allerton garden tour

UponArriving

Allerton Garden at Sunset Tour Review (Kauai, Hawaii)

Allerton Garden is one of the prime attractions to see when visiting the island of Kauai. It’s home to some exotic plants and a number of notable water features as well as a lot of local history. It’s also where a lot of big movies have been filmed such as Jurassic Park.

Allerton Gardens offers a number of different tours you can choose from but one of the popular tours is the sunset tour.

In this article, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the sunset tour so that you know exactly what to expect whenever you arrive.

Table of Contents

What is the Allerton Garden Sunset tour?

The Allerton Garden Sunset tour is a special tour of Allerton Garden that takes place in the late afternoon and during sunset.

In total, the tour lasts about three hours and takes you through all of the main garden sites as well as the historic Allerton House where you can enjoy dinner and take in the sunset.

Admission for each adult is $80 and reservations are required. These do sell out so you may want to book in advance.

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!

Allerton Garden (brief history)

If you’re doing the sunset tour, it helps to have a grasp on the Allerton Garden history because you’ll be encountering a lot of it.

The entire area surrounding present-day Allerton Garden, known as the Lawa’i Valley, was once owned by Queen Emma, the wife of King Kamehameha IV.

She received all of the land in the late 1800s and during that time she resided at least part time in a cottage above the valley.

The Queen spent time planting rose apples, laurel, mangoes, bamboo, and ferns up on the valley cliffs and some of those still exist today.

The McBryde family, who already owned a crap ton of land in Hawaii, eventually purchased the property outright from the Queen’s estate in 1886 and they cultivated sugarcane and rice in different parts of the valley.

In 1899, one of Queen Emma’s cottages was lowered to the valley floor and Alexander McBryde lived in it for several years. During that time he carried on the tradition of planting things in the valley and introduced many palms, gingers, plumerias, and ferns along the beach.

Then about four decades later Robert Allerton entered the picture.

Robert Allerton was the son of an ultra-wealthy Mayflower descendant who had made his fortune in Chicago in livestock, banking, and real estate.

Allerton initially tried to become an artist in Europe but after failing ( and throwing his artwork into a fire ) he came back to the US and became an avid art collector and patron.

Fascinated by natural landscapes, he created a series of gardens and settings for statues at “The Farms” in Monticello, Illinois.

Eventually, he met his life partner, John Gregg, who he also adopted likely because homosexual relations were so taboo at that time and they needed a sort of “cover.”

The two traveled the world together collecting artwork and getting inspiration for their gardens.

On one trip in 1937, they visited Kauai and were blown away by the Lawa’i Valley.

It only took them one year but they soon purchased the lower portion of the valley and in 1938 moved in to their home which was designed by John.

They carried on the tradition of planting exotic plants in the valley and they also added many statues, fountains, and waterfalls as they expanded the gardens.

The beauty of this place attracted a lot of celebrities and notable figures like Jacqueline Kennedy and Georgia O’Keefe who would come through to visit.

In the 1960s, Robert lobbied for the creation of a national tropical botanical garden and in 1964, the last year of Robert Allerton’s life, the charter was granted to establish the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, which was later renamed to the National Tropical Botanical Garden.

Today, there are multiple National Tropical Botanical Garden sites in Hawaii and the one at Allerton Garden has achieved a lot of notoriety becoming one of the ’50 Places of a Lifetime’ by National Geographic Traveler.

Where is Allerton Garden?

The Allerton Garden visitor center is located on the south side of Kauai at: 4425 Lawai Rd, Koloa, HI 96756 .

Be careful about relying on your GPS to take you to the right spot because our GPS took us right past the entrance.

The good news is that there is a pretty big sign indicating that you have arrived at the gardens.

You simply need to enter the gates, park, and then follow yet another sign that will take you to the entrance of the garden where you also find a visitor center and gift shop.

Simply check in at the visitor center and then you’ll be ushered to where you can wait for your tour to begin.

Tip: Bring sunscreen and bug spray because you will be in the sun for a good amount of the tour and bugs can become an issue.

