invme Place
Everywhere
All cities · Everywhere →
EN
ENEnglish RURussian FRFrench DEGerman ITItalian ESSpanish PTPortuguese PT-BRBrazilian Portuguese ES-MXLatin American Spanish FR-CACanadian French EN-GBBritish English UKUkrainian PLPolish JAJapanese NLDutch KOKorean SVSwedish DADanish NBNorwegian FIFinnish CSCzech HEHebrew ELGreek ZH-HANTTraditional Chinese HUHungarian RORomanian HRCroatian SKSlovak SLSlovenian ETEstonian LVLatvian LTLithuanian BGBulgarian TRTurkish

Royal Botanical Gardens

Gardens ·Burlington ·Closed
4.69.2K
#6Gardens in Canada
Make a plan here
Directions Website Call Bookmark

Sign up free — See who's going and message them.

Is this your place? Get the badge for your website

About

Royal Botanical Gardens is Canada’s largest botanical garden, spanning Burlington and Hamilton, Ontario, from Lake Ontario to the Niagara Escarpment.

More photos 11

1 / 11
Royal Botanical Gardens — Glass garden building beside a reflecting pool and lawn

Royal Botanical Gardens — Glass garden building beside a reflecting pool and lawnRoyal Botanical Gardens — Main entrance with the Royal Botanical Gardens welcome signRoyal Botanical Gardens — Woodland trail winding beneath tall leafless treesRoyal Botanical Gardens — Shaded garden walkway beneath a vine-covered pergolaRoyal Botanical Gardens — Open garden lawn viewed through a leafy arborRoyal Botanical Gardens — Mature flowering chestnut tree on a broad garden lawnRoyal Botanical Gardens — Tall horse chestnut rising above the garden lawnRoyal Botanical Gardens — Large crabapple tree shading a lawn beside the garden roadRoyal Botanical Gardens — Close view of yellow African marigolds in bloomRoyal Botanical Gardens — Variegated agave growing in a sunny garden bedRoyal Botanical Gardens — Dense woodland with layered trees and green undergrowth

Why go

  • The Rock Garden’s 1,600 plant species, sculptures, waterfall and water features.
  • One of the world’s most diverse lilac collections: 570 plants representing 407 varieties in the Arboretum.
  • Cootes Paradise, an important bird-watching area and spawning ground for native Lake Ontario fish.
  • Rock Chapel trails that formed part of the original Bruce Trail.

Opening hours

Today10:00 – 17:00Show all
Monday10:00 – 17:00
Tuesday10:00 – 17:00
Wednesday10:00 – 17:00
Thursday10:00 – 17:00
Friday10:00 – 17:00
Saturday10:00 – 17:00
Sunday10:00 – 17:00

What's in season

  • Jun – AugA garden-run shuttle connects the parks on summer weekends.

Don't miss

  • Monarch gardenLook for butterflies among the native Ontario milkweed and nectar plants in the Helen M. Kippax Garden.Helen M. Kippax Garden
  • Hendrie ParkExplore the largest garden and its Rose Garden, first planted in 1965 and replanted with a wider range of roses in 2017.Hendrie Park
  • Arboretum collectionsExplore the Arboretum’s crabapple, dogwood, magnolia and redbud collections.The Arboretum

Best time to visit

  • Visit the Lilac Dell in late May.

Shorts

History

The gardens took shape in the 1920s under Hamilton’s Board of Park Management, led by Thomas McQuesten.

  1. 1927The Dundas Marsh Game Preserve was established; much of the present nature sanctuary remains from it.
  2. 1930King George V gave the gardens permission to use the royal name.
  3. 1932Hamilton’s Burlington Heights gardens and the south shore of Cootes Paradise were joined as the botanical gardens. The Rock Garden opened that year.
  4. 1941A provincial act set the gardens’ mandate for nature protection and people’s relationship with the natural world.
  5. 1947McMaster University botany professor Dr. Norman Radforth became the gardens’ first director.
Show all
  1. 1993The gardens became a National Historic Site of Canada.
  2. 2006The gardens became Canada’s National Focal Point for the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.

How to get there

  • On footNine public entrances serve the gardens and natural areas. Enter Hendrie Park through the tunnel on the lower level of RBG Centre’s Atrium.
  • BusRBG Centre is accessible by public transit. Address: 680 Plains Rd W, Burlington, Ontario.

Sources: Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario) - Wikipedia · Burlington (Ontario) - Wikivoyage (see) · Home - Royal Botanical Gardens · Hours - Royal Botanical Gardens · Membership - Royal Botanical Gardens · Jardins botaniques royaux (Ontario) - Wikipedia · checked 28 Sep 2026

Where
680 Plains Rd W, Burlington
Website
rbg.ca/

Plan from here: Evening walk →

Questions and answers

What does membership at Royal Botanical Gardens include?

Membership includes year-round admission, subject to blackout dates, access to cultivated garden areas during regular opening hours, and a parking pass for trailheads and garden areas.

How long does a visit to Royal Botanical Gardens take?

There is no fixed visit duration. The parks span more than 3 km, before walks within each park are counted, and the nature-trail network extends for 27 km. Choose garden areas and walks before setting aside time.

When is Royal Botanical Gardens open?

It is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00.

Is there an indoor garden at Royal Botanical Gardens?

RBG Centre has an indoor garden open year-round, with more than 1,200 plant varieties.

Where is the Nature Interpretive Centre at Royal Botanical Gardens?

It is in the Arboretum, north of Cootes Paradise in Hamilton.

How invme works
  1. See who's going — faces, not ticket counts.
  2. Write to someone who shares your interests — no swipes, no matches, no paywall.
  3. Pick the event or the place to meet at — and go together.
Join free

Reviews on invme

Sign in to review
Comment Share
Loading comments…