Jded13

We will be visiting Vancouver in a few weeks and would like to take a day trip to Butchard Gardens. Most of the organized tours spend only about two hours at the gardens, because they also take you sightseeing in downtown Victoria. Does anyone know of an option which would give us more time at the gardens?

Also, can anyone confirm that Coast and Raincity Grill are good dining options in Vancouver?

Thanks

leuk2

I'm assuming you won't have a car. If you did you could take the ferry to Victoria and just go to Butchart Gardens. Its closer to the ferry terminal than Victoria. Coast (recently moved location) and raincity grill are good. Vancouver Has lots of great restaurants. Check out previous posts.

amygirl

If you take the bus from downtown Vancouver to Swartz Bay www.pacificcoachlines.com and walk off the ferry as a foot passenger and board the #81 bus, it will take you to Butchart Gardens and you can stay as long as you want,Go to.www.bctransit.com and click on victoria transit which will help you navigate to/from Butcharts and/or downtown Victoria

I will confirm heartily that Raincity Grill is a good dining experience that will not disappoint, don't know about Coast.

Hope this helps you.

rockinrobin

We were just there at Butchart Gardens, and although the flowers were gorgeous, I didn't need to spend more than 2-3 hours there, unless you're going to have a meal there. Walking around the gardens takes no more than an hour to an hour and a half. We just didn't see how you would spend a whole day there, but we did see people just sitting/lying around as though they had too much time to kill until the next thing on their itinerary.

Carmanah

Yes, Coast and Rain City Grill are good dining options. You can read reviews written by local restaurant-goers, here: www.dinehere.ca

I should also mention, that unless your heart is truly set on Butchart, while the Butchart Gardens are famous, you can see the same thing in Vancouver by visiting Van Dusen Botanical Garden and Queen Elizabeth Park (free) - a 15 minute drive south of downtown. It'll save you 4-5 hours in travel time.

Savy_Traveler

Hi,

If you do take Pacific Coach Lines from downtown Vancouver to the ferry terminal at Tsawwasen remember to take all your stuff off the bus because you walk off the ferry and take a local bus.

I find the amount of time to spend at Butchart depends on the interest you have in beauty and/or in gardening. Most of my friends are gardeners and they tend to spend a couple of hours. Maybe more if they are also keen photographers. If you are from farther away you might want to take their little boat cruise too. I've kayaked in the area the boat goes and it is really lovely.

I don't agree with Carmanah's statement about seeing "the same thing" in Vancouver, but he/she may not know too much about gardens. If Butchart was "the same thing" why do so many people visit. Van Dusen, as a botanical garden, concentrates more on fewer, and labelled, plants. It is big and does have color, but not like Butchart. Queen Elizabeth is great as a small park, but they too don't have the huge beauty of Butchart. Check out each web site:
Van Dusen's is http://vancouver.ca/PARKS/parks/vandusen/website/
Queen Elizabeth Park is http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/queenelizabeth/
Butchart is http://www.butchartgardens.com

Maria_H

We spent around 6 hours in the gardens! Admittedly we are both garden lovers and keen photographers and we did eat there. We got there about 4pm, spent a couple of hours wandering round the gardens in the sunshine before eating, then stayed until dusk for the illuminations when the gardens are totally transformed. It was gone 10pm when we finally left. Not sure this is practical on a day trip from Vancouver but it certainly was fantastic to see:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3169346...7621215272877/

annetti

I agree with Carmanah's assessment, having done both, been to Butchart's and also visited VanDusen and Queen Anne's gardens in Vancouver. However, taking Carmanah's suggestion (and mine, too) does not allow you to say you have visited Butchart's! That is not to say, Butchart's is not lovely, it is, but as I have expressed previously on this board, though it is immaculate and well thought out, I don't remember seeing any really exotic blooms there, so in that sense it is no different than VD or QE. One more thing, I admit, I am not a garden expert, so I may have missed something that a real garden enthusiast might know and thus, appreciate Butchart's more than I did.

Carmanah

I am actually a botany enthusiast... considered studying the subject in school. Instead, I studied local geography/ecology and history. Heh! I also worked at Tourism Vancouver and sold hundreds of tourists day trip tours to Butchart Gardens. I visit Butchart Gardens, VanDusen and Queen Elizabeth Park often enough to know of what I speak.

