Your Butchart Gardens adventure starts at Victoria Harbour, where you’ll check in for your flight and board your seaplane for the quick journey up to the gardens, just 12 miles (19 km) north of Victoria. Enjoy the aerial views of Vancouver Island and the Haro Strait as you fly.
When you arrive at Butchart, sit down to a delicious three-course dinner in the cheerful and elegant Dining Room, one of the gardens’ on-site restaurants. Feast on a seasonal menu of soup or salad followed by a main course featuring regional meat or fish, and then relax over a sweet dessert and cup of coffee or tea.
Dinner lasts about 90 minutes, and then you have one hour to stroll through the gardens at your leisure. Sure, the gardens are gorgeous during the day, but at night they’re nearly magical. After the sun sets, lights come on across the gardens, creating shadows and illuminating the creatively designed displays of flowers, shrubs and trees. It’s very romantic!
At around 10pm, hop inside a luxurious limousine for the 30-minute drive back to Victoria Harbour, where your tour ends.
Sample menu (you have your choice of one for each course)
First course:
" Organic field greens with fresh blossoms and white balsamic vinaigrette
" Potato cheddar soup with melted leeks and broccoli floretsSecond course:
" Wild BC salmon with clam and potato gratin, wilted greens, and caramelized shallot vinaigrette
" Cowichan Valley chicken with gnocchi, asparagus, bacon, toasted pine nuts and white wine beurre blanc (butter sauce)
" Alberni Valley pork chop with a corn and wild rice cabbage roll, smoked paprika, tomato and onion ringDessert (served with freshly brewed coffee or tea):
" Signature vanilla bean cr□me brl□e with raspberry and white chocolate biscotti
" Zuccotto: Chocolate truffle ice cream with espresso-dipped ladyfingers