For Ketchikan and Victoria...can these ports be done on your own?

[PittsburghNative]

I am wondering if Ketchikan and Victoria are ports that are easy to sight see on your own. I plan on doing excursions in Sitka, Icy Strait Point, Skagway, and Juneau. I understand Victoria is in Canada, but I wanted to ask this forum to get advice as 1. Most Alaska cruises stop in Victoria and 2. The boards for Canada/Coastal Pacific forum isn't too active. For each port, I am just looking for a nice sightseeing tour of the town. I could look at vendors who operate these type of tours, but I would want the price to be reasonable.

 

Any advice would be great!

[oaktreerb]

Both are easy to do on your own.  Victoria has a lovely inner harbor that you can walk to with the Empress Hotel and the Parliament Building.  They also have cute little water taxis and houseboats anchored in a little community along the way.

 

Ketchikan is easily walkable ( Creek Street) and they also have a convenient city bus system.   Look online at their visitors site.  Plenty to do on your own and for most ships it is a short day in port..    

[wolfie11]

Check your times in Victoria.  It is usually in the evening for 4-5 hours.  It is about 30 minutes to walk from the dock to downtown.  Some stores may be closed.  For me, the highlight in Victoria is Buchert Gardens, which is practical only with a ships tour.

[martincath]

I'll disagree with Wolfie in your specific case OP, as I see from your sig you're on the Eclipse for 10 days in May - which means you have an actually-sensible port day in Victoria of 9am-6pm! So by all means visit Butchart (which is worth seeing, especially in Spring) as you'll have ample time to get there on public transit for $5pp and have plenty time to also walk around town, do the HOHO, hit the Museum etc. Going DIY will usually save a ton of cash compared to ships tours, which are jacked up already then flipped to USD at a horrible rate compared to the actual price in CAD (e.g. Butchart with CVS Tours is <US$60 and you can spend as long as you like there as they have shuttles that run back & forth, and if you take transit and pay your entry ticket at the gate your total spend will be well under US$30pp).

 

If that doesn't fit your definition of 'reasonable' in price you're going to have a seriously rude awakening on an AK cruise;-)

[lynncarol]

My husband and I several years ago spent 3 days in Victoria on our own and we are senior citizens who can become easily confused in strange places.  There was absolutely no problem getting city public bus transportation to and from Buchart Gardens, and if you have a long port day this should be no issue at all.  We loved our time in Victoria. 

[PittsburghNative]

12 hours ago, martincath said:

I'll disagree with Wolfie in your specific case OP, as I see from your sig you're on the Eclipse for 10 days in May - which means you have an actually-sensible port day in Victoria of 9am-6pm! So by all means visit Butchart (which is worth seeing, especially in Spring) as you'll have ample time to get there on public transit for $5pp and have plenty time to also walk around town, do the HOHO, hit the Museum etc. Going DIY will usually save a ton of cash compared to ships tours, which are jacked up already then flipped to USD at a horrible rate compared to the actual price in CAD (e.g. Butchart with CVS Tours is <US$60 and you can spend as long as you like there as they have shuttles that run back & forth, and if you take transit and pay your entry ticket at the gate your total spend will be well under US$30pp).

 

If that doesn't fit your definition of 'reasonable' in price you're going to have a seriously rude awakening on an AK cruise;-)

 

Thank you for your suggestions! If I’m not a “garden” type of person, would you still suggest seeing Butchart? I hear amazing things about that place.

 

The reason im trying to do a tour on my own as I’ll be spending roughly $1100 for tours in the other ports of call, just for myself. $30 - $60 is very reasonable compared to my other tours 🙂

[PittsburghNative]

Thank you all for your answers! If anyone else has additional advice, please share!

[kctwinmommy]

These were both of our stops where we did things on our own. We had done so much and nothing really appealed to us in Ketchikan. And looking back, we didn't have a super long day there. We'd heard the town itself was pretty interesting (red light district), so we just walked around, saw the salmon (which was cool!). And in Victoria, we were on the cruise that had only a few hours in the evening. So again, we didn't do much there. But their downtown is beautiful!

 

 

[martincath]

48 minutes ago, PittsburghNative said:

Thank you for your suggestions! If I’m not a “garden” type of person, would you still suggest seeing Butchart? I hear amazing things about that place.

