Royal Botanical Gardens
Royal Botanical Gardens
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) is the largest botanical garden in Canada, a National Historic Site, and registered charitable organization with a mandate to bring together people, plants and nature. Royal Botanical Gardens is located at the western tip of Lake Ontario. Four distinct formal gardens are contained with 1100 hectares of nature reserve, nestled into the slopes of the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve. The ever changing seasons, blooms, and natural phenomenon make each visit a new experience. Explore and enjoy the many historical plant collections, the Mediterranean Greenhouse, 27 km of nature trails and special events such as art and music in the gardens, blooms festivals and more.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
875 reviews
Excellent
507
Very good
233
Average
59
Poor
28
Terrible
48
FRS
Toronto, Canada58 contributions
Nov 2020 • Friends
The RBG Hendrie Park has a beautiful Christmas lights display with Christmas trees, an Arctic Fox display, a light tunnel, and nutcrackers. Perfect evening out for families and friends with great photo opportunities. The Teahouse offers hot drinks and snacks. Even if you purchase tickets online, you have to wait in the lineup which can be quite long, however it moves quickly. Adult tickets are $18 each and well worth it this year with so many other Christmas activities being cancelled due to the pandemic. Highly recommend going early in the season before it gets too cold.
Written November 22, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Arthur M
Hamilton, Canada875 contributions
Aug 2021 • Family
A lot of bees are in action pollinating the flowers in the garden. I even saw carpenter bees with pollen on their bodies. Bumle bees and honey bees were also present.
However sad to see the invasive green Japanese beetle all clumped together in the flowers.
Went in all of their gardens: Hendrie Park, Laking Garden, and Rock Garden. The Rock Garden has significantly less flowers than the other two.
Admission price is decent. Also watch out for the road to Laking Garden. Wildlife photographers are gathering by the single lane bridge trying to take wildlife photos of the nearby marsh.
However sad to see the invasive green Japanese beetle all clumped together in the flowers.
Went in all of their gardens: Hendrie Park, Laking Garden, and Rock Garden. The Rock Garden has significantly less flowers than the other two.
Admission price is decent. Also watch out for the road to Laking Garden. Wildlife photographers are gathering by the single lane bridge trying to take wildlife photos of the nearby marsh.
Written August 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Michele A
Dundas ontario2 contributions
Mar 2022
We enjoyed amazing live jazz music nights at the RBG Rock Garden's Wintertide event. The setting both indoors and outdoors was gorgeous with Art Deco furniture, fairy lights and lit fires glowing in the night. The music was awesome and the beer and kettle chips were delicious. Looking forward to the last three music shows next week and to walking around the Rock Garden when the garden is in bloom.
Written March 19, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Miss M
2 contributions
Jul 2022
Easy to find. Large parking lot. Expensive for what it is. Layout is very confusing.
The 'succulent' garden and the 'tropical' garden are stuck at the back of the main building and are no more than these two little rooms with a few plants and flowers in them with a fish pond. Yes, the plants and flowers are pretty and impressive but the presentation of them leaves a lot to be desired.
The underground tunnel and Hendrie Park are quite nice. The rose gardens are beautiful. It was a shame the water features were turned off. The flowers in bloom were full of life with the bees and butterflies. Lots of vibrant colors. The number of volunteers working faithfully and hard was impressive to see.
The rock garden was very peaceful. The paths and stairways were like walking through a secret garden opening up to another path or walkway. The lily pads were full of colorful flowers which was beautiful!
The gift shop is quite expensive and like many others, has wandered away from actual 'garden' gifts into the world of just unrelated overpriced giftware. Didn't purchase anything. Would have loved to explore more, but the need to drive back and forth made it quite inconvenient. Definitely not a 'one day' excursion.
The 'succulent' garden and the 'tropical' garden are stuck at the back of the main building and are no more than these two little rooms with a few plants and flowers in them with a fish pond. Yes, the plants and flowers are pretty and impressive but the presentation of them leaves a lot to be desired.
