Craigdarroch Castle

[casandbliz]

Looking for something to see and do in Victoria besides Butchart Gardens. Princess has a tour which includes Craigdarroch Castle, Mt. Tolmie, and "city highlights". Any opinions?

[martincath]

2 hours ago, casandbliz said:

Looking for something to see and do in Victoria besides Butchart Gardens. Princess has a tour which includes Craigdarroch Castle, Mt. Tolmie, and "city highlights". Any opinions?

'Overpriced' would be the first work I'd use to describe it, unless Princess have seriously overhauled their pricing model in Victoria! Then I'd move to 'really? THATs the route they take?' followed by 'Man, that sounds like a pretty shabby tour unless there's a lot of stops I don't know about!'

 

NB: I am assuming that this is a daytime port stop, given the 'scenic view point' and ticketed attraction visited, so you actually will be in town at a time when stuff is open you can do by yourselves. If it's a special night time tour, and Craigdarroch is being opened specially for Princess that would make it more of a 'take it or leave it no matter how overpriced' situation!

 

Craigdarroch is a very attractive Scottish Baronial mansion - the fact they cheekily call themselves a 'castle' when they aren't even the most castle-y building in Victoria, let alone compared to anything whatsoever in the Old World, is my only beef with them. Nice stained glass, period furnishings, a pretty garden - as long as you don't expect towers and centuries of history, totes worth visiting - but not on a cruiseline bus. Walk if you want to stretch your legs, take local buses if you want to stretch your budget, or hop in a cab at the pier for the fastest reasonably-priced way to get there. Then spend as much time as YOU want to on-site, instead of getting hustled around too fast or slow in a big group and forced to leave when the schedule says so.

 

Mount Tolmie is the local 'high point' in the city - on a clear day, lovely views, but it's a public park with an entry fee of zip-zero-nada and unless you want to do some light hiking, the view point is it. You'd need to transfer to use transit buses (and probably allow an hour each way), but a taxi would charge <$20 for the ~6mile ride if you really want this view. Personally I'd say that Beacon Hill Park is MUCH better to spend time in, more stuff to see (giant totem pole, pretty gardens, the start of the trans-Canada Highway marker) and it's potentially walkable from the pier.

 

There are ample independent bus tour options - even a HOHO - in Victoria for general city touring, and that won't take long in terms of driving around: it's just not that big. Even if the tour went over to Esquimault, visiting Royal Rhodes Uni (where you can see Hatley Castle which actually looks the part, and depending on your date may offer guided tours of their extensive gardens) or Fisgard Lighthouse/Fort Rodd - this is really 90mins of drive time even with some traffic to see all of it, so where the stops are (if any) and for how long would be key in assessing value. If they just cut straight back to downtown from Mt Tolmie, that drive time would drop to under an hour.

 

Renting a car and driving that loop yourselves would be dirt-cheap; even splitting cabs between stops with another couple would probably work out to a hundred bucks total in cab fare, for the full loop I linked above including out to Fisgard. Rent a cab by the hour and split it with another couple and you'd be looking at maybe a 4 hour jaunt for $75pp or less including entry fees to Craigdarroch, Fisgard, and Hatley's self-guided tour. All numbers Canadian $ too!

[cruiseryyc]

Martincath has hit the nail on the head (I too don't see the draw of Craigdarroch).

 

You can easily see these sites yourselves for a fraction of the cost.  Beacon HIll Park is a lovely place to spend some time, then get an ice cream at the Beacon Drive In!

[Langley Cruisers]

I will refer you to my favourite haunts when we port in Victoria (lived there for 35 years). The Gardens are great if you have enough time to enjoy them and when you return, downtown Victoria is very walkable and so pretty. We always venture to Rogers Chocolates to pick up some Victoria Creams, and to Red Fish Blue Fish for lunch (cod tacone - to die for!!!). Honestly, any tour of the city will be overpriced as mentioned - does the Princess tour include a stop at Tim Hortons donuts like the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity tours do? 🤣🤣🤣  Ridiculous. 😋

 

There is lots of information on this board already - feel free to use the search function and type in Victoria and "search this forum". You'll get lots of hits.

 

https://www.rogerschocolates.com/
https://www.redfish-bluefish.com/

 

EDITED TO ADD: Sorry - the locals will get my Tim Hortons reference. 😉

Edited February 10, 2020 by Langley Cruisers

[scottbee]

As for castles, Hatley Castle on the grounds of Royal Roads university is the only real castle in Metro Victoria.  If you're looking for something to get away from the bulk of the tourists

 

Hatley Castle

Fort Rodd Hill / Fisgard Lighthouse

 

You'll need to get out that way (taxi?), but I'll bet you could find another couple to share with.

 

 

 

[cruiseryyc]

@Langley - the first time I saw tours to Timmy's mentioned; I nearly choked on my double/double!  Can't imagine people actually paying money to walk into a coffee shop.