Grove Farm Sugar Plantation Museum
Grove Farm Sugar Plantation Museum
4.5
About
This 80-acre site was originally a sugar plantation where you can see the original family homestead, the worker's quarters and many fine gardens. Visits are by reservation only, please contact us for arrangements.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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AbsolutelyDubrovnik
Seattle, WA1,174 contributions
Mar 2021
After visiting Kauai for many years, we heard about Grove Farm last week and promptly called to setup a tour. Tours are for very limited numbers of people so book ahead.
Loved the tour of the old Sugar Cane farm. Fascinating view of the family business, farming and life on Kauai in those days. The beautiful family house and other farm buildings have been beautifully maintained and the tour guide has wonderful knowledge. We also toured the original kitchen and received delicious cookies and mint tea freshly made there for us. A wonderful tour not to miss
Loved the tour of the old Sugar Cane farm. Fascinating view of the family business, farming and life on Kauai in those days. The beautiful family house and other farm buildings have been beautifully maintained and the tour guide has wonderful knowledge. We also toured the original kitchen and received delicious cookies and mint tea freshly made there for us. A wonderful tour not to miss
Written 24 March 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
grmomof2
Glen Ridge, NJ40 contributions
Jul 2023 • Couples
We Ljust took the most amazing tour here. The history of this family is fascinating. They really left an outsized footprint on Kauai. The guide was very knowledgeable. They served us a light snack. We were able to purchase a large avocado and two oranges for $1! The gift shop has a wide range of affordable items.
Written 31 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
James C
Dallas, TX197 contributions
Jan 2020 • Couples
We enjoyed the tour by a very knowledgeable volunteer guide. Groups are 6 to 8 people, so lots of time for questions. This provided history of the island and not lost sugar industry. This is an adult activity that children will probably not enjoy although the grounds have plenty of room to run.
Written 19 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kathleen S
Melfort187 contributions
Feb 2024 • Couples
My husband and I enjoyed this tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about sharing this part of history with us. The majority of the tour was historical about the Wilcox family, which was interesting, but I would have also enjoyed learning more about the agricultural aspect of the Grove Farm Sugar Plantation as well. It was a pleasant addition to our time spent in Kauai.
Written 29 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
andy d
Victoria, Canada7 contributions
Nov 2024 • Couples
Found this place in Kauai Revealed and it looked interesting. Booked and paid on line. Limited availability so don’t delay if you decide to go. Confirmed and visit instructions by email. Very accurate. Parked and checked in appropriately. Met by a small dog and two resident cats, was lovely. Great Tour of the cottages and main house. Amanda, our guide was extremely knowledgeable and clear with her stories of the family who seemed to mean as much to Kauai and Kauai meant to them. Great tour of the main house and the extensive library and you can tell this was someones much loved home.
Very enjoyable tour, nice mint tea and cookies, an afternoon well spent.
Very enjoyable tour, nice mint tea and cookies, an afternoon well spent.
Written 19 November 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
78MaryH
St. Johns, FL127 contributions
Aug 2023
We toured the Grove Sugar Plantation and it was an excellent historical tour. You learn ALL about Kauai and the Wilcox family who settled the island. The tour has appx 8 historic structures ( servants cottage, barn, community health cottage, laundry cottage, Japanese garden, Fern green house and the gorgeous Wilcox home. It was a 2.5 hour tour full of countless details! As you drive by, you don’t see all the historic buildings and gardens. It was time well spent and our guide was a wealth of Kauai history! It’s inexpensive at $20 cash per person and very enjoyable.
We were fortunate to be on the tour w descendants of the Wilcox family’s laundress.
Highly recommend this tour!
We were fortunate to be on the tour w descendants of the Wilcox family’s laundress.
Highly recommend this tour!
Written 9 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A Tripadvisor Member
We have gone to Grove Farm Homestead at least 8 times. Each time we learn something new about this wonderful hide-away. The groups are small and very informative. Well worth a day away from the beach.
Written 6 November 2001
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
pvron
los angeles20 contributions
My wife and I stumbled upon this wonderful place almost by accident. This place and the 2 hour tour they take you on are just about as good as it gets. The structures are just stuffed with all the original furniture and personal belongings of the people who actually lived there when it was a working sugar plantation, and the grounds are just loaded with all kinds of plants and trees that they used for food and everything else.
They even take you into the kitchen and serve you free cookies and ice tea that they actually make right there. The Grove Farm is now a nonprofit group so they only ask for a $10 donation for each person. This tour is the best deal I have ever seen on any of the islands- they teach you so much about life at that time that you get a real feel for what it would have been like to live there, both as an owner and as a worker.
We only found this place because I saw something about a free train ride that they had on the 2nd Thursday of each month. We also did this and found it just as delightful and fascinating as the main tour. It is not easy to find the train entrance so you will have to call them and ask for directions, but it is only a few blocks from the main farm.
As for the main farm, when they say their entrance sign on Nawiliwili Rd in Lihue is small they really mean it- it is no larger than a mail box and we went right by it the first time.
You just have to do this when on Kauai. You will not be disappointed. Also make sure you drive up to Hanalei Bay on the north shore for one of those slack key concerts at the community center on Friday at 4:00 or Sunday at 3:00. (There is all kinds of info on these in other reviews on this site.)
They even take you into the kitchen and serve you free cookies and ice tea that they actually make right there. The Grove Farm is now a nonprofit group so they only ask for a $10 donation for each person. This tour is the best deal I have ever seen on any of the islands- they teach you so much about life at that time that you get a real feel for what it would have been like to live there, both as an owner and as a worker.
