Visit Kingsbrae Garden for a Chance to Win a VIA 1 Trip to the Canadian Tulip Festival

Online, April 8, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Kingsbrae Garden, for the fifth year running, is proud to be a Feature Garden on the VIA Rail Garden Route, Canada's only national Garden Tourism initiative.

Between June 12th and September 6th, when you visit Kingsbrae Garden (KG), in Canada's premier seaside resort town, St Andrews by-the-Sea, be sure to fill out a contest ballot for a chance to win a round trip for two in VIA 1 First Class to Ottawa and the Canadian Tulip Festival in the spring of 2011. Also not to miss: KG's 2nd annual National Sculpture Competition, with entries from Newfoundland & Labrador to British Columbia. KG is open from May 21st to October 9th, 2010.

Now in its fifth year, the VIA Rail Garden Route program highlights 18 of Canada's most magnificent Feature Gardens; twenty-seven 5-Bloom Communities in Bloom destinations and a growing number of local garden attractions along VIA's Halifax to Vancouver Island network.

Each of the gardens has their specialty. KG offers 27 glorious acres of horticultural marvels, with over 50,000 perennials, shrubs and trees in many themed gardens, a genuine functioning Dutch windmill (1/3 scale), alpacas, peacocks, pygmy goats, ponds, Canada's first "Jurassic Living Fossil" wollemi pine, acres of virgin Acadian forest and numerous other attractions. Self-guided or guided interpretive tours are available and the Garden Cafe, Gift Shop & Art Gallery will round out your visit. There is a strong educational component, as visitors are urged to take note of the names of their favourite perennial groupings and to read interpretive panels regarding different gardening styles, such as the Gravel Garden.

With such a magnificent variety of gardens and communities from which to choose, travellers can marvel at Canada's splendid scenery, while enjoying a relaxing and comfortable train trip to their Garden Route destination. They can then enjoy a guided or self-guided tour of the Feature Garden and local garden attractions, or choose a Garden Route travel package from a number of VIA Getaways within the Windsor to Quebec City corridor.

You're in good company

If you've ever wondered about the future of Canada's public gardens, you'll be pleased to know that it is indeed bright. The latest Travel Activity and Motivation Study prepared for federal and provincial tourism ministries states that "visiting a botanical or garden theme attraction while on a trip is among the top 10 culture and entertainment activities undertaken by Pleasure Travellers in Canada."

In 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available, this equated to 3,246,208 adult Canadians and 23,307,038 adult Americans visiting the spectacular gardens of Canada while on an out-of-town trip of one or more nights.

Kingsbrae Garden is pleased to welcome VIA Rail Garden Route visitors, whether their love of gardens and gardening brings them from just around the corner or across the world.

For complete information about the VIA Rail Garden Route visit: www.viarail.ca/garden

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