Allerton Garden Sunset experience

Kicking off the tour.

There will be a little shaded area for you to wait for your tour to begin and once the time is ready your guide should round everybody up and load you on to the shuttle bus.

You have about a 20 minute drive down to where you will begin the walking portion of the tour and on the way your guide will point out some interesting plants and history about the gardens.

Tip: If you are unable to walk that long you can talk to them about getting assistance with a golf cart.

At first, I have to be honest, I thought our tour guide was a little bit too much for me. If you have the same guide you’ll probably know exactly what I’m talking about.

But after a little while he grew on me and I actually really enjoyed his goofiness and it added to the tour.

Kicking off the walking tour

Your guide will take you through a series of different stops on the tour.

At each stop, you’ll get to learn a little bit about the different plants and water features and ask any questions you might have.

Personally, I’m not a huge plant lover in the sense of caring about every little facet about the plants but I did find it interesting to see so many new things.

Some of the flowers are super beautiful and it’s really cool to see so many plants you’ve never seen before.

Other times, it’s just fun to explore the amazing scenery that the plants provide.

It’s no wonder that some big movies like Jurassic Park and Pirates of the Caribbean have chosen this spot for their filming. It’s beautiful at pretty much every corner.

There are a number of interesting water features to check out on the tour as well.

Each of them has a different backstory but they have some cool elements to them especially when it comes to reflections.

I’ll spare you some of the details so that I don’t spoil all the fun but here are a few photos of some of the water features.

Jurassic Park scenes

Checking out some of the different plants and water features was cool but my primary motivation for visiting the gardens was to see the Jurassic Park filming sites since that was our overall mission in Kauai to begin with.

There are a handfull of different scenes that you can check out and I’ll break them down below.

By the way, if you want to see the full list of Jurassic Park sites in Hawaii check out this guide here .

The raptor egg discovery

When Dr. Grant discovers that there are raptor eggs on the island, he is sitting in the massive tree trunks of a Moreton Bay fig tree — a tree that is actually native to Australia.

Your tour guide should be able to point this location out to you if you can’t spot it yourself. But the dead giveaway will be the “eggs” that should be in there when you arrive.

Here’s a look at the movie still:

Clever Girl

When Muldoon, Jurassic Park’s game warden, and Ellie are in the jungle and realize that they are being hunted by raptors, that scene takes place among the palm trees in the back of the mermaid water feature.

You come across this directly after the fig trees on the sunset tour but on the standard tour this will be seen right before the fig trees.

Maintenance Shed

When Ellie is running to the maintenance shed, that scene takes place on the other side of the fig trees in an open grassy area.

This will be directly adjacent to the space where the clever girl scene was filmed, which makes sense because the two scenes were related in the movie.

Dilophosaurus paddock

When they first arrive at the island and they start their tour, they are taken by the Dilophosaurus paddock which is that little Sour Patch Kid of a dinosaur that spews out the ink in the movie all over Dennis Nedry (and then feasts on him).

During the scene when they first arrive and drive past the paddock, the dinosaur is MIA but the area included in the paddock is the space next to those fig trees where the eggs were discovered.

In other words, when you’re standing next to the huge fig trees, you are standing in the Dilophosaurus paddock.

I tried to match up the trees but it’s a little bit difficult because the scene was shot from the other side of the Lawa’i Stream. Plus, you never know how much a tree can change in 30 years or what trees may not have made it.

Still, there are a couple of trees that look very similar to the one featured in the movie.

Two more scenes?

I’ve heard from different sources that when the Ford Explorer falls out of the tree and almost smashes Dr. Grant and Timmy that this scene was filmed in one of the fig trees.

This would be the first or third tree that you encounter.

However, I don’t think these trees were used for that scene for a few reasons.

I took a really close look at all of the fig trees but struggled to find roots that lined up with the still below. I didn’t see a single tree with such a wide open space for a car to fall in the roots.

I don’t think that they would use one of the fig trees for that scene considering the damage that a prop car (and all the attached equipment) could do to them.

