Butterfly Conservatory, Key West

This conservatory is nice and a great place to take kids in Key West. We spent over an hour in there because we were trying to get a butterfly to land on us and take a pic of it. Never happened. They do land on you, but not when you are expecting it. There are so many butterflies and the area is calming. The price is somewhat reasonable. There is a gift shop and parking available behind the building, but it is sparse.
Adults - $12
Child (4-12) - $8.50
Under 4 - Free
Seniors and military - $9
Conservatory Hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily. Last ticket sold 30 minutes before closing.

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butterflies everywhere - on your clothes and in your hair; impressive collection of flowering plants, cascading waterfalls and trees with little birds perching;i50 to 60 different species from around the world; climate controlled, glass enclosed habitat

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"Take a stroll through tropical gardens filled with hundreds of butterflies." That is what the brochure says. So of course you think to yourself "whatever, hundreds must just be an advertising word, there may be a few"......but NO I am telling you there are THOUSANDS in there!!! You walk through that door and bam! you are hit with the awe of the place. Butterflys are everywhere, little birds are singing and hopping around (watch your step), glowing fish and turtles in the ponds, wonderful tropical plants; it truely is amazing and a must see.

Operating Hours are from 9am to 5:30 pm.

**military discount**
**discount coupons available in many brochures**

If you love small animals and butterflys you will come into close contact with them at the conservatory. When you enter the conservatory you must do so very carefully because the butterflys might fly out. You have to walk slow and be careful where you step because there are quails walking around and butterflys everywhere in a beautiful garden setting. A perfect place to take pictures. Unfotunately we saw that someone had stepped on one of the poor butterflys (I hope he is ok). I was waiting for one of them to land on me but none did but there were so many beautiful colors.

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Oh my God. If ever a place was built to make my daughter happy, it's the Butterfly Conservatory in Key West. Butterflies are Sara's new passion, and the conservatory has an incredible indoor butterfly garden and oasis, just brimming with all sorts of exotic beauty. Talk about a peaceful place to spend some time.

I personally am not that "into" butterflies, but I found it both uplifting and calming...and the nice cool climate inside the sanctuary was nice, too. We had a chance to speak with some of the butterfly "handlers", too. Very interesting to learn of all the different steps in setting up such an undertaking.

As a sideline, the owners of the conservatory make some incredibly beautiful art and plexiglass displays of various butterflies. Mind you, no cruelty is happening here...the butterflies have a life span of about 2 weeks, and every day, they go through several times to pick up the beauties who's time's run out. The ones with bodies in good shape are given to the butterfly artist/taxidermist and voila...magical creations. I know it doesn't particularly sound great to talk about butterfly art, but trust me, you'd be amazed at the talent of the artist and the grace and beauty of his subjects.

Oh, one other thing...in addition to butterflies, the conservatory's garden also has a nice collection of beautiful and color birds to blend in with their butterfly color. They all seem to get on nicely, I didn't see any of the "employees" eating one another.

Like everything in Key West, it costs $10 per adult...but we did find some coupons that saved us a few dollars. And, once you've bought a ticket, you're welcome to revisit as often as you'd wish for that day. It comes in handy when you're maybe a little hot and tired. Go back into the cool conservatory and sit on the benches for a bit. (See photo of me and Sara below) The conservatory is open daily from 9:00 am until 5:30 pm.

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I hesitated to come here - we have been to other butterfly places in Costa Rica and Belize, so I thought this would be more of the same, but it turned out to be the best one of the bunch. In the first room there are exhibits with live caterpillars munching away, and also a 15 minute video tape about the life cycle of butterflies.

Then you go into a very warm and humid glass conservatory with a multitude of flowering plants, and also some birds - no hummingbirds like they had in Costa Rica - that was a much bigger place. But they had some yellow and orange finch type birds (not insect eaters), and some little quail, a turtle, and big fancy finned koi in a pond. Plus of course all the kinds and colors of butterflies that you could imagine.

Right away, a butterfly came and sat on Bob's shirt (which was red), and one lighted on his head later. They have a mirrored room on the exit so you can check to see if there are any hitchhiking butterflies. I got almost 20 good close-up digital photos of the butterflies

Conservatory Hours
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily
Last ticket sold 30 minutes before closing

Gift Shop and Gallery Hours
9:00 AM to 5:30 PM daily
Admission Prices

Adults $10
Children 4-12 years $7.50
Under 4 years Free
Seniors and Military $8.50

Have you ever walked among 1200 flying flowers? With many birds singing? With a wonderful spiritual feeling of peace and serenity? Try visiting the Key West Butterfly & Nature conservatory!! 13 16 Duval Street, away from the t-shirt shops and into a wonderful flying world!!