Butcharts is simply more famous. It has a larger marketing budget, which is why people know of it, which is why people are willing to devote 6-8 hours of transportation to and from Vancouver just to see Butchart Gardens. If you're hoping to experience Butchart Gardens to say that you've been, then by all means go. However, I personally feel that if you're going to travel 6-8 hours (return) to get there, you may as well spend the night (or two or three) in nearby Victoria to get the most out of your travel time.

Butchart is immaculate in a doll's house kind of way. It's there to dazzle your senses with bright patterns of colour and different blooms here and there. The landscaping is perfect.

VanDusen... I find it's more of an educational botanical garden, less about perfection of display than it is about displaying a diversity of plans, flowers, shrubs, trees. Everything is labeled. It's actually just as big as Butchart, just not as famous. If you're a botany enthusiast, you'll get a lot out of Butchart.

However, Butchart is famous for its sunken garden in the rock quarry. That's why I recommend Queen Elizabeth Park, which is also a flower garden built out of a former rock quarry. VanDusen and Queen Elizabeth Park combined will give you both the 55 acres of educational botanical garden plus the beautifully landscaped rock quarry gardens, and you don't have to spend 6-8 hours of travel time.

Of course, they're simply not as famous as Butchart, nor have been handpicked to perfection like Butchart, which is why people are willing to sacrifice 6-8 hours of their day to see it.

It's just that because VanDusen and Queen Elizabeth Park aren't as famous, I find that so many tourists visiting Vancouve simply don't know about them existing at all, and don't realize that they don't have to sacrifice an entire day to visit a beautiful botanical garden.

Carmanah

Ack, meant to say "If you're a botany enthusiast, you'll get a lot out of Butchart and just as much out of VanDusen".

Maggi

Thanks, Carmanah, I'm following this thread also as I will be in downtown Vancouver at the beginning of October. I'd just as soon not spend that much travel time and visit the local gardens. Would you know, will early October be too late in the season to make it worth my while?

annetti

Maggi and others who want to do the Vancouver Gdns, keep in mind that you can easily get to them by public transit. They are very close to downtown.

Carmanah, I had not considered the incredible advertising push by Butchart's until you suggested it. There are at least two Butchart PR booths in Victoria - one on Government St and the 2nd in front of the Empress Hotel. Of course, all the tourist maps and brochures have ads for Butchart's.

Their PR campaign is fabulous; they are so successful that they are synonymous with Victoria and in some cases they are more of a tourist destination than the beautiful city of Victoria.

Carmanah

Maggi,

Early October's beautiful - I wouldn't hesitate at all. I mean, it depends on what you're hoping to see, but I have a tendency to go visit the local botanical gardens in late September, early October, and they've always been spectacular.

Here's VanDusen's website with a few photos of October: http://vancouver.ca/PARKS/parks/vand...ndar/fall.htm#

I should also mention, if you're here in early October, you may also want to include a visit to the UBC Botanical Garden. It's completely different with a really neat food garden (apple trees pruned into medieval-style fences, pumpkins, etc.) and a temperate rainforest garden. It's beautiful in the fall.

http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/

Maggi

How incredibly beautiful! Thanks so much for the tips Carmanah. These will definitely be put on my list, as well the the Museum of Anthropology, which I happened upon on the UBC site.

laverendrye

While you are visiting the Botanical Gardens and Museum of Anthropology at UBC, don't forget the Nitobe Memorial Garden, one of the top Japanese gardens outside of Japan.

stokebailey

Thanks, Carmanah, annetti, laverendrye. We'll be there early Oct, too, and will definitely visit one of the Botanical Gardens and/or QE Park.

Thanks, too, for the dining link, Carmanah. I've IDd some places near our downtown hotel.

MissGreen

I went on a tour of the Butchart Gardens - I cannot remember which one, sorry. We were there for probably 2 hours or so, which was more than plenty. The garden is big, but it isn't super huge so there is plenty of time so see everything as well as sit and ponder on a seat whilst viewing the beautiful gardens.