Fountain lights at Butchart Gardens

[CruisingSince2012]

Does anyone know what time the Ross fountain lights turn on in the summer? I will eat supper at the Blue Poppy Restaurant and want to see the RF lit up in its rainbow colors before taking the 8:30 CVS shuttle back.

[cruiseryyc]

When it gets dark. What date are you going to be there, you can easily Google sun set times for that date.

[CruisingSince2012]

When it gets dark. What date are you going to be there, you can easily Google sun set times for that date.

 

We will be at Butchart Gardens on August 20.

[martincath]

Sunset 8:21, twilight until 8:55pm - while Butchart is enough north of Victoria those times might vary by a minute, I don't think you'll make the 8:30pm bus if you wait for the fountain; it's either the 10:00pm bus or skip the fountain for you - it will take ten minutes to walk to the exit and buses even if the crowds aren't enough to slow you down. Plus the bus might fill up, no guaranteed seats on specific return trips...

 

I think in your other posts you indicated your cruise was Aug 12-19th, so this is an extra trip to Victoria afterward? At least you don't need to worry about the ship leaving without you if you do stay late then!

[CruisingSince2012]

Sunset 8:21, twilight until 8:55pm - while Butchart is enough north of Victoria those times might vary by a minute, I don't think you'll make the 8:30 pm bus if you wait for the fountain; it's either the 10:00 pm bus or skip the fountain for you - it will take ten minutes to walk to the exit and buses even if the crowds aren't enough to slow you down. Plus the bus might fill up, no guaranteed seats on specific return trips...

 

I think in your other posts you indicated your cruise was Aug 12-19th, so this is an extra trip to Victoria afterward? At least you don't need to worry about the ship leaving without you if you do stay late then!

 

Yes, Victoria/Butchart is an extra land trip at the end. We will fly on a floatplane shortly after debarking in Vancouver and stay at the Empress two nights.

 

Man I wish there was a 9:00 bus back to the hotel! That would be perfect.

[martincath]

Have you considered hiring a car? At ~$62pp, CVS are charging about $30pp for the shuttle part of the service. Even if there are only two of you it won't cost much more to hire a car overnight - this also opens the possibilities of visiting more distant parts of the island like the aviation museum or even Cathedral Grove, one of the most beautiful forested spots in the world.

 

If you'd consider driving yourselves, think about changing your floatplane resos so that you could fly in to Nanaimo or Comox then out of Victoria or vice versa, save driving all the way up and back - regular scheduled flights available to both of these.

[CruisingSince2012]

Have you considered hiring a car? At ~$62 pp, CVS are charging about $30 pp for the shuttle part of the service. Even if there are only two of you it won't cost much more to hire a car overnight.

 

If you'd consider driving yourselves, think about changing your floatplane reservations so that you could fly in to Nanaimo or Comox then out of Victoria or vice versa, save driving all the way up and back - regular scheduled flights available to both of these.

 

Hiring a car is the right thing to do for other people, but not us. We booked a CVS combo tour - Deluxe City + Butchart Gardens. This is a lot more fun than cars. We will stay at the Empress Hotel specifically because it is the CVS starting point and within walking distance of two museums - Robert Bateman and Royal BC. It was very hard to find time for everything we want to do in less than two days without reading about other parts of Vancouver Island.

 

Harbor Air is only a 10-minute walk away from Canada Place. It lands near the Empress at 10:55 a.m. What could be more perfect than that? It is one thing both of us are excited about doing.