 

The reason im trying to do a tour on my own as I’ll be spending roughly $1100 for tours in the other ports of call, just for myself. $30 - $60 is very reasonable compared to my other tours 🙂

You're welcome. If you hate gardens then forget about Butchart, but even if you're the sort of person who can only appreciate a very-nicely-laid out display of flowers for about as long as it takes to snap some pics you should still get a good amount of enjoyment - there are multiple gardens of different types, a nice tearoom that offers a huge bargain for afternoon tea compared to the Fairmont (half the price for more food of a very comparable quality) - and if you feel it's too reasonably-priced to take the bus they do have their own float-plane dock so you could charter a plane from Victoria harbour;-)

 

The bus is actually very straightforward to use, as Lynncarol above noted (and well done you guys, it astonishes me how many people seem terrified to try taking public transit no matter how much locals recommend it!) - the 75 goes right to the gardens from downtown, and coming back again it actually changes number en route and then continues right past Ogden Point where your ship will be docked. The only remotely-tricky aspect is that you cannot pay with credit or USD - you need Canadian cash, $5pp for a Day pass (with unlimited transfers in case you want to go anywhere else around town) paid as you board the bus. Timetables and a route planner can be found here if you want to see exactly where the relevant stops are for this or any other routes.

 

Other options for a nice long daytime visit like yours: tour the BC Parliament building, take a bus out to Hatley Castle, which does have nice gardens too (not as large as Butchart, but much cheaper!) and you've also got the most castle-y building in the city, which looks much more the part than Craigdarroch and will be very familiar if you watch TV/movies; Fisgard Lighthouse/Fort Rodd Hill (a super-cheap $3.90pp or less for entry to this National Historic Site!); wandering about the very pleasant streets and waterfront in general, but specifically the not-too-far-from-the-pier Beacon Hill Park, which has a huge totem pole, native longhouse, petting zoo, and all sorts of other stuff.

 

The beer scene is excellent in Victoria too - including the oldest brewpub in Canada, Spinnakers, and my favourite Swans (another very long-standing spot with IMO better Brit style beers) both of which offer hand-pulled cask ales at the correct temperature (almost unique on the entire continent). Here's a link to the official local tourism agency in case those aren't enough ideas for you!

[Heidi13]

Further to the excellent suggestions from Martincath, if not heading out to Butchart Gardens, these are some of the things I do when over in Victoria:

 - Walk from Ogden Point Cruise terminal along Dallas Road, through the parks and down to Clover Park Point. A very pleasant walk of just over 2 miles. Downtown is a further 2 miles via Beacon Hill Park

 - Walk around Inner Harbour, starting at Fisherman's Wharf (great fish & chips) you can walk around the Inner Harbour to Spinnakers - great place to stop for refreshments.

 - BC Parliament Buildings tour, check online

 - BC Provincial Museum - frequently have special presentations.

 - Afternoon Tea - most know about the Empress, but others are available out in Oak Bay and around downtown

 - Harbour ferries - take a tour of the harbour. They have hop on-hop off boats and also cruises that go up the Gorge

 - Craft beer - I also visit Driftwood & Hoyne (neighbours) and 4-Mile House, but it is a few miles out of downtown on Old Island Hwy.

[PittsburghNative]

11 hours ago, martincath said:

You're welcome. If you hate gardens then forget about Butchart, but even if you're the sort of person who can only appreciate a very-nicely-laid out display of flowers for about as long as it takes to snap some pics you should still get a good amount of enjoyment - there are multiple gardens of different types, a nice tearoom that offers a huge bargain for afternoon tea compared to the Fairmont (half the price for more food of a very comparable quality) - and if you feel it's too reasonably-priced to take the bus they do have their own float-plane dock so you could charter a plane from Victoria harbour;-)

 

The bus is actually very straightforward to use, as Lynncarol above noted (and well done you guys, it astonishes me how many people seem terrified to try taking public transit no matter how much locals recommend it!) - the 75 goes right to the gardens from downtown, and coming back again it actually changes number en route and then continues right past Ogden Point where your ship will be docked. The only remotely-tricky aspect is that you cannot pay with credit or USD - you need Canadian cash, $5pp for a Day pass (with unlimited transfers in case you want to go anywhere else around town) paid as you board the bus. Timetables and a route planner can be found here if you want to see exactly where the relevant stops are for this or any other routes.