This was a night scene and most of the night scenes were done in studio.

Finally, if you take a close look at the roots used in the film they don’t really look like the roots found on any of the trees because those tend to be much longer.

I also heard that they filmed some of the scenes when Dr. Grant climbed up the tree with the kids in one the fig trees.

Again, those scenes look like they were done in studio because the tree trunk/branches were wayyy too thick in the movie to be these trees.

Even though a few of these shots were done in studio, you still get to experience at least a handful of sites used in the Jurassic Park movie when you visit these gardens which is really cool.

The Allerton House

Once you finish up with the Jurassic Park sites, you’ll walk along the stream until you get to some of the more historical parts of the tour including the Allerton House.

You’ll be able to go inside and check out all of the rooms and see some original artifacts including photos of Allerton himself. They also have a working bathroom inside.

Hurricanes have wreaked havoc on the structure so it has been rebuilt over the years but it’s still able to maintain a lot of its original look based on photographs and original plans for the house.

It’s pretty cool to think about all the noteworthy individuals who have come through this house including people like Jackie Kennedy.

After you tour the house you can pick up your dinner box which should be marked with your name on it.

You can then choose to eat inside at one of those set tables or you can head outside and eat on the patio which is what we chose to do because it felt so nice outside.

I was a little bit suspect about the dinner because I had seen a couple of reviews that were not exactly a full endorsement of the food.

But despite that, we really enjoyed both the shrimp and the Ahi tuna.

You also get a full selection of juices and water and you can take as many cans or bottles as you need to stay hydrated.

After dinner, you have about 30 minutes to wander about and check out the sandy shores of Lāwaʻi Bay.

Once everyone is done exploring, your guide will round everyone up.

A few people will have the chance to drive one of the golf carts back over to where the shuttle bus will be waiting.

This was a cool opportunity because a couple of the golf carts have Jurassic Park decals on them which was the perfect touch to the tour, especially considering what we were there for.

Once you’re back on the bus, you’ll make a couple of stops to admire the sunset and hopefully it will be a memorable one for you like it was for us.

This tour at Allerton Gardens ended up being one of my favorite attractions in Kauai despite me initially not being super thrilled about visiting a botanical garden.

For any Jurassic Park fan, it would be almost impossible to not enjoy seeing these original sites from such iconic scenes.

And even if you’re not in it for Jurassic Park, it’s still a beautiful setting and interesting to hear about the different plants and history rooted in the space.

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo . He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio .

Privacy Overview

Allerton Garden at SUNSET Guided Tour

Walking guided tour
Local dinner included (dietary restrictions accommodated with advance notice)
Guests choice of entrees - must be selected 24 hours in advance. Kiawe Roots is the caterer.
4425 Lawai Rd, Koloa, HI 96756, USA We happily pickup guests at our Visitor Center located across from Spouting Horn.
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Infants must sit on laps
Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Closed Toe Shoes required or hiking sandals with secure soles, toe straps and heal straps. No flip flops or slippers.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travelers
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
You'll start at 4425 Lawai Rd 4425 Lawai Rd, Koloa, HI 96756, USA We happily pickup guests at our Visitor Center located across from Spouting Horn. See address & details
Pass by Allerton Garden
1 National Tropical Botanical Garden Stop: 15 minutes Check in for your tour at our Visitor Center at 4425 Lawai Road 30 minutes prior to departure. Please let us Read more
You'll return to the starting point