The underground tunnel and Hendrie Park are quite nice. The rose gardens are beautiful. It was a shame the water features were turned off. The flowers in bloom were full of life with the bees and butterflies. Lots of vibrant colors. The number of volunteers working faithfully and hard was impressive to see.
The rock garden was very peaceful. The paths and stairways were like walking through a secret garden opening up to another path or walkway. The lily pads were full of colorful flowers which was beautiful!
The gift shop is quite expensive and like many others, has wandered away from actual 'garden' gifts into the world of just unrelated overpriced giftware. Didn't purchase anything. Would have loved to explore more, but the need to drive back and forth made it quite inconvenient. Definitely not a 'one day' excursion.
Written September 3, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Amandsfun
Port Perry, Canada804 contributions
Aug 2020
Beautiful places, lots of walking (which is fine) but lots of driving too, it is spread out and you need to get from place to place.
Pricing at $18 per adult I found a bit expensive considering somethings were closed due to COVID and construction.
Beautiful place for a walk, would go in spring next time, not too much blooming in August.
Pricing at $18 per adult I found a bit expensive considering somethings were closed due to COVID and construction.
Beautiful place for a walk, would go in spring next time, not too much blooming in August.
Written September 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kulsum L
1 contribution
Jun 2021
We bought tickets online for $12 per person and drove from Toronto on Sunday June 13th and were really disappointed that we could not use the tickets since it was only available to members for the day as it was membership day and non-members were not allowed in. We spoke to the manager and explained that we drove from Toronto and were one of the first ones to get there and if it was possible to use our tickets for the day. He was not flexible and we asked for membership cost and it was $80.00 per person which was very expensive for the general public. We plan to take another trip as we have the tickets until November however, wish RBG can be more inclusive so general public can also enjoy nature and the largest botanical garden in Canada which is a National historic site. Make this historic site inclusive!!!!!!
Written June 14, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lynne M
Toronto, Canada310 contributions
Sep 2020
It was good to visit a place where we did not have to buy tickets in advance for a specific time; and no line-up. Walked in and went about walking around the gardens. We had planned to lunch there, but only the Tea shop was open for take-out, very limited options. It appears to us that the park is very broken up. We tried to find the rock garden, based on staff directions, no hope of that. Staff needs to be better informed. Three people at the front desk could not tell us what the flowers/plants at the entrance were, a beautiful display. However, to their credit they did find out for us. If your'e going to work in a Bot garden, shouldn't there be minimum knowledge requirements of the products?
Written September 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Indah Edlightz
Ontario, Canada3,075 contributions
Jun 2021
RBG Laking Garden. If you like outdoors and nature, then this is the place for you. I meant to come here for years and it truly does not disappoint. Although parking and getting here is a bit of a challenge if you come later in the day as its a very busy busy place with nature and bird lovers. when we came it it was ok, but leaving was a challenge as the road was packed with bird watchers with cameras so you have to watch as you drive as they are not really paying attention. Great trails and lots of natural beauty to see.
Written July 3, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Maps561041
1 contribution
May 2022 • Family
May 8th, 2022 Mother’s Day brunch.
I was so looking forward to a Mother’s Day brunch with my daughter AT the RBG. This will be the first time. I’ve wanted to go for years and just havnt got around to it. So I bought tickets for my daughter and I. Well, what a complete disappointment. I have never been so disappointed. For a huge $$ per ticket I expected better. Firstly waiting in line as it was 20 min late opening the door to the brunch . I lot of elderly people standing in line. When we finally entered, I noticed many folks almost tripping over the table covers as they were too big for the tables and draped on the floor. Then we proceeded to the wonderful looking buffet, only to try and find a clean plate. Finally got one , only to load my plate with what I thought was a hot buffet, but nope everything was cold. What was suppose to be hot buffet, was not even warm. Nothing went right. Even the wrong spoons for serving as they were too short and kept falling into the prepared food containers.
Well ate what I could but not enjoyed, so I proceeded to the juice and coffee serving table. Try and find a clean glass for orange juice didn’t help my mood. Got a coffee, drank it and left very disappointed.
