I just heard about the 12 Days of Christmas display in Buchart Gardens. I am looking ahead to next year.....has anyone seen it and is it worth a trip from the east coast? I think it starts in early Dec. which is before prices go up.

Thanks

I have not done Butchart Gardens in the Christmas season, but in summer they are special. Worth a trip from the east coast?
Hard to say. That is a long ways to go for a floral garden. If you can combine a trip to the gardens with other events and destinations, I would then say that the Gardens are very worthwhile.

I am not a garden person, but these Gardens are to me a very special place.

The Christmas light display at Butcahrt's is fabulous and runs from late November into early January. We always go around 5:00 p.m. when its not too crowded. Whether or not its worth a trip all the way across Canada is up to you.

I visited Butchart Gardens last January to see the The Twelve Days of Christmas display. The displays are tucked into the gardens for you to discover. In addition there are thousands of twinkling lights amongst holiday decorations. It truly is magical. I am not sure I would make a special trip from the East Coast just to see it, but I was visiting friends in Victoria at the time. As bob_brown says, if you can combine it with other events and sites in Victoria it will probably make your trip worthwhile.

I might add that Victoria is a charming place to visit. We have stayed in Bed and Breakfast places and met some wonderfully interesting people. I guess the most intriguing was Sheila Ryan, who runs Ryan's B and B. Sheila is also a singer of Irish songs and she has a beautifully haunting voice. If you like Irish music, let me put in a plug for Sheila's album named Samrad Linn, which is sung in Irish. The others are in English, for the most part. She has a second album called Down by the Glenside which features some traditional hearbreaking Irish ballads as well as a haunting rendition of Danny Boy.

The Provincial Museum close to the harbor is wonderfully done. It is relatively small and, therefore, totally comprehensible in a few hours. We were there in 2004 and by chance stumbled into an exhibition of Egyptian artifacts. That was as far as we got that day because the exhibition was totally captivating. (It was not our first visit, so we knew what was elsewhere in the museum, and we freely elected to spend the whole time in Egyptian territory.)

I cite that as an example of the skill which characterizes the whole museum.

But a visit to Victoria is usually interesting. Just be prepared for a little heavy dew.

Again, Butchart is special.