 

Other options for a nice long daytime visit like yours: tour the BC Parliament building, take a bus out to Hatley Castle, which does have nice gardens too (not as large as Butchart, but much cheaper!) and you've also got the most castle-y building in the city, which looks much more the part than Craigdarroch and will be very familiar if you watch TV/movies; Fisgard Lighthouse/Fort Rodd Hill (a super-cheap $3.90pp or less for entry to this National Historic Site!); wandering about the very pleasant streets and waterfront in general, but specifically the not-too-far-from-the-pier Beacon Hill Park, which has a huge totem pole, native longhouse, petting zoo, and all sorts of other stuff.

 

The beer scene is excellent in Victoria too - including the oldest brewpub in Canada, Spinnakers, and my favourite Swans (another very long-standing spot with IMO better Brit style beers) both of which offer hand-pulled cask ales at the correct temperature (almost unique on the entire continent). Here's a link to the official local tourism agency in case those aren't enough ideas for you!

 

I love the suggestion of having afternoon tea. I saw the price for Fairmont, and that’s pretty pricey for tea and scones. I think it would be nice to try that at Butchart. Have you been to both? Other than the price, is one better than the other? Be honest 🙂

[PittsburghNative]

4 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Further to the excellent suggestions from Martincath, if not heading out to Butchart Gardens, these are some of the things I do when over in Victoria:

 - Walk from Ogden Point Cruise terminal along Dallas Road, through the parks and down to Clover Park Point. A very pleasant walk of just over 2 miles. Downtown is a further 2 miles via Beacon Hill Park

 - Walk around Inner Harbour, starting at Fisherman's Wharf (great fish & chips) you can walk around the Inner Harbour to Spinnakers - great place to stop for refreshments.

 - BC Parliament Buildings tour, check online

 - BC Provincial Museum - frequently have special presentations.

 - Afternoon Tea - most know about the Empress, but others are available out in Oak Bay and around downtown

 - Harbour ferries - take a tour of the harbour. They have hop on-hop off boats and also cruises that go up the Gorge

 - Craft beer - I also visit Driftwood & Hoyne (neighbours) and 4-Mile House, but it is a few miles out of downtown on Old Island Hwy.

 

Thank you for your suggestions!

[geoherb]

We enjoyed tea at Butchart Gardens. We went when we stayed at a hotel outside of Victoria. Two of our friends who were staying in Vancouver came over for the day. We had time to meet them at the ferry, go to Victoria and tour the parliament, and then head out to Butchart.

 

In Ketchikan, we enjoyed taking a public bus to Totem Bight. We also walked around Creek Street on that cruise. We took the funicular down after hiking up the Married Man's Trail. I enjoyed watching seals swimming around, trying to catch salmon.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, PittsburghNative said:

 

I love the suggestion of having afternoon tea. I saw the price for Fairmont, and that’s pretty pricey for tea and scones. I think it would be nice to try that at Butchart. Have you been to both? Other than the price, is one better than the other? Be honest 🙂

In addition to considering the Empress & Butchart Garden for Afternoon Tea, I suggest checking out Point Ellice House & The White Heather Tea Room. Both of those venues are excellent. There are others, but we haven't tried them yet.

[martincath]

3 hours ago, PittsburghNative said:

 

I love the suggestion of having afternoon tea. I saw the price for Fairmont, and that’s pretty pricey for tea and scones. I think it would be nice to try that at Butchart. Have you been to both? Other than the price, is one better than the other? Be honest 🙂

The only thing really wrong with the Fairmont is the price - the rate of increase has been frankly ridiculous! When I first moved here the Empress charged almost exactly the same as the Hotel Vancouver - obviously inflation has driven prices upward, but the Empress is now basically double what it was, while the Vancouver has gone up only about 50% (and that $60 rate is actually discounted on occasion, unlike the Empress).  This is the downside of a free market economy - as long as folks remain willing to drop the cash it'll keep getting pricier every year. Victoria is a bit of a captive audience, especially since so many cruise stops are very short so many tourists don't get any further into town than the Empress!

