Valentine's Day
The Huntington is open Monday, Feb. 14, 2022. Whether you’re planning a visit (advance tickets required on weekends, recommended on weekdays) or celebrating from home, here are 10 reasons to fall in love with The Huntington every day.
1. Valentine Tea for Two
Preorder Now for Feb. 11–14
If you're visiting The Huntington Valentine’s weekend, preorder the Valentine Tea for Two, and enjoy a selection of savory tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and orange marmalade, and assorted petit fours. Enjoy your choice of two types of hot teas from Art of Tea, or add wine and champagne to your order. Available to be enjoyed in the 1919 Cafe, 1919 Cafe patio, or picnicking areas in the Garden Court and Red Car patio (not available for takeout). Must have advance admission ticket or Member reservation to preorder.
2. Three Centuries of Valentines Offer 12,000 Ways to Say ‘I Love You’
The Huntington’s Nancy and Henry Rosin Collection of Valentine, Friendship, and Devotional Ephemera includes more than 12,000 Valentine cards and other memorabilia on love.
3. “Mapping Fiction” Exhibition
Visit “Mapping Fiction,” an exhibition about authors and the creation of compelling fictional worlds, featuring The Huntington’s archival collections of the famed literary couple, Jack and Charmian London.
4. Valentine’s Day CollectionFind the perfect gift for your Valentine from a selection of gifts, books, toys, and decor curated by Huntington staff. Available in-store or online at the Huntington Store for shipping or curbside pick-up.
5. Myrtle, the Herb of Love
Myrtle’s star-like white flowers and deep blue berries have long been used in British royal wedding bouquets and referenced alongside goddesses of love Demeter and Aphrodite throughout Greek mythology. Visit the Herb Garden to see myrtle along with many other herbs used for medicines, teas, wines, cooking, confections, perfumes, soaps, insect repellents, and more. There's even a tussie-mussie bed; tussie-mussies are small handheld bouquets of scented flowers and herbs that have special meaning for the recipients; borage, for example, means “bluntness,” while the meaning of sweet alyssum is “worth beyond beauty.”)
6. Valentine’s Day Dining Specials
Red Car Coffee Shop
Share a cup of Fosselman’s decadent red velvet ice cream with your sweetheart or cool off with an iced strawberry chai latte, available for a limited time at Red Car coffee shop.
7. Garden Sculpture Audio TourExplore more than 300 years of outdoor sculpture virtually or on-site at The Huntington through this audio tour on our new Huntington Digital Guide. The tour includes 26 stops covering classical to contemporary works, including Orpheus and Eurydice. In this legendary Greek myth, the poet Orpheus braves the underworld to bring his dead wife Eurydice back to life.
8. Camellia Garden Stroll through thousands of romantic camellia blooms—nearly 80 different species and some 1,200 cultivated varieties—at the peak of their bloom in January and February. See dazzling displays in the North Vista, Japanese Garden, Chinese Garden, and the Camellia Garden.
9. Custom Huntington Prints
Get high-quality art prints of your favorite Huntington artworks, exhibitions, and botanical images from our custom print shop, including The Open Country of a Woman’s Heart, 1833–1842 and The Fortified Country of a Man’s Heart, 1833–1842, both now on view in the “Mapping Fiction” exhibition.
10. The Huntington Is for Lovers Spotify Playlist
Fill your day with songs of love and nature in this Spotify playlist curated by Huntington staff, updated for 2022!