Royal Botanical Gardens with Baby

During our recent visit to the Hamilton Halton Brant area we spent a morning at the Royal Botanical Gardens with baby and toddler. As you may recall, on this same visit, we were smitten by the tour guides at Dundurn Castle and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. The Royal Botanical Gardens was featured in the FREE Red, White & True passport which offers discounts that can be printed online. The passport offers a saving of $3 per person (up to 6 people) and when tickets usually cost $12.50 for adults, that’s a fair bit of saving. Kids under 4 years are free and best of all, the gardens are open year round! I can only imagine what a delight it would be to visit here during the cold winter months!

Disclosure : Our visit was hosted by Heart of Ontario, but as always, opinions are totally mine!

We appreciate flora and fauna, but are by no means hardcore fans so we weren’t really sure what we’d get up to at the Royal Botanical Gardens. We figured an hour and we’d be out. Sound about right? We arrived around 10:30 a.m. and didn’t walk out until well past 2:30 p.m. Honestly I don’t even know how we spent the time! The space is extremely stroller friendly and has change tables on offer but I would have preferred to baby wear indoors because the ramps can be a bit confusing and we had to back track quite a few times to find the right routes to stroll through.

The Royal Botanical Gardens is considered the Canadian plant biodiversity hotspot and with a very high proportion of Canadian wild plants  in one area, there’s plenty to see and do, indoors and out. We visited on a Sunday and nearly every event space had a function, definitely a popular spot for weddings! Our day started off at the outdoor play ground where Little Monkey went down the slide, played in the sandpit and ran up and down a bridge. After forty minutes of her doing this we had to pull her away so that we could explore the rest of the space! For older kids there were plants to be discovered and a bit of a mini scavenger hunt setup throughout the play area.

The Royal Botanical Gardens has quite a few greenhouses set up inside and these can be a bit tough to maneuver with the stroller (for fear of brushing up against some of the plants). Our favourite was the Cactus display where the hubs and I spent half an hour exploring the section, there was much to read and I enjoyed pretending to touch them! OUCH!

We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Gardens’ Cafe (only open for lunch) and was honestly surprised at how good the food was! Little Monkey and Baby Boy loved the Coconut Rock Shrimp and their Tilapia which came with veggies galore. The hubs enjoyed a healthy salad and wrap whilst I went all out with a Blackened Salmon Salad. The Sticky Toffee Pudding was melt in your mouth goodness! I’m smacking my lips as I write this! High chairs and a spot to park your stroller, are all available. They even had crayons for the little ones.

The outdoor spaces are where most will want to spend their time and unfortunately we were exhausted by the time we realized that we had so much more to explore. After lunch and numerous potty breaks we drove out to Hendrie Park where we were greeted by serene reflecting pools and rose gardens. This is the perfect spot to leisurely stroll around and you could also enjoy a tea session at the Turner Pavilion Tea House, definitely on my list for next time! You will want a stroller here because it’s a great space for little ones to nap at as you enjoy the stunning colours and learn all about the medicinal plants. Little Monkey loved running around and staring at the fountain. The girl loves her water displays!

The famous Rock Gardens were closed for renovations but  that’s definitely on my  hit list because who doesn’t enjoy seeing ponds and waterfalls? Keep in mind that the outdoor spaces are spread out and you will have to drive out to them after you’ve purchased your tickets from the main center. You can also purchase tickets at each of the outdoor parks and at the Arboretum which gives you access to the famous Bruce Trails.

As you can see, the Royal Botanical Gardens has much to offer even if you’re not into plants and biodiversity! If you’re in the Toronto area and looking for something out of the norm, consider swinging by the Royal Botanical Gardens and make use of the Red, White & True passport deal. The gorgeous colours are in full bloom during the spring and summer months but I think a winter visit is exactly what you need to cheer your winter blues away!