 

Their 'afternoon' tea has gotten later and later, to the extent I've seen 9pm slots on OpenTable which shows you just how oversubscribed the tea is there in season. I have to admit that it's a tasty-enough-looking spread - I check the menu every season just on the off-chance the price has returned to the realms of sanity, and they do mix up what you get each year - but it's still just a serving of empty carbs unless you add the extra cost cheese plate. Until the hotel renos got rid of it, you could actually go and have a full (and pretty decent!) Indian buffet in the Empress - for $29, when tea was $65!!! Same kitchens producing a full spread, stuff-yourself-to-the-gills, much wider array of food for under half the price of a fancy plate of scones and cakes - it really did beggar belief.

 

Butchart is actually the better tea menu IMO, as they always have at least a couple of hot items with a bit of protein - though it's really a stretch to call it a High Tea as that should be a complete meal with at least one proper hot main. Growing up in the UK I'm not as impressed by the concept of 'tea' as folks less familiar with it might be; the only way I'd ever consider paying even the Butchart price is if I was taking guests there who really wanted to do it - which is sometimes the case when my family comes to visit.

 

But personally I'm with Heidi - you'll get the best bang for your buck, as well as having a more leisurely experience, at one of the other tearooms like White Heather or even Murchies as both Butchart and Empress really pack in the tourists, there's rarely a table sitting empty unless it's being cleaned/reset. 'Taking tea' is definitely a Victoria thing for most tourists and of the two biggies Butchart offers hands-down the better value - you can walk through the Empress to check out the public rooms anyway and see what you're missing. Of course I'd rather take that money and blow it in Swans on fish & chips and half-a-dozen lovely hand-pulled cask bitters (though I'll also second Heidi that Hoyne's serves excellent beer - but then Sean was brewmaster at Swans years before opening his eponymous new solo venture!)

[SuperCrewBear]

To make things simpler when buying anything in Victoria I get some Canadian dollars after I get off the ship.  There's an ATM right outside the exit from the customs/immigration building that all the passengers must walk through.  I've use my debit card and the exchange rate is a lot better than you will get in town.  Decide about how much money you'll need and withdraw that amount.  I've noticed that some of the shops will charge you the same in either USD or CAD.  If you're using USD you're being ripped off because the Canadian equivalent is usually quite a bit less.  Right now a $20CAD item is only $15.08USD...

 

If you want to do something truly different and very Canadian there's a small eating joint that specializes in poutine called La Belle Patate. Poutine is the Canadian dish that's basically French Fries covered in a brown gravy with cheddar cheese curds.  There are variations with different extra ingredients like chicken, beef, etc.  During the November and December holidays (NOT cruise season... Ha Ha) they have poutine with dressing/stuff and cranberry sauce.  This place is away from the other tourists and about a 5-10 minute cab ride from the central business district of Victoria.  It's not very big place (one large table that several can sit at - most customers walk in and out from the neighborhood getting take-out) but the food is excellent!  Everything is made in house - no frozen fries or instant gravy.  They also have burgers and "steamies" (hotdogs).  I give the place two thumbs up!

[PittsburghNative]

My mom isn’t really a shore excursion planner, so I showed her Butchart Gardens and she wants to go. I guess that settles it lol. How many hours should I plan to be in Butchart? I’d like the time including the tea experience.

 

If anyone has different ideas for Ketchikan, I’d love to hear more!

[Dreamer115]

I can't speak for Ketchikan, but I used to live near Victoria and if you don't want to go to Butchart Gardens I wouldn't spend the money.  Not to say it isn't great but it can take a big chunk of your time and money and Victoria is beautiful without going there.  Take either the horse and buggy or pedicab from the boat to downtown.  Nice way to get there.  Lots to look at and great places to eat.  If you are Christmas ornament collectors they have a year round Christmas store that is great.  Google it for location.  Our favorite steak place in Victoria is the Keg.  Fish and Chips at fisherman's wharf,  You can get the horse and buggy or pedicab to drop you there and then walk into town.  Beacon Hill Park is real nice if it's a nice day.  Or you can walk along the beach right from the dock for free.

 

 

[martincath]

9 hours ago, PittsburghNative said:

My mom isn’t really a shore excursion planner, so I showed her Butchart Gardens and she wants to go. I guess that settles it lol. How many hours should I plan to be in Butchart? I’d like the time including the tea experience.

