Fifty acres of immaculately kept floral display laid out in a former limestone quarry on the Saanich Peninsula, about 20 km north of downtown Victoria. Jennie Butchart began planting it in 1904 to soften the scar her husband's cement works had left in the landscape; four generations on, it is still family-run and one of the most visited gardens in the world. The Sunken Garden is the showpiece, with the Rose Garden, Italian Garden and Japanese Garden as variations on the theme. Worth timing for summer evenings, when the paths are lit and a fireworks show plays over the water on Saturdays in July and August.
Butchart Gardens
Century-old floral showpiece in a reclaimed quarry