Is a visit to Victoria as a day trip from Vancouver available

[JeanneEDW]

We are staying in Vancouver for one additional day after our cruise in early September. We fly back home at 10:25 pm that night. Is it possible to visit Victoria on that day? Are there excursions to do that?

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but any guidance would be appreciated. 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, JeanneEDW said:

We are staying in Vancouver for one additional day after our cruise in early September. We fly back home at 10:25 pm that night. Is it possible to visit Victoria on that day? Are there excursions to do that?

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but any guidance would be appreciated. 

 

It is definitely possible to visit Victoria for the day, but with flights at 22:25, you need to determine your risk tolerance and how much your willing to spend.

 

Getting to Victoria is fastest by float plane or helicopter. Both depart from close to Canada Place in Vancouver. In Victoria, the float planes dock at the inner harbour and the helicopter at Ogden Point, by the cruise berths, a couple of miles from downtown. Both options are expensive.

 

Cheaper option is bus/ferry/bus, from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria. Problem is time, as it is about 4 hrs each way.

[JeanneEDW]

Thank you. Knowing it is 4 hours each way pretty much rules Victoria out. Thanks again for taking the time to answer my question. 

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, JeanneEDW said:

Thank you. Knowing it is 4 hours each way pretty much rules Victoria out. Thanks again for taking the time to answer my question. 

 

By float plane or helicopter it is less than an hour each way, even allowing for getting on and off.

 

If you really want to see Victoria, rather than staying overnight in Vancouver, you may want to head straight to Victoria and overnight there, returning the following day for flights.

[JeanneEDW]

I’m afraid my budget won’t allow float plane or helicopter, but thanks very much for that information. Vancouver is beautiful and interesting too, so I will just concentrate on making the most of that city. 
And, not seeing Victoria this year must surely mean I will have to take another trip out west some day. 😁

[xlxo]

Give these guys a call for details...  https://westcoastsightseeing.com/guided_tours/victoria-butchart-gardens-tour/.  These guys have an itinerary set and ferry reservations pre-booked.

 

Find out...

• what time does the tour end in Vancouver?
• what time is the return ferry the bus takes?
• do they have space to transport luggage destined for the airport in the evening?

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, xlxo said:

Give these guys a call for details...  https://westcoastsightseeing.com/guided_tours/victoria-butchart-gardens-tour/.  These guys have an itinerary set and ferry reservations pre-booked.

 

Find out...

• what time does the tour end in Vancouver?
• what time is the return ferry the bus takes?
• do they have space to transport luggage destined for the airport in the evening?

 

Personally, we don't use the ferries without a reservations, so my estimate of 4 hrs downtown to downtown included making a reservation. Even on a tour, it is still about 8 hrs travel for 4 hrs sightseeing. You also need to consider risk of ferry delays, which can be traffic, weather, mechanical, etc.

 

Only benefit of a bus is they don't have to arrive at least 30 mins before departure to confirm the reservation.

[martincath]

On 5/21/2023 at 10:55 AM, JeanneEDW said:

Thank you. Knowing it is 4 hours each way pretty much rules Victoria out. Thanks again for taking the time to answer my question. 

Victoria is challenging as a day trip, and Vancouver does have way more stuff, ... but unless you are on one of the very rare Nonstop flights to Florida from YVR you just might be able to swap Victoria for Vancouver in fairly practical and even perhaps inexpensive fashion if you change your flights home... or inbound precruise flight, if it's a roundtrip cruise.

 

YYJ offers many connections to SEA and there are some cheaper hotel options in and around Victoria than Vancouver, so even with the extra cost of getting yourselves over to Vic you might end up not having to spend much extra cash. With flight prices so opaque, while in theory a larger airport like YVR should offer keener pricing than a small one like YYJ due to more airlines and competion, it's really a crapshoot - checking out the potential price differences on your airline and dates is the only way you'll know what it will actually cost you, and you just might get a pleasant surprise.

