Victoria BC .. NCL

There will be horse and buggies there if you like. Also its a very short walk from the pier to the harbor. Victoria is really a lovely area.

There should also be some bicycle cabs as well.

We did the tour of the gardens and we were unimpressed as we feel like the bus took most of the time-they went the 'long' way and bored us out of our minds. If we had it to do over again, we would have just stayed on the ship or walked around on our own, you are wise making that decision! Also, be warned, of all the stops, Victoria was the only stop that was complete chaos.

You should ask this on the west coast Canada forum. Here is the link for you:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39

We did the tour of the gardens and we were unimpressed as we feel like the bus took most of the time-they went the 'long' way and bored us out of our minds. If we had it to do over again, we would have just stayed on the ship or walked around on our own, you are wise making that decision! Also, be warned, of all the stops, Victoria was the only stop that was complete chaos.

I doubt the bus took the long way ;);) ;p;) The one issue of living on an island is there are only so many roads. Driving around Victoria is horrible. Yes the drive to the gardens is long, and not worth it. The time could be better spent walking, or enjoying one of the port day spa treatments.

I doubt the bus took the long way ;);) ;p;) The one issue of living on an island is there are only so many roads. Driving around Victoria is horrible. Yes the drive to the gardens is long, and not worth it. The time could be better spent walking, or enjoying one of the port day spa treatments.

That could be, the ride back was only 40 minutes on a highway, there was a long winding tour on the way there, 1.5 hours about. Lovely place, but it was chaotic and we couldn't sit with our own group so we were really bummed. :)

Victoria is easy to walk around downtown but is about 20 minute walk from the cruise port. There are several good restaurants around the Bard & Banker pub. Government street has some interesting shopping, USD worth about 30% more than CAD and there will be 12% tax on most purchases

We did one of those bike tours to a smaller garden/park and it was beautiful. She took us all around and dropped us at the chocolate store. We then walked around town and back to the ship.

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From Ogden Point to the Captain Cook Statue is about 1.8Km by the most direct route.

Look at http://www.victoriacruise.ca/greater-victoria/maps for help

I doubt the bus took the long way ;);) ;p;) The one issue of living on an island is there are only so many roads. Driving around Victoria is horrible. Yes the drive to the gardens is long, and not worth it. The time could be better spent walking, or enjoying one of the port day spa treatments.

Something to note here about the buses - they are restricted to certain routes through residential areas which

may be the long way around the island perimeter. These routes however are interesting covering a great deal

of Victoria-Vancouver island life.

The number of visitors to the Gardens maybe capacity controlled - by how much ? The bus parking area is set

up for some 40 or so buses with 50 persons per bus - 2000+ visitors

Yes the port time of 6 hours or less is a definite set-back for relaxing visits to the Butchart Gardens and

especially at night - Oh it can be done but then there is little or no time for other activities.

When the next port call ends the cruise in Seattle some 150 miles away - why the rush to go putt putt all night in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca ???

Lots of restaurants and pubs to go to. Walk into town if you are able. The Parliament Buildings are very nice at night and a walk around the inner harbour is pretty too.

A few years ago we spent three nights on the island. Absolutely loved it. We did Gardens first afternoon. Beautiful, but don't think I would try to do it on a short evening cruise stop. Downtown and harbor area is neat. Lots of stores and restaurants. About the only thing I would try to do is eat some wild Pacific salmon and shop. Try one of the miniature tugboats to tour the harbor.

We walk into town and have a nice dinner at the 'Steamship Grill & Bar' near the ferry terminal (outside if weather is good), lots of comings and goings to watch, decent food and ambiance.

The port is kinda 'meh'... really just a placeholder IMHO.