Most people who take the Staten Island Ferry know it for the free ride and the Manhattan skyline view on the return trip. Fewer know that if you stay on the island for a couple of hours, you can walk through one of the most unusual and under-visited cultural campuses in New York City. Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden at 1000 Richmond Terrace is 83 acres of Greek Revival architecture, themed gardens, wetlands, and museum buildings — and the grounds are free, open seven days a week from dawn to dusk.

It is the kind of place that makes you wonder why it is not more famous. Here is how to make the most of a self-guided walk through it.

What Snug Harbor Actually Is

Snug Harbor was originally built in the 1830s as a home for retired sailors — the first institution of its kind in the United States. The main row of Greek Revival buildings along the Richmond Terrace frontage, now known as Sailors’ Snug Harbor, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains one of the finest collections of 19th-century Greek Revival architecture anywhere in the country. The central building, with its columned portico and symmetrical wings, looks like it belongs in a European capital. It is sitting on a quiet street in Staten Island.

The campus transitioned to a cultural center in the 1970s and today hosts a rotating collection of museums, galleries, performance spaces, and nine distinct botanical gardens across its grounds. The scale of it is surprising every time — you keep turning a corner and finding another walled garden, another historic building, another unexpected corner of greenery.

The Self-Guided Walk

Enter from Richmond Terrace and take a moment with the main building row before heading deeper into the grounds. The five Greek Revival structures along the front — built between 1831 and 1880 — are the architectural heart of the campus. The central building, Building C, is the most impressive, with its full-width portico and Ionic columns.

Head toward the New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden. This is one of the most extraordinary spaces in Staten Island — an authentic Ming dynasty-style garden built by artisans from Suzhou, China, and opened in 1999. It features moon gates, pavilions, bamboo groves, a koi pond, and rockery arranged according to classical Chinese landscape principles. Admission to the Scholar’s Garden is $5, and it is worth every cent. It is the only authentic Chinese Scholar’s Garden of its scale outside of China in the western hemisphere.

Walk through the New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden exit and into the adjoining botanical garden sections. The broader grounds include a rose garden, an herb garden, a sensory garden, a heritage rose collection, a perennial garden, and the Connie Gretz Secret Garden — a children’s garden with a castle folly and maze that is delightful even if you do not have kids in tow. In May, the rose collections are beginning their main bloom, and the perennial borders are at their most lush.

Find the 10 acres of wetlands at the back of the property. This is the part of Snug Harbor that most visitors skip entirely, and it is one of the most peaceful spots on the campus. Boardwalks cross through tidal wetland habitat that supports herons, egrets, and a surprising variety of migratory birds during the spring season. You can walk from manicured formal garden to wild saltmarsh in about four minutes — that transition alone is worth the trip.

The Museums

Beyond the gardens, the campus includes the Staten Island Museum (natural history, art, and culture), the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art ($5 admission), and the Staten Island Children’s Museum. Individual museum hours vary, so check snug-harbor.org for current schedules before you visit. The grounds and gardens, however, are always free and open daily from dawn to dusk.

Getting Here

From the Staten Island Ferry terminal at St. George, take the S40 bus directly to Snug Harbor — it is about a 10-minute ride along Richmond Terrace. The campus address is 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301. There is also on-site parking if you are driving from elsewhere on the island.

For context on the St. George neighborhood and what else is developing along Staten Island’s north shore, see our Staten Island neighborhood spotlight.

What You Need to Know

• Address: 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301
• Grounds hours: Dawn to dusk, seven days a week
• Grounds admission: Free
• Chinese Scholar’s Garden and Newhouse Center: $5 each
• Getting there: Staten Island Ferry to St. George, then S40 bus to Snug Harbor (about 10 minutes)
• Time needed: 1.5 to 3 hours for a thorough walk; longer if you visit the museums
• Do not miss: The Chinese Scholar’s Garden, the Greek Revival building row, the wetlands boardwalk in the back
• Phone: 718-425-3504 | Website: snug-harbor.org

Snug Harbor is the rare New York City destination that rewards repeat visits — the gardens look different in every season, the museums rotate, and the campus is large enough that you can explore it a dozen times without seeing everything. This weekend, with the spring gardens in full swing, is one of the best possible moments to make your first visit.