Welcome

Thank you for a wonderful tour season in 2012!
Do contact us to book your tour in 2013.

Victorian Garden Tours invites you to come with us and explore the beautiful heritage gardens of Victoria, British Columbia - Canada's garden city. Join us on our Emily Carr Tours!

Victoria as seen through the eyes of Canada's leading painter and writer Emily Carr (1875-1945). Experience the magic of the old growth forest and seaside vistas that inspired the enigmatic art of
Emily Carr. Continue on through the heritage community in which she grew up and explore the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Here you will be provided with an interpretive viewing of Emily's paintings.
Throughout the day you will hear colourful stories about this unique woman and the independent path through life that she chose.

*Emily Carr tours can be adapted from a half day format to a multi-day format
**Emily Carr tours can be designed to accommodate different levels of mobility

rhododendron_loredi_miss_jean_firth Victoria is truly a city of heritage gardens. We invite you to join us in visiting some of these heritage gardens - some of which are the legacies of Victoria's most talented and eccentric personalities.

With Victoria's mild climate, gardening is a year round passion which has resulted in an abundant array of gardens world renowned for their beauty and individual charm.

Heritage Garden Tours (an expression of Victorian Garden Tours Ltd.) are offered on a year round basis and specialize in:

  • - Guided & Narrated tours of public and private heritage gardens
  • - Customized tours for groups of all sizes.
  • - Special group packages available
  • - Complimentary transportation to heritage gardens
Our unique personalized tours will introduce you to heritage gardens both creative & colorful, so bring your camera, and comfortable shoes. These gardens range from larger Edwardian estates with their original plantings and structures to intimate heritage homes and gardens (including private gardens).   One such tour, the Emily Carr garden tour, includes an introduction to her art, exploring the historic community in which she grew up, and exploring the landscape which inspired her paintings (inlcludes a visit to an old growth forest).

As we travel the scenic routes to the heritage gardens (depending on the season) we'll make stops along the way to observe and share the local and historic sites we are passing. Someof these sites relate to Victoria's First Nations history and heritage.

During your tour experience, meals can be arranged that range from English tea at a quaint tea room to a pub meal at British Columbia's oldest pub.

Visitors who have enjoyed our tours have ranged from non-gardeners to those who are novice home gardeners to those who are leading horticulturists. Enjoy a few hours or the entire day seeing the best heritage gardens Victoria and Southern Vancouver Island has to offer.

*Please Note: to avoid disappointment, advance notice required.  Book your tour today!
 

A Testimonial

From Martin Kovar
As a graduate of two Master of Landscape Architecture programs and a practicing residential garden designer in Canada, I was truly pleased with the high standard or guided tours offered by Joan Looy of Victorian Garden Tours. Having participated in several escorted visits to gardens in Europe, Joan surprised me with a customized itinerary of sites tailored to satisfy my individual interests, based on a telephone discussion Joan initiated in advance of our tour.

Paying careful attention to each garden location and exposure, Joan lined up our visits so as to show each site in the optimal light and time of day. Her intimate knowledge of Victoria gardens and access privileges to a vast array of sites, allowed me, an out of province visitor, to start my day experiencing the quiet wonder of treading on a grassy path shimmering with silver dew, hemmed by cushy mounds of textural perennials. Similarly, the study of shadow play and rich colours of pealing bark displayed by an aged rhododendron grouping, were offered in the afternoon.

Like a chef, Joan took me through the day serving the exact right dishes at the most appropriate times, with heavy emphasis on desert items. Delight yourself, and sample some of the sites Victorian Garden Tours gained access to over many years in business. Let Joan know about your taste preferences, and she will do her best to satisfy your appetite for the art of gardening.

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