compositions are not exciting. At chanticleer, my husband ,whose a photographer, took over 400 photos. At Winterthur, he took 50. Nor does it not feel very intimate as a loaded tram edges you off the walkway. $10. would have been a fair price or the DuPonts could make it a gift to all the people who are looking to refresh themselves in the beauty of nature. read more

I've taken the house tours many times with out of town guests but yesterday our guide gave us a tabloid version of of H.F. DuPont- a love of secrecy, no/little provenance on his purchases... a sort of Howard Hughes of DE... a new take on him I guess... It was very crowded and the tours were almost overrunning each other. Not the best tour experience and her take on the DuPonts was a little unsettling. read more

Let me start by saying that I am not the most organized or prompt person. My friend and I arrived at Winterthur and had about an hour to see the museum -- obviously not long enough. On arrival at the visitor's entrance, it was not clear that there were options other than the tour, so we paid for two tour tickets. We told the people at the front desk and another staff person who was "minding" us while we waited in line that we had to leave the tour halfway through because of our need to get back to Philadelphia. Three people told us that this was fine and encouraged us to tell the tour guide. After waiting in line after line, we were ushered through a Fort Knox-like entrance into the house proper. My friend politely mentioned to the guide that we needed to leave at the midpoint and she flatly stated "That will not be possible. You need to leave now." After another attempt to explain that we were given the green light by three other people, she again refused. $44, 45 minutes waiting, no tour. The tour guide was impolite and had no regard for us as paying customers. read more