 

If it doesn't work out this time, then on your next trip to these parts check out a YYJ in- or out-bound flight for some Pre- or Post-cruise time - taking the ferry or a floatplane to the Island is certainly a pretty trip, but not so pretty that it outweighs the cost and the hassle of doing it twice in one day! While Butchart is the big draw around Victoria there is so much to see and do there it's worth at least a night or two, let alone if you head further up the Island to some of the many other lovely little towns and landscapes.

[JeanneEDW]

Thanks to ALL of you!

Seeing Butchart Gardens was my aim for a day trip, but I think Vancouver will provide plenty of great things to see and do on this particular trip. The garden would likely be prettier in mid summer anyway. 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, JeanneEDW said:

Thanks to ALL of you!

Seeing Butchart Gardens was my aim for a day trip, but I think Vancouver will provide plenty of great things to see and do on this particular trip. The garden would likely be prettier in mid summer anyway. 

 

If Butchart Gardens was the draw in Victoria, in Vancouver, you may wish to check out VanDusen Botanical Gardens.

[JeanneEDW]

👍. Will do!

[martincath]

9 hours ago, JeanneEDW said:

Thanks to ALL of you!

Seeing Butchart Gardens was my aim for a day trip, but I think Vancouver will provide plenty of great things to see and do on this particular trip. The garden would likely be prettier in mid summer anyway. 

We've actually got more gardens in Vancouver than Victoria; while the assorted components that make up Butchart do give it an unrivalled 'one ticket' range, you can see a better Japanese garden than Butcharts, the best Chinese Scholar's garden anywhere on the planet outside Suzhou, a free quarry garden and multiple free rose gardens, a tropical indoor garden full of birds, and a further botanic garden out at UBC as well as the VanDusen mentioned by Andy.

 

While spread out, even if you paid cab fare to zip around the whole city you'd still save a fortune compared to a day trip to the Island - but if you want to mix up gardens with other things and just hit a few highlights, Queen Elizabeth Park (quarry, rose, an arboretum, and the Bloedel tropical dome is the only pay part, with entry cost about US$5) and VD are easily walkable between, both on top of Vancouver's biggest hill (not big at all, under 400'!) and lunch at Seasons in the Park is not a bargain but the views are worth some of that spend on a nice day. Spend a leisurely morning in the gardens then lunch, then back downtown for Other Stuff - or reverse, doing downtown early, head out to VD & QEP afternoon/early evening and then a sunset dinner in Seasons?

[JeanneEDW]

Thanks!  Terrific information. I will plan on visiting some of these these Vancouver gardens for sure. I really appreciate the suggestion for QE Park, lunch there, etc. 

[new_cruiser]

We did a trip some years ago where we flew into Victoria (YYJ). We took a helicopter to Vancouver to board our cruise. The helicopters and float planes land right in Victoria and downtown Vancouver very near the cruise terminal. 

 

The downside for some would be that both have baggage weight limits. For Helijet, it is two pieces per person totalling no more than 50 lbs. For the float planes it was way less unless you paid a lot extra. 50 pounds worked for what we usually travel with.

 

We were also told that the helicopter fleet has better instrumentation so they can fly in low visibility weather where the float planes have to cancel flights. I don't know if that is still the case.

 

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by new_cruiser

[martincath]

37 minutes ago, new_cruiser said:

...We were also told that the helicopter fleet has better instrumentation so they can fly in low visibility weather where the float planes have to cancel flights. I don't know if that is still the case.

Yup - even when the harbour heliport is unable to be used Helijet divert to YVR and lay on free transportation to your door anywhere around Vancouver/Richmond as compensation. The missus has had a free limo service about once every fifty trips, but averages at least 2 meetings a year in Victoria where she got there fine on the chopper but other attendees had floatplane flights cancelled. In the very rare circumstances where the choppers can't fly at all floatplanes and even ferries have always been unavailable too, it's hands-down the most reliable way to travel between Van and Vic.