Butchart Gardens is always in Bloom

Life moves pretty fast and every once in a while you need to stop and smell the roses. We suggest doing just that by adding Butchart Gardens in Victoria BC to your bucket list this year!

The gardens are beautiful, relaxing, and truly breathtaking. Any age will enjoy strolling the property while smelling the flowers, taking pictures of the gorgeous blooms, spotting birds, riding the carousel, listening to a concert, and so much more!

A quick little history of the property: Butchart Gardens began in 1904 when Jennie Butchart envisioned a grand garden in her family quarry. Between 1906 and 1929 the Butcharts expanded the Gardens, designing the Japanese Garden on the seaside, the Italian Garden on their former tennis court and the overflowing Rose Garden. Gifted the Gardens on his 21st birthday in 1939, grandson Ian Ross transformed them into the world-renowned attraction they are today.

Butchart Gardens is located roughly 30 minutes from the Victoria Harbour. We opted to take a cab to get to the Gardens and it costs approximately $48 US dollars. There are also tour or city buses that head out to the Gardens numerous times per day. Some hotels offer transportation, be sure to check with the concierge upon check-in for your best option. The next time we go we will definitely budget extra time and money to take one of the tour buses so we can learn even more about this beautiful area on the ride.

The Butchart Gardens are open 365 days per year. Hours of operation vary by season. Get all the details on admission prices here. In the summer the Gardens host concerts on the lawn and on Saturday there is an amazing fireworks display. Over the holidays the gardens are decorated with lights, the Twelve Days of Christmas, complete with ice skating. Absolutely can’t wait to go back and check it out all decked out for the holiday season. I can only imagine how amazed the kids will be to see so many beautiful lights shining and twinkling across the gardens.

It was a dreary day on our visit so the first thing we did was grab a cup of coffee and hot cocoa at the Coffee house. It was the perfect treat to sip along our stroll and warm up. We were told if it began to rain we could just look for umbrellas around the property. The venue sets them out for all visitors to use during their time in the Gardens. Happy that it didn’t rain, although the kids sure would have loved an excuse to be able to use a fancy umbrella. In addition to complimentary umbrellas, the gardens is also pet friendly. So if we feel so inclined we can bring our sweet bunny James next time. I truly can’t imagine getting him to leave with us after seeing the glorious gardens. But Claire did have her eye on a bunny stroller, so this could be the ideal place to break it in!

Upon arrival at the Gardens you are provided with an informational map and guide. It shows the layout of the grounds and pictures to help identify some of the flowers. (There are over 900 varieties of bedding plants for your viewing and smelling pleasure throughout the gardens 55 acres. ) The kiddos absolutely loved using their “treasure map”. Their eyes would light up whenever they would find and identify their favorite flowers. For some reason when Henry was drawn to the pig sculpture on the map. He couldn’t wait to follow his map and find it in real life. Henry’s visit to the gardens was a complete success once he finally navigated his way to the sculpted boar. Of course we had to take multiple pictures of Henry’s pig and we all rubbed his nose for luck.

While Henry was on the lookout for the giant hog, Claire wanted to take pictures. I just love looking at the world through children’s eyes, and what better way than looking at pictures they capture. The viewpoint shows a different perspective entirely, and the things they choose to be “important” enough to even want to take a picture is always entertaining. While mom and dad get sucked into the beauty and variety of the flowers, Claire and Henry were busy taking pictures of sprinkler heads, mud puddles, moss covered bridges, and other subjects that the typical photographer would not think to take pictures of. While Claire snapped photos, Henry was quick to shout at her and let her know that he found something really cool or unique that needed to be photographed. Just like any professional photographer, Claire had some good ones and some bad ones but she enjoyed every second of it.

Since everyone is a child at heart, you need to check out the carousel too! It is one of the prettiest carousels I have ever seen. The kids loved choosing which animal to ride, while I learned that spinning around and around waving like some Hollywood star makes me queasy at my older age. Go figure!

We grabbed a meal in the cafeteria-style restaurant, The Blue Poppy. There was the option to have more formal Italian fare in The Dining Room or even an Afternoon Tea if one so desired. Afternoon Tea and the formal dining option will definitely be something we will try when the kids are a bit older and can sit at a table for longer than 20 seconds.

After about three hours exploring the Gardens, we decided to head back into town. But not before a slight detour right down the road to Victoria Butterfly Gardens. The kiddos love the butterflies, tortoises, flamingos, and parrots. The heat and humidity in the butterfly exhibit was like being back in southeast Texas. Check out our full day adventure itinerary here!

Butchart Gardens is an absolutely beautiful place to visit and let your mind get lost in its lush tranquil space. One of our top December plans is to go back and visit while it is decorated for Christmas. Have you seen it over the holidays?