natalietK8990XS 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Beauty all around The gardens were beautiful. Our tour guide Randy was very knowledgeable about the history of the garden and the plants and trees. I loved the statues and various outdoor “rooms”. If you love gardens and history, I recommend this tour. I have bad knees, just had surgery on one 4 months ago and walking was not too strenuous. Read more Written April 12, 2024
travelbug3371 0 contributions 4.0 of 5 bubbles A wonderful experience if you know what you're getting. We have been to this garden before and it is stunning. You start by having to park your car and wait for the bus. There is a little gift shop. Our guide Randy was knowledgeable about the flora and fauna and the pace was nice. We walked though the beautiful garden. We saw where Jurassic park scenes were filmed. We met Henrietta the resident goose. This trip, we were able to go and tour the house. You cannot help dreaming about living there and how it would have been back in the day!!! The dinner was a bento box. It is small. The food was fresh. One section had fresh pineapple, another had purple sweet mashed potatoes and the third largest section had a fresh green salad with the protein option that you selected. I chose the shrimp and there were 4 shrimp. They were tender and chilled. Desert was a popsicle made locally on the island. This is not going to fill you up unless you are a small eater. The show had one woman and one man with live music with one woman playing (she was very good) I thought they did a very good job. It was intimate. There was only 14 people on the tour and you are sitting on Allertons private patio in a pristine garden setting with the ocean in the background. I was 20 feet from the entertainers. The fire dancer was excellent. Once again, I've never been that close to see a fire dancer.. awesome. They had his children come out and show us their moves as they are learning to fire dance. Later we wandered up and chatted with him and his family. This was encouraged. Overall, a very enjoyable evening. The strong points were the garden, the ocean setting, the friendliness and intimate feeling of the whole experience. Lastly, you are there during daylight, not night like the picture shows. Oh... bring your own mosquito repellent. We didn't need it as it was a windy night and they do sell it there cheaply but it has DEET in it which works well but is cancer causing (liver cancer) - bring your own if you want to avoid Deet. Read more Written March 29, 2024
LaurieB980 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles "Best of Two Worlds" was very fun tour! We had a guided tour through these two gardens with a guide, Randy, who was also our driver. We walked some and rode on the shuttle bus some to see highlights of the two gardens. We had been here before many years ago, but Randy made it seem almost brand new with the information he gave us and the parts of the parks he took us to. He had a great sense of humor and told some jokes along the way. One of them was, "what's the number one visited site on Kauai?" Answer: "Costco"!! Then he laughed and said,"they'd like to be #1 as they are visited heavily because of their great prices on food, but the real number one spot was Waimea Canyon followed by Spouting Horn which is nearby." As we drove, Randy pointed out the golf course that is on land that once was used for sugar cane. There are several private and HUGE homes located at the top of the ridge that probably go for a pretty penny! He mentioned that the retired CEO of a certain coffee company had bought two lots and built a $25,000,000 home that was 10,00 square feet in size up there on the ridge!! He told us the history of Allerton Garden which that family had purchased from the McBryde's after they had seen the beach one time and fell in love with it. They paid $50,000 for 65 acres! Today you could buy a square foot of property for that same amount of money, it seems!! We saw an area of large banyan trees where part of Jurassic Park was filmed, and where during filming, an airplane dropped something by mistake that scarred one of the roots of a tree during the movie filming and which is still visible. All in all, we enjoyed this tour very much! Read more Written March 23, 2024
emilyhO3043UN 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Transported to Shangri-La What an amazing tour! We chose the Best of Both Worlds Tour and was so happy that we did. We got onto a shuttle and literally was transported to Shangri-La. The sounds of birds chirping, the lush trees and vegetation make you forget about the hustle and bustle you just came from. You get to walk around and see exotic flowers, the famous Moerton Bay fig trees (Jurassic Park and , the Mermaid Fountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean), and the Diana waterfall. But the highlight of the tour was when you turn the corner and arrive at the Allerton House. The large sprawling yard sprinkled with coconut trees overlooking Lawai'i Bay just takes your breath away. Time stands still and all you can do is look around in awe of its beauty. Such a unique and wonderful experience! Read more Written March 11, 2024
