Richmond-Area Neighborhoods Near Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Maymont and the City’s Big Gardens and Green Spaces

This list is built from directions, not from a dataset. No public source ranks Richmond-area neighborhoods by how close they sit to a garden, so we used what the gardens themselves publish: street addresses, entrances and approach roads. Every pick below is tied to one of those routes or to a landmark we can name, to something our own community page says about the homes, and to a plain statement of who it does not suit. The order is by garden, then alphabetical. It is not a ranking, and this post makes no price or market claims.

Published October 17, 2026

What the two gardens’ own directions tell you

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden gives its address as 1800 Lakeside Avenue, Richmond, VA 23228, at the corner of Lakeside Avenue and Hilliard Road. The same page warns that the address often does not send GPS to the front entrance and suggests typing Henrico instead of Richmond, a useful hint that the garden sits in Henrico County even though its mailing city is Richmond. Arriving from I-95 north, the page says to take Exit 80 (Hermitage Road/Lakeside Avenue, Route 161), turn right at the first light and follow Lakeside Avenue 1.6 miles past Hilliard Road. Arriving from I-95 south, it says to take Exit 83B onto Parham Road (Route 73 West), turn left on Brook Road (Route 1 South), then right onto Lakeside Avenue; the entrance is just before Hilliard Road.

Maymont is a 100-acre estate park on a bluff above the James River, according to its about page. Its map and directions page lists three entrances plus an occasional special event entrance. The one that anchors the directions is the Hampton Street entrance at 1700 Hampton St., Richmond, VA 23220; the others are the Robins Nature Center entrance and the Farm entrance. It names these approaches: Arthur Ashe Boulevard exit #78 (Route 161) from I-64 and I-95, then south on Route 161; Cary Street (Route 147) and Meadow Street, then Pennsylvania Avenue, to the Hampton Street lot; the Cary Street/Grove Avenue exit from I-195 south; and and, for drivers coming north from Forest Hill and Westover Hills, the Boulevard Bridge, then Shirley Lane and into Byrd Park.

One detail connects the two: Route 161 is Lakeside Avenue at Lewis Ginter’s Exit 80 and Arthur Ashe Boulevard at Maymont’s Exit 78. That is a road number, not a measured distance between the gardens, and we are not claiming one. What follows is organized by which garden’s directions each neighborhood fits. If you want the version organized around a different green space, our posts on neighborhoods next to a major park and on the James River Parks cover those.

Lakeside: the Henrico address at the garden’s front door

The garden’s own address puts it on Lakeside Avenue, and the Lakeside community page describes an area of vintage homes, antique shops and independent restaurants within reach of downtown. That is the tie: the road the garden is named for is the road the neighborhood is named for, and the Exit 80 route above follows Lakeside Avenue. For a buyer, the housing fact worth planning around is age. A neighborhood described as vintage means inspections of roofs, electrical panels and plumbing matter more than a staged kitchen.

Wrong for: buyers who want new construction, since our community page describes older character homes. If that is you, start with new-construction homes in Richmond instead. Also test the drive yourself: Lakeside Avenue and Brook Road are two different routes in the garden’s directions, and which one you would use depends on the street you buy on.

North Side: historic city streets, with a Ginter Park gap on our site

The North Side community page calls it a collection of historic neighborhoods with classic architecture, tree-lined streets and proximity to parks. The garden’s directions describe it as a few minutes north of downtown Richmond and send visitors up I-95 to Exit 80. Our community page does not say which North Side streets are closest to Lakeside Avenue, so we are not naming blocks. Ginter Park is the neighborhood most readers ask about, and we do not yet have a community page for it. We do have a separate guide, Living in Ginter Park, that covers schools and parks.

Wrong for: anyone who wants a Henrico County address and Henrico services, since the North Side is inside the City of Richmond. Both are reachable from the same exit, so the choice is about the jurisdiction on your tax bill, not the commute to the garden.

Carytown: Cary Street is the road Maymont lists

Maymont’s directions list Cary Street (Route 147) as an approach to the Hampton Street entrance, and the Carytown community page describes independent boutiques, restaurants, the historic Byrd Theatre and walkable streets. That makes Carytown the cleanest example on this list of a neighborhood whose main street is also a published route to the garden. The housing question is mostly about the street you pick: a walkable shopping district can mean tighter parking, so check whether a specific home has off-street parking. Our post on Richmond neighborhoods and off-street parking explains what to look for.

Wrong for: buyers who want a large private yard and quiet after dark. Carytown’s own community page leads with shopping and dining, so expect a commercial street, not a quiet cul-de-sac.

The Museum District: two museums and the Route 161 exit

The Museum District community page places the neighborhood just west of downtown, home to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, with historic homes and tree-lined streets. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts lists its address as 200 N Arthur Ashe Boulevard and gives the same Exit 78 directions Maymont does: Arthur Ashe Boulevard (Route 161 South) for 1.5 miles, then a right onto Kensington Avenue for the history museum. Exit 78, Route 161 and a named museum campus give this neighborhood the strongest set of checkable proxies in the post for Maymont access.

Wrong for: buyers who want a south-of-the-river address or a newer subdivision. Historic homes bring the same inspection discipline as Lakeside, so budget for an inspection that looks closely at age-related systems.

Forest Hill: reached over the Boulevard Bridge

Maymont’s map page names Forest Hill and Westover Hills as the neighborhoods using the Boulevard Bridge to Shirley Lane and into Byrd Park. The Forest Hill community page describes a neighborhood south of the James River with mature trees, charming homes and proximity to parks and outdoor recreation. The tie to Maymont is a specific crossing, which means your daily route depends on a bridge, so drive it at the hours you would commute. For the river-side side of Forest Hill, see the James River Parks roundup.

Wrong for: buyers who want to walk to shops and restaurants; the community page leads with parks and trees, not a commercial strip.

Westover Hills: the other Boulevard Bridge neighborhood

Westover Hills shares Forest Hill’s Maymont route. The Westover Hills community page describes it as south of the James River, with charming homes, local businesses and restaurants, and easy access to parks and trails. A buyer here is choosing a south-side address that reaches the garden over one bridge, so test that crossing at the hours you would use it.

Wrong for: anyone who needs a short drive to I-95 for the Lewis Ginter side of the list. Westover Hills makes sense for Maymont, not for a weekly trip to Lakeside Avenue.

Neighborhoods we left out, and why

The Fan and Windsor Farms are popular searches near Maymont, and both have pages on our site. Neither garden’s published directions names them, so we have no checkable proxy tying them to a garden approach and left them out rather than guess. The rest of the City of Richmond community index has pages for each neighborhood.

How to turn this list into a search

Pick the two or three neighborhoods that fit your commute and housing style, then set a saved search that covers them so new listings reach you the day they appear. The Mission Realty property search lets you filter by area. If financing shapes the shortlist, our preferred lenders can explain pre-approval, and buying with us walks through the process. A drive test from each candidate street to both garden entrances, once on a weekday morning and once on a weekend, tells you more than any distance on a map.