Day Trip from Vancouver to Victoria

[Host Jazzbeau]

At the end of our cruise we would like to stay a couple of nights in Vancouver and take a day trip over to Victoria to see Butchart Gardens.

 

Can anyone recommend vendors or DIY options for this? Thanks.

[mapleleaves]

It's very time consuming to get to Victoria so you might want to consider an overnight trip. You could rent a car and DIY, or, Pacific Coach has regular service to downtown Victoria as tranportation only or package trips.

It's a 30 minute drive from Vancouver to the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen, then a BEAUTIFUL 1 1/2 hr ferry trip to Sidney, then another 30 minute drive to Victoria.

 

Butchart Gardens is exquisite. Another advantage to an overnight trip is that you could get into the Gardens in the morning before it gets so crowded. Or go late at night for the fireworks.

It's pricey to takea car on the ferry, probably $50-60 each way, but it gives you more flexibility. You're not tied to the coach schedule so if you want to stay later, you can. The ferries leave hourly so having your own wheels gives you lots more time to play with in Victoria.

 

http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/mainland/tssw-current.html

 

http://www.pacificcoach.com/

 

If you go to the Vancouver forum of Trip Advisor there is more info on getting to Victoria. Perhaps other options as well.

[Jasperdo]

The most stress free way to go between downtown Vancouver and Victoria is to take the Pacific Coach Lines bus. The bus goes directly onto the ferry, and continues to the Inner Harbour at Victoria. Here's the website:

http://www.pacificcoach.com/

 

I haven't been to Butchart Gardens, but I do know that BC Transit bus #75 goes out there. I'm sure you could also go into the Empress Hotel and go on a sightseeing tour from there.

[Putterdude]

Land/Sea Tours are also regarded as excellent operators, here is link for your convenience:

 

http://www.vancouvertours.com/victoria-tour

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thanks. The Land/Sea day trip sounds like exactly what I was looking for. I think this maximizes our time best: day of disembarkation for sightseeing in Vancouver, next day for day trip to Victoria, final day transfer to YVR for 12:15pm flight to New York.

 

Getting to YVR from Victoria would require boarding PacificCoach at 5:30am. That's way too long a day with the transcontinental flight and arriving in NY at 11:30 pm.

 

We'll be renting a car for the pre-cruise land days; I think at this point after 14 days of travelling we will just want somebody else to take care of us...

[Gardyloo]

Let me mention that there are some superb public gardens right in Vancouver that are - just IMO - more than acceptable substitutes for Butchart Gardens, and offer some pretty significant time and cost savings.

 

Queen Elizabeth Park - http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/queenelizabeth/ - has a really marvelous outdoor botanical garden, as well as the great Bloedel Conservatory. Like Butchart, one of the highlights is the former quarry that's been transformed into part of the gardens. Even if you still want to make the trek to Vancouver Island, QE Park is totally worth a visit.

 

The Van Dusen Garden - http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/vandusen/index.htm is not far from QE Park but is also a fabulous botanical garden, this time made from a former golf course.

 

The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden, right in Vancouver's Chinatown (one of the biggest in North America) won an award last year from National Geographic as one of the best city gardens in the world. http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com/

 

So while Butchart Gardens is certainly worth a visit (a pricey one, I should also mention) if you wanted to stay in Vancouver you could still visit some pretty classy gardens and not spend a (long) day going to and fro.

[Putterdude]

 

We'll be renting a car for the pre-cruise land days; I think at this point after 14 days of travelling we will just want somebody else to take care of us...

 

May I be so bold as to suggest that you reconsider the rental car. Vancouver is becoming less and less "car friendly" by the month. You will have to pay upward of $25 for hotel parking each night, pay for parking at each attraction, plus one person is going to have their head in a map book while the other drives....if that rows you boat then by all means go for it. However, if it were me I would consider one of the HOHOs, it is a stress free way of seeing a lot of the city in a short time. I personally would recommend the Vancouver Trolley as their narration is live. There is also transit which is an inexpensive way to get to many of the sights but it is not a tour.

www.vancouvertrolley.com/

http://www.bigbus.ca/

http://www.vancouverpinkbustours.com/

[Host Jazzbeau]

May I be so bold as to suggest that you reconsider the rental car. Vancouver is becoming less and less "car friendly" by the month.