V6758QGkimw 0 contributions 4.0 of 5 bubbles Allerton by fire. Manage your expectations and have a wonderful time! We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the Allerton Botanical Gardens. Our tour guide, Randy, was very knowledgeable and entertaining. He told us many stories about the unique plants and the history of the gardens. It was dinner and entertainment that keeps this from being a 5 star experience. It was described as both a Luau and a bento box. Reality was an underwhelming Bento box consisting of a green salad with 4 pieces of shrimp, a small scoop of poi and few pieces of pineapple. Our musicians and dancers were very good. However, the title "Allerton By Fire" and the images of a fire dancer against a black background led me to believe that this would occur at night. In reality, the dancing was done in the early evening hours and we were back to the overlook above the gardens in time to watch the sunset. I highly recommend this tour if you manage your expectations! Read more Written March 2, 2024
joannr1953 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles A Magical Place! We took the combined Allerton/McBryde tour. Randy was our guide, and he was excellent. He shared so many interesting details about the history and ecology of the gardens. It is very beautiful there. We were on the bus with 28 people. I was worried that 2.5 hours would be too long, but we were on the bus slowly driving through what might have been a bit difficult to walk for about half the time, and then once we were out of the bus we were in the shade and the walking paths were very easy. They recommend mosquito repellent and closed toed shoes. The day we were there there didn't appear to be any mosquitoes and the paths were dry, but I understand that is not always the case. You can buy mosquito repellent wipes at the gift shop before getting on the bus. You do need timed, advance reservations for the tour. Read more Written February 20, 2024
amycL9429LV 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Stunning tropical garden This place is stunning! A fantastic collection of tropical plants, a waterfall, ocean views, paved path so easy to get around. This was one of our favorite places on the Big Island. Read more Written February 12, 2024
janetchope 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles A relaxing afternoon What a lovely, peaceful, interesting place to spend an afternoon! We did the self guided visit and were a bit concerned that it was a two hour window before the shuttle would be back to pick us up, but we had no difficulty filling the time with the walking trails, beautiful vistas and interesting information plaques. There was a pleasant breeze and a good combination of sunny spaces and shady areas. Plan ahead - the self guided is only available three days a week. You can book your time in advance on-line. Read more Written January 10, 2024
DOCPKC 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Very educational tour of beautiful gardens We opted for the 2 hour combination tour of the Allerton and McBride gardens. Our tour guide Ron Takayana was knowledgeable, super upbeat and filled with laughter. The tour was engaging and very educational. We learned a lot about the history of the gardens, the native species that they are trying to protect, what species came on the canoes with the first settlers and the species introduced in the past two centuries. In the McBride garden, our guide gave an informative talk on the medicinal properties of some of the plants, some of which we were able to sample. Read more Written January 6, 2024
Angelina L 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Amazing This was the best thing we did on the island and we just happened upon it. The tour guide was hilarious and was so educated on the plants of the island. I learned so much and laughed so much and relaxed so much on this tour. Read more Written December 20, 2023
Garry M 0 contributions 3.0 of 5 bubbles No Flowers This botanical garden features mainly woodies and ground covers but not much flowers. Our guide was pleasant but focused on historical facts. Read more Written October 25, 2023
Thom R 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Beautiful Experience Things you need to know. Make a reservation before you visit. The tour was about 2.5 hours and well worth the price of admission. Our Tour guide Ron was super friendly, knowledgeable and funny. The plants and flowers and trees just took our breath away. The waterfalls are beautiful. Definitely a must what visiting Kauai. Read more Written October 19, 2023
Candace M 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Glad we did this .. We were sad that this was our last day visiting Hawaii so we made sure to book this tour. It was beautiful and awesome at the same time . Our guide took us to amazing areas only that you can do on a tour and not on your own. This is definitely a place I highly recommend for any age. Read more Written October 6, 2023
yanceyjh 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles A must do when visiting Kauai. Outstanding experience. This is a beautiful place and we’re so glad we could tour it. Our guide, Becky, was very good. It was fascinating to learn about the many different plants and the “rooms” in the garden that were created by Robert Allerton and his adopted son. Read more Written September 26, 2023
C_Spatz_Speidel 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles One of the best tours ever Wundefull experience with an awesome guide (Dr. Bob) with profound knowledge, who was a big storyteller also. One of the best tours ever. Afterwards there was a stunning Hula presentation. Read more Written August 4, 2023

More to explore in Kauai

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.