Butchart Gardens

We went February 1. The upside: there’s no one there, and your entrance fee is discounted. Downside: there’s nothing to see. Well, maybe not nothing. But there were zero flowers. None. Not even a clump of winter pansies.

The Japanese Garden is the best under these conditions, as it doesn’t depend on blossoms to be aesthetically pleasing. But all the other gardens were duller than dry toast.

The best part was tea – during the off season, you can get an entrance ticket plus afternoon tea for the same price as tea at some place fancy like the Empress Hotel. And the tea is just as good, certainly enough to be a full lunch, and in a very relaxing and elegant setting.

Another tip: it is easy to get to on the #75 bus from downtown. You do not have to take an expensive or fancy tour bus to get there.

Plan on spending ALL day here. Even then you can’t see everything. I’ve been to quite a few gardens, but nothing like this. We had a rental car, but you can get a tour bus right behind the Empress Hotel. One of my goals is to see these gardens in every season.

If you go in early spring when its a little drizzly its delightfully empty.

Oh and look for dining specials. For us it was $35 including a fabulous lunch. Great deal considering tickets alone are $25 each

We went here on our honeymoon…just a few years ago. ;-)

I’ve never been back. I’ll have to try and get up there again someday.

this was one of the most memorable places of my honeymoon!
GORGEOUS!