Tricky - by far the biggest factor is how long you choose to spend in each garden! Just walking around on the main paths you can see the gardens in two hours if you don't take too many photos, read the labels, investigate all nooks & crannies - but I'd personally suggest three is more realistic (even if you're not a label-looker, if you want some specific photos like a sweeping panorama over the main quarry garden from the edge and the little 'viewing mountain' you'll have to contend with all the other photogs trying to get that same shot without other people blocking your view).

 

If your mom (or you) walk slow, maybe add an extra 20-30mins. Tea will realistically take 30-45minutes to consume depending how fast you eat, but if it's a busy day you may have a wait for a table too - so budgeting about an hour total is probably sensible especially if you're flexible about when you sit down for tea. It's been a while since I was in the dining room, but I think you can make resos - so if you head straight out to Butchart and it's too early to eat, try popping in and trying to book for later on.

 

Transit bus means another two and a half hours getting there and back; CVS bus from downtown takes about 90min total travel time (they stop at the butterfly garden on the way and offer discounted admission IIRC, so if you also want to see that add another hour for doing the site and getting back on the next shuttle to Butchart). If you take your own cab from right outside the ship that would be fastest - ~35mins travel, though traffic does vary, and if you find another couple of folks to split the cost you'll probably save money compared to CVS (ballpark CAD$60 each way for a cab, should take credit cards but USD cash would be at a poor exchange rate if accepted).

 

So totting it all up - if you did transit you're looking at somewhere around 6-7 hours total of your approx. 8 hour port day (to allow 30mins for getting off and being back 30mins before sailing). CVS with the butterflies would be about the same, or 5-6 hours if you just did the gardens. So I'd suggest deciding on your choice of transportation and Yea/Nay on flutterbyes based on whether any of the downtown attractions also mentioned above entice you. If you want to do anything other than a quick downtown site (e.g. Parliament tours are about an hour total, but of course they only go at certain times so if you just miss one it can be much less efficient to combine) you probably need to take CVS or your own cab to and from Butchart even if you don't bother with the bugs.

Edited January 18, 2019 by martincath

[PittsburghNative]

1 hour ago, Dreamer115 said:

I can't speak for Ketchikan, but I used to live near Victoria and if you don't want to go to Butchart Gardens I wouldn't spend the money.  Not to say it isn't great but it can take a big chunk of your time and money and Victoria is beautiful without going there.  Take either the horse and buggy or pedicab from the boat to downtown.  Nice way to get there.  Lots to look at and great places to eat.  If you are Christmas ornament collectors they have a year round Christmas store that is great.  Google it for location.  Our favorite steak place in Victoria is the Keg.  Fish and Chips at fisherman's wharf,  You can get the horse and buggy or pedicab to drop you there and then walk into town.  Beacon Hill Park is real nice if it's a nice day.  Or you can walk along the beach right from the dock for free.

 

 

 

Oh I love collecting ornaments wherever I travel! Thanks for the suggestion. I’m not a huge garden person, but I do enjoy High Tea. My mom is doing a lot of excursions that I want to do, so I’ll suck up Butchart and make the most of it if that means making my mom happy.

[cft8]

On 1/18/2019 at 3:49 PM, Dreamer115 said:

If you are Christmas ornament collectors they have a year round Christmas store that is great.  Google it for location.  

 

 

Is this the store you are thinking of (The Original Christmas Village)? If so it seems to be closed. I love Christmas stores so I did try to find it and this is all that came up. If anyone knows of another, I’m definitely interested!

 

https://yelp.to/qTKq/nyJElLkYET

[Dreamer115]

Yes that is the one.  Wow, I didn't know they had closed.  Sorry everyone.  It looks like the Christmas store had some pretty bad reviews as well, maybe that is why they closed.  I loved it though.

[martincath]

10 hours ago, cft8 said:

Is this the store you are thinking of (The Original Christmas Village)? If so it seems to be closed. I love Christmas stores so I did try to find it and this is all that came up. If anyone knows of another, I’m definitely interested!

 

https://yelp.to/qTKq/nyJElLkYET

Unfortunately I can recall at least one person asking about an alternative place to buy Xmas ornaments since that store closed - and the collective mind of CC could not provide anything definite, just various suggestions of touristy twee places that might have that sort of stuff in stock. I just tried a Search (one good thing about the new site is a MUCH better search facility!) but the site's throwing an SQL error right now...