Vancouver pre-cruise tours.

[sandhillwings]

My family and I will be spending a couple of days in Vancouver prior to our Alaska cruise. I've been researching tours / tour companies and have found 2 companies that appear interesting. Has anyone had experience with either of them?

 

The first one is listed online as Vancouvertours dot net. They offer a city tour called "Vancouver West Coast Spectacular Tour" and a Victoria tour from Vancouver called "Victoria Excursion And Floatplane Tour From Vancouver."

 

The other company is Landsea Tours. They offer a similar Victoria from Vancouver tour called "Victoria By Floatplane."

 

Any information / insights would be greatly appreciated.

[eritouma]

Dear sandhillwings;

 

I have had friends use landsea tours, when they came to town to visit and they really joined the tour options and service. I do not know anything about the other, sorry.

 

As well, I do see the landsea people around the city quite often. Througout the city on any given day I am sure to pass one of their tour buses, etc. Not sure if that helps at all.....:)

[grouchy]

there is tons to see and do in Vancouver. Victoria is a long trip for the day.

[sandhillwings]

Thank you eritouma and grouchy. As far as the "long" trip to Victoria is concerned, it's the only request my Mom has made concerning things we might do. Victoria was the last city she and my Dad toured before he passed away. So, as you can see, it's an "out-of-respect" not-too-far-out-of-the-way day trip...

[Sopwith]

Grey Line runs day trips from downtown Vancouver to the Butchart Gardens near Victoria. The ferry trip is great (unless you've done it several thousand times, like me), and the Gardens are well worth the trip. It makes for a slightly long day, but worth it.

 

This would be the most convenient and reliable way to take in anything about Victoria.

[sandhillwings]

Thank you, Neil. I'll definitely check out Grey Line!

[dam1050]

I'd agree with Neil's posting. If you check out graylinewest dot com on the internet you'll find various options for Vancouver and Victoria both.

 

You might also want to try the harbour to harbour jets which fly direct from very near Canada Place right to downtown Victoria. This would get you to the island quickly and are very enjoyable flights. Harbour Air seaplanes and West Coast Air are a couple that come to mind.

 

Dave

[hvsteve1]

We took two tours with LandSea last summer. The driver/guides are very cheerful and flexible so far asvarying the itinerary to accomodate the desires of the group on board. We did the tour to Victoria which involved a long ferry ride which was rather scenic on its own. Depending on the boat,there are also some nice dining options. In Victoria they take you to Buchart Gardens which is spectacular and drop youin Victoria so you can wander around on your own. They use small busses so your group is not too large. There is also an option to have them pick you up at the cruise dock or drop you off if you are doing a pre-cruise tour.

[WatchHill]

Whenever we are in Vancouver, we use Landsea for pre and post cruise tours. Small, comfy vans and excellent guides make for memorable experiences. We've done half day tours of Vancouver, full day trips to Victoria and the Gardens and last year spent a day in Whistler. I've done the "big bus" tours and have not been happy.

 

Darcy

[mncruizr]

I've read about all the tours from Vancouver to victoria and we prefer to be on our own and not on a timeline. We will be staying in Vancouver - post cruise in August and we just want to go to Butchart and don't want the 13 hour guided tour. What is our best option for transportation from downtown Vancouver to Butchart Gardens?

 

Any ideas?

[NancyIL]

I've read about all the tours from Vancouver to victoria and we prefer to be on our own and not on a timeline. We will be staying in Vancouver - post cruise in August and we just want to go to Butchart and don't want the 13 hour guided tour. What is our best option for transportation from downtown Vancouver to Butchart Gardens?

 

Any ideas?

 

You could rent a car from a downtown Vancouver hotel (Hertz has locations at the Westin Bayshore and the Renaissance Harbourside) and drive to Tsawwassen, then take the ferry to Swartz Bay (on Vancouver Island) and drive to Butchart Gardens. We stayed in Vancouver 5 days several summers ago with a rental car, and that's how we did our daytrip to Victoria. But if the gardens are all you want to see, it's probably less expensive and much less hassle to be on a Grayline tour. No matter how you go, there will be a drive to get to the ferry (about 45 minutes from Vancouver, as I recall), and then the ferry takes 90 minutes each way. If you have more money than time, you could fly there.

[mncruizr]

Thanks,

Based on my research there are 4 ways to see Butchart. Greyline, Pacific Coach, Landsea & rent a car. I really don't want to sit in a bus all day and cruise around Victoria, so I am leaning toward renting a car. Renting a car is quite a bit cheaper based on what I've seen and we have more flexibility. Just a few more questions if anyone sees this post.

 

1. Does anyone know if we need ferry reservations in advance if we rent a car and go across?

 

2. Are there any other options other than the 4 above?

[NancyIL]

Thanks,

Based on my research there are 4 ways to see Butchart. Greyline, Pacific Coach, Landsea & rent a car. I really don't want to sit in a bus all day and cruise around Victoria, so I am leaning toward renting a car. Renting a car is quite a bit cheaper based on what I've seen and we have more flexibility. Just a few more questions if anyone sees this post.

 

1. Does anyone know if we need ferry reservations in advance if we rent a car and go across?

 

2. Are there any other options other than the 4 above?

 

You can fly from downtown Vancouver to Victoria, but that would be $$. To be on the safe side, we made a reservation for our return ferry since we were traveling in July. We ended up catching the next earlier one and got on with no problem.