I was so looking forward to a Mother’s Day brunch with my daughter AT the RBG. This will be the first time. I’ve wanted to go for years and just havnt got around to it. So I bought tickets for my daughter and I. Well, what a complete disappointment. I have never been so disappointed. For a huge $$ per ticket I expected better. Firstly waiting in line as it was 20 min late opening the door to the brunch . I lot of elderly people standing in line. When we finally entered, I noticed many folks almost tripping over the table covers as they were too big for the tables and draped on the floor. Then we proceeded to the wonderful looking buffet, only to try and find a clean plate. Finally got one , only to load my plate with what I thought was a hot buffet, but nope everything was cold. What was suppose to be hot buffet, was not even warm. Nothing went right. Even the wrong spoons for serving as they were too short and kept falling into the prepared food containers.
Well ate what I could but not enjoyed, so I proceeded to the juice and coffee serving table. Try and find a clean glass for orange juice didn’t help my mood. Got a coffee, drank it and left very disappointed.
Written May 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jaxson
ontario90 contributions
Feb 2020
took the grand kids today, what a fantastic time, they had so many activities for them. there was a speaker talking on animals and the kids who are 4 and 6 wanted to stay for more. they bought some books for their 8 month old cousin, they bought a gift for mom and dad. they had a perfect time listening and learning. well done staff
Written February 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Birgida
Terrebonne, Canada
A quelle date Pour voir Les Lilas et les tulipes à leur meilleur ?
Carol from Ottawa Canada
Ottawa, Canada74 contributions
We are passing through and will have only a few hours from 10:00 to about 1:00 on July 16/19. What gardens would you recommend, and how can i find them?
julesmax31
Hamilton, Canada169 contributions
I always recommend checking out Cherry Hill (across the street from the main building). Bring some bird seed with sunflower seeds in it. The birds and chipmunks are very friendly and will land in your hands for treats! It’s a nice easy hike also.
The Main building is located 680 Plains Road West, Burlington. L7T 4H4
What gardens / areas have parking that's NOT included in the daily admission price? I thought only if you don't buy a ticket but want to park and use the trails without entering any of the gardens would you need to pay for parking.
PatsyCanuck
Ontario, Canada185 contributions
I parked in the small lot beside the Rock Garden Restaurant and did not have to put a parking pass in my window. Those who parked across the street had to have the pass in the window.
Liverpool Y
Toronto, Canada3 contributions
When does the blooming starts.. ?
k w
kw86 contributions
Check the Royal Botanical Gardens website as most of it is dependent upon weather
How much walk does it entail? M asking from n arthritic persons perspective
Deb K
Burlington, Canada203 contributions
Hi, it is a lot of walking. But for walking around the rose garden, or the Rock Garden or around the main building, I believe you can use a wheelchair. But for the trails, walking may present a challenge as the trails are natural with a lot of gravel, tree stumps and uneven ground. Call the Royal Botanical and ask about the availability of wheelchairs or walking aids.
Can I bring my dog to walk in gaedens
Deb K
Burlington, Canada203 contributions
Dogs are allowed but must be on a leash. My friend brings her dog all the time but he's always on the leash.
Can I bring my dog into gardens
asiashin
Tofino, Canada6 contributions
Yes. On a leash and pick up the waste and have a great fun.
Royal Botanical Gardens (Burlington) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go
Frequently Asked Questions about Royal Botanical Gardens
- Royal Botanical Gardens is open:
- Sun - Sat 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
- Hotels near Royal Botanical Gardens:
- (0.23 mi) Esquire Motel
- (6.55 mi) The Barracks Inn
- (2.29 mi) Homewood Suites by Hilton Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- (9.39 mi) Courtyard by Marriott Burlington
- (2.35 mi) Visitors Inn
- Restaurants near Royal Botanical Gardens:
- (0.00 mi) Turner Pavilion Teahouse
- (0.04 mi) Greenhouse Cafe
- (0.09 mi) Easterbrooks Hotdog Stand
- (0.25 mi) Rose Garden Family Restaurant
- (0.28 mi) Tim Hortons