I did not buy entrance ticket from website, it is not crowded , you can always get it from their entrance, depending on which way you come from because there are 2 entrances.

** I bought my ticket last minute.** I did not know I was going there until I saw the place and said Why Not. Tickets are easy to purchase next to the garden.

There is no need to reserve a ticket in advance.

Dear Sir, you don't have to request a reservation. They have general garden hours to serve you usually most days of the week. Hope this helps! Thanks again for your question, Sincerely, Kevin Schooling

Hi, it is not necessary to pre- booked tickets. Queuing 20 minutes is just required to get them. Maybe for large number of visitors pre booking is required see web site. Cyrille

Absolutely This is spring!

2 hours approximately

If your husband doesnt like the gardens much, and if you must visit one garden, I would definitely recommend the Couple's retreat garden. Basically we stumbled upon this "gem" when we went on hunt for a zoo for my kid. Once you enter the couple's retreat garden complex, dont take right, this is where the normal tour bus takes. You can take left and you will see beautiful lake. Walk further and you will see some fishing area, boating area, the entire area seems so beautiful and Europeanish, reminded of one the lakes I visited in Germany. With almost nobody around, we had the garden to ourselves, pretty much. We just loved this place, luckily this hasn't been so touristy or might be we were lucky that day. If you walk on the other side you will reach the Ou Yuan garden, along a beautiful lake and then it goes to the touristic Couples retreat garden. And hey, this was FREE. I highly recommend this if you want to avoid too much people. However, if you are ok having lots of people around you, you can visit the humble administrator garden, its quite beautiful, but too expensive and crowded. Have a good trip to Suzhou!

Hi Laura, there are many gardens to see, i liked this garden because you could also see the hose & how they lived & there wer lovely bonsaii's but even the public gardens were beautiful

This question is posted in the wrong place. This is a traditional Chinese garden and a UNESCO site. There is no "unit" and certainly no washing machine. :-)