We only found this place because I saw something about a free train ride that they had on the 2nd Thursday of each month. We also did this and found it just as delightful and fascinating as the main tour. It is not easy to find the train entrance so you will have to call them and ask for directions, but it is only a few blocks from the main farm.
As for the main farm, when they say their entrance sign on Nawiliwili Rd in Lihue is small they really mean it- it is no larger than a mail box and we went right by it the first time.
You just have to do this when on Kauai. You will not be disappointed. Also make sure you drive up to Hanalei Bay on the north shore for one of those slack key concerts at the community center on Friday at 4:00 or Sunday at 3:00. (There is all kinds of info on these in other reviews on this site.)
Written 11 September 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kayakchick
victoria52 contributions
Feb 2017 • Couples
We were lucky to have a small group tour (5) of this very interesting and historical site in Kauai. Our docent or guide, who was originally from the mainland, had lived on the island 40+ years and was married into one of the local families. The telling of the history of the estate went into only the positive aspects of this family's story. (To learn the downside of island colonization visit the museum in Lihue). The large estate is now owned and operated as a non-profit society. Our guide took an extra hour above the normal time for a tour plus introduced us to people who are assisting in maintaining the estate. Not to be missed if you like history and want to learn the background of the area. They only offer limited tours a few day a week so its a good idea to make reservations ahead of time.
Written 13 February 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
yogachick23
Sarasota, FL99 contributions
Jun 2015 • Family
I guess my review will be one of the only dissenting opinions here on TripAdvisor, but I was completely underwhelmed by this tour. First of all, I called weeks in advance to make sure to get 3 of the 6 spots for this personal tour. After paying the $20/person "donation" (seriously, it is a charge - not a donation. It was not optional and I didn't get a tax deductible receipt), we began the tour with a full complement of 6 people, plus the tour guide and another guide who was in training (so a total of 8 people). Ten minutes into the tour, two walk in people from Calgary were allowed to join the tour. The rooms in these houses are tiny. Cramming 10 people (instead of the usual 7) into these small spaces was ridiculous and dramatically changed our experience. These people should have been turned away. So my advice to you is that if you call and they are fully booked, just show up. Apparently, they are unable to say no to people in person. Those add ons continued to be rude throughout the tour because they did not have "easily removable shoes" so everyone had to wait while they took off their shoes in each location and then had to put them back on afterwards. They also blinded everyone with flash photos in the first house and the tour guide didn't tell them not to do so until after his presentation was finished. At least in the remaining locations I was not blinded every few seconds. I understand that the Hawaiian way is to be kind and polite, but it was not kind and polite to the 6 people who followed the rules and booked in advance to have very crowded rooms because the staff could not turn away these people without reservations. The tour itself had some definite highlights and interesting moments, but the tour guide was really into the minutia of where each painting in the main house came from. The tour guide also kept trying to trick people into answering questions incorrectly so that he could show his knowledge - even when he is wrong. For example, in the old home of some washerwoman (very uninteresting to begin with) he asked if anyone knew what the tablecloth was. Someone answered "plastic" because it was obviously a plastic tablecloth. He says "No..." so people start guessing, "red", "checked", "old", etc. only for him to insist that it was oilcloth. Yeah. We called him on that. Maybe a long time ago there was an oil cloth tablecloth there but it has now been replaced by a cheap Walmart plastic one. He finally admitted it did look a little too shiny for oilcloth. Yeah. The peeling clear plastic was my clue that it wasn't oilcloth. As far as the experience in the kitchen at the end being somehow moving or emotional, I have to completely disagree. First of all, VERY crowded with 8 chairs around a TINY table. Just try to imagine 9 people crammed into a small kitchen that also includes a hot oven that is ON. My husband was pretty toasty sitting up against it. And secondly, the cook's speech was not so moving to me as it seemed like a rehearsed speech that our cook couldn't even remember all of. Perhaps she was thrown off by having to negotiate the overcrowded kitchen to point out some of the interesting old equipment. She talked quite fast and seemed like an actor on a stage putting on a show. They did serve cookies and mint tea, but failed to mention prior to having us drink the tea that while the mint was fresh from the garden, the tea itself was instant Lipton from a powdered mix. Um...ewwww. Tea mix includes chemicals like maltodextrin and red dye #40 - both things I avoid. It also tastes nothing like actual tea. It might have been one of the previous owners favorite things, but either switch to tea bags (even Lipton tea bags would be acceptable) or tell people in advance that you are serving them a chemical mixture instead of iced tea. Unless you are really into the history of Kauai, don't waste 2.5 hours here. I would highly recommend the tour of the Waioli Mission House (related family) up in Hanalei way before this tour. That tour was short and sweet and to the point and I learned more about the history of Kauai there than I did here. This is more the history of one wealthy plantation family than the history of Kauai.
Written 21 June 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We have an 18 month old with us...would it be appropriate for her?
Written 27 February 2019
It would depend on how well your child can adapt to a one hour tour to include several buildings ( main house) separate smaller homes). The guides are very nice and will assist to make the tour pleasant for you.
It is a wonderful site to visit and hope you will enjoy it!
Written 17 September 2019
How far in advance do we need to make reservations for 4 people?
Written 13 June 2015
Maile K
Lihue, Hawaii
As soon as you know your schedule and plans, it is a good idea to call us to reserve. At some times, tours may be fully booked up to a week in advance.
Written 24 May 2018
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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
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