University of Alberta Botanic Garden

We attend the luminaria night walk here at the botanic garden. Such a unforgettable experience! It’s a Japanese garden and they put candles along the path feels very harmony and peaceful to walk here and good spot for take photos. It’s cold while walking so wear warm clothes is needed and get beanie or gloves. Walking is about half hour and they even have dinning in the dome experience too. I can imagine how beautiful it is this Japanese garden in summer time and definitely will arrange a time to come back and visit while it’s full blossoming.

It's great place to visit, their Japanese garden and water features are worth a visit. There are some play toys kept for kids and tents and benches here and there to relax when you are tired of walking.

We go here every year. I was a little disappointed that the butterflies were not there. Not sure why. However it's a great way to spend a day looking at flowers that can grow in our climate

Very nice spot for walking and enjoying the beautiful garden.. It would be the perfect time to go around sunset

This is a beautiful botanical garden just outside the city. They have upgraded their entrance and cafe, and also have a brand new garden. We visited on a Monday afternoon at the end of May. There were several school field trips just leaving when we got there. Otherwise, it was very quiet.As always, the Japanese garden was very tranquil. The lilacs and lilly of valley were blooming, and you could see koi swimming in the pond.The indoor greenhouses were a great place to hide out from the thunderstorm that passed through. There are 3 rooms dedicated to different temperatures and types of plants. When we visited in the past, there were butterflies in the tropical greenhouse, but they were not there this time.The Aga Khan garden was pretty bare still. There were a few annual plantings but the perennial beds had not been spruced up for the season yet. The structure of the garden is beautiful to look at, so it was still a pleasant experience.The lilacs were all in bloom further in the garden, so that was the highlight of our visit!Overall a lovely way to spend an afternoon. There are several areas of the garden that are being rejuvenated and others just need a good weeding, but overall there are many beautiful plants to see and a relaxing landscape to walk through.I recommend finishing off the visit with a stop for ice cream at the cafe. The strawberry and chocolate chip cookie dough were delicious!If you plan on coming multiple times through the summer, they have a summer season pass. It will pay for itself with 3 visits. There is also a year round season pass, if you think you'll come in the winter too.

The air has been chewy" with smoke

Very nice place to visit. Managed to go when there was a heat warning though so didn't get through the whole thing. They have a cafe that is nice and you can get some ice cream!

It's a good place if you were thinking to walk and just enjoy the nature around you. They have a cafe near the entrance, I wasn't able to try it yet so I can't comment about the food. There are a lot of areas where you can take Instagrammable photos or for a prenup shoot. I recommend bringing a stroller or a wagon if you have smaller kids. Plenty of space for parking.

We recently attended the U of A Luminaria event for the first time and I was surprised with my clients' proposal! The lights were such a beautiful setting making my first visit perfect. :)

I love botanical gardens and was glad to visit this. Ideal for long and leisurely walks. I will definitely be back to look at all the plants in more detail.