Victoria Travel Guide

Butchart Gardens sits at Brentwood Bay on the southern tip of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island, beside Tod Inlet, about 23 km and thirty minutes from downtown Victoria. In 1904 Jennie Butchart planted her first sweet peas in the spent limestone quarry of her husband Benjamin's cement works; a century on, the gardens cover 55 acres (22 hectares) with more than 900 plant varieties and were designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2004. The Sunken Garden is the centrepiece — the quarry pit terraced into flowerbeds with the Ross Fountain at its foot. The Italian, Rose and Japanese gardens and the Mediterranean garden opened in 2021 each have their own character, and 26 on-site greenhouses raise all the planting. The calendar drives the visit: tulips and cherries from March to May, close to 300 rose varieties from June to September, maples and chrysanthemums from late September, and Christmas lights through December and early January. Saturday-night fireworks and Wednesday-to-Sunday evening concerts make summer nights the island's best-known outdoor events.