 

The pre-cruise land days are in Anchorage.

[Putterdude]

The pre-cruise land days are in Anchorage.

 

To which I say "oops" and that I am sure you will enjoy your rental car in Anchorage....we certainly did.:o

[Dan G]

can I second the recommendation for no car, Vancouver Trolley and Landsea tours as being two of the best tour companies in Vancouver. Landsea is the only one I know of that goes into downtown Victoria first and give you admission to one of 5 venues. Very good service and well respected.

[scottbee]

At the end of our cruise we would like to stay a couple of nights in Vancouver and take a day trip over to Victoria to see Butchart Gardens.

 

Can anyone recommend vendors or DIY options for this? Thanks.

 

DIY options aren't really that hard, especially if you don't have luggage. While it involves taking local buses, it's not significantly slower than taking an organized coach; but will be 1/2 the price?

 

From downtown Vancouver:

 

1. Canada Line Skytrain to "Bridgeport" station; followed by transfer to #620 "Tsawwassen Ferry" bus. ($5; three-zone transit ticket)
   
2. Walk on Ferry to Swartz Bay(Victoria) ($15)
   
3. #81 bus to Butchart Gardens ($2.50)
   

 

Timings would be something like leave downtown at 07:30 for the 09:00 ferry (it's a fair distance from downtown to the ferry terminal). And the #81 only meets every other ferry (the odd hour ones).. So you really want to plan to be on the 9am ferry leaving Tsawwassen. The odd hour ferries are bigger/nicer; and has a good buffet on board -- wait for 45 minutes after leaving the dock before going to the buffet to avoid the crowds.

[martincath]

Just for completeness of options I'll suggest taking a seaplane or helicopter to Victoria. Flights are frequent, vastly quicker than any other option, and - as long as you don't freak out about small planes - it's awesome and incredibly photogenic to fly between the harbours in Vancouver and Victoria.

 

Harbour Air offer several floatplane package tours, including one specifically to Victoria for the day including Butchart Gardens. Helijet are more focused on business travel - they'll get you to Victoria but you'd need to book your tours there separately.

 

Going by air is much faster than by ferry - you don't just save the hour each way that the plane is quicker than the ferry, you also save the time spent driving around picking people up & dropping off at hotels, getting to the ferry terminal early to check-in, and (dis)embarking the ferries.

 

Obviously it costs more because of all that convenience, and sometimes the weather is bad enough to prevent the floatplanes from flying while the ferries are fine. Depending where your hotel is getting to Coal Harbour might be less convenient than a hotel pickup with a tour group too.

 

I see Land Sea do offer a go-by-whale-watching-boat-then-return-via-ferry route that also allows you to see both whales & gardens in the same day - if you don't like small planes that would be my pick to minimize time wasted in transit.

[Langley Cruisers]

Let me mention that there are some superb public gardens right in Vancouver that are - just IMO - more than acceptable substitutes for Butchart Gardens, and offer some pretty significant time and cost savings.

 

 

Absolutely agree with you.

 

OP, are you going to Victoria just for Butchart Gardens? I know a lot of people do this, but I wouldn't. If it's a day trip it is long and tiring, seriously, Butchart Gardens are wonderful, but expensive and at the end of the day (figuratively and literally), is it really worth it? As stated above, unless you are staying overnight in Victoria, IMO, it's really going to be a long day. :o

[Dan G]

I agree with the above with the following caveat. The ferry ride is rated as one of top 5 in the world. We sort of take things for granted when we live here. If your from somewhere not surrounded by mountains, water and immense natural beauty just the whole experience of cruising through the islands is a highlight of the trip. On top of that Victoria is somewhat a slice of Europe and the city is a mecca for walking, sightseeing, and interesting arts and crafts. While I agree its a long day its definitely different than anything you'd see at home.