Victoria

[realent]

I'm really not sure...I know it's a fair cab ride. Further than I would want to pay for. Maybe to a yellow page thingy and email a cab company?

 

My friend in Vancouver said the taxi ride is really expensive. She suggested and we booked a grayline tour from the Empress Hotel. 3 hours for $50 bucks each including tickets to the gardens. Then we will spend the afternoon having tea at the Empress.;)

[realent]

Vada, wern't you on the Pirate cruise with us?????

[Kreuser]

Joe and Nancy-

I sure was on the pirate cruise with you! Did you get as many pictures as you needed? I have some I'll share and I also have Nigel's URL for his pics! Wasn't that a blast?!

(My email address is in my profile)

 

Vile Vada

[Kreuser]

LeftcoastBC-

 

I took your advice and emailed a couple taxi companies re the rate. I got the same rate from both. This quote is from Victoria Taxi and the other was Empress Taxi:

"The approximate fare would be $45.00 Cdn one way for three people.

Sincerely;

Lynda Wright, General Manager"

 

Vada

[LeftcoastBC]

OK $45.00 and tip . I guess your $ would help there eh?

 

To rich for my blood.....

and I would wonder about getting a cab for a return from out there. The City cab guys likley wouldn't be quite as quick as some of the "Island" guys to return and get you throughout the day cause I doubt many folks take a cab out there.

Hope it works out for you.

 

cheers

[Kreuser]

LBC said

Hope it works out for you.

Thanks! Me too!! So, for a roundtrip for the 3 of us would work out to approx. $40pp which is quite a bit cheaper than the ship's tour bus ($65pp US).

 

Just trying to save some $$. ;)

 

Vada

[bobnsandi]

Many, many thanks for doing the research on this. We do want to visit the gardens this May. We were there in October several years ago, and enjoyed it, but we were on public transportation. It took all day for that trek, and we would NEVER do that again.

 

The cruise line wants a lot of US $$, so we naturally are more thrifty (cheap?cheap?). The web page for Gray Line sez $47.50CDN for the 3 hour tour. Apparently they travel from the Empress, but there is a note that they have complimentary hotel pickup. We wonder if "hotel pickup" would mean a floating hotel? I am going to call them and ask.

 

By the way, we priced it out bare-bones.

 

$24CDN for shuttles ($5 port to Empress, $7 local shuttle to gardens) round trip

$23CDN for the Gardens (May 18th). That adds up to $47CDN each. Hmmm.

 

We do want to walk around town and do a little shopping before we return to the ship, so may incur the shuttle charge, but it will be worth it for some pleasant sight-seeing (assuming of course no rain :( )

 

We'll post as we find out more, but the great information from fellow CC'ers is really helpful!

 

Bob Swanson

[Kreuser]

OMG, I just realized that I didn't figure in the admission to the Gardens! :o That makes the taxi about the same cost as the ships tour. We may go back to using the shuttle behind the Empress.

 

Bob- The shuttle to town from the ship is only $5 r/t. So you can shave off another five bucks!

Please do let us know if Grayline picks up at the pier.

 

Thanks!

Vada

[realent]

OMG, I just realized that I didn't figure in the admission to the Gardens! :o That makes the taxi about the same cost as the ships tour. We may go back to using the shuttle behind the Empress.

 

Bob- The shuttle to town from the ship is only $5 r/t. So you can shave off another five bucks!

Please do let us know if Grayline picks up at the pier.

 

Thanks!

Vada

Grayline leaves and returns from behing the Empress from what I understand.......We paid just uner $50 pp for the entire thing...

[agabbymama]

Just another option,

 

We arrived in Victoria approx 8:00 am, so took the shuttle ($5) into town and walked around seeing Parliament, Gardens, Empress Hotel, and Totem Park. Then walked to the car rental (didn't know Budget would have picked us up at the pier for free), I rented a car in Victoria for $35 Cdn and drove myself and my friend to Butchart Gardens ($23 entrance fee) ourselves. We spent about 2 hours there before it started to rain, so ran for the car and continued sightseeing around Victoria. We found a lighthouse (which we love) I believe it was called Fisguard Lighthouse and Fort Rudd, out on a point. It was really lovely, until the rain started there too. Then back into the city and we found Craigdarroch Castle (sp?). That was really an interesting place too. Fuel wasn't as costly then ($12 to fill tank) then turned the car in and Budget took us back to the ship at approx 1:00 for a late lunch and in plenty of time for our 4:00 sailing. So for $51.50 Cdn pp, I think that was about $38 pp USD. Not sure what it would run now, but you have the car and independence to go where you want when you want, and it was really easy to navigate around.

[bobnsandi]

Bob- The shuttle to town from the ship is only $5 r/t. So you can shave off another five bucks!

Please do let us know if Grayline picks up at the pier.

 

Thanks!

Vada

 

 

I called, and no they don't do pick up or drop off from the cruise pier. Must be some arrangement with the other transport operations in town.

 

I like the idea in a previous post about renting a car. I must talk the idea over with the Boss and think more about it.

 

Sorry for the delayed response about Gray Line.

 

Bob

[agabbymama]

I called, and no they don't do pick up or drop off from the cruise pier. Must be some arrangement with the other transport operations in town.

 

I like the idea in a previous post about renting a car. I must talk the idea over with the Boss and think more about it.

 

Sorry for the delayed response about Gray Line.

 

Bob

 

Definitely check it out/we are two senior (60 and 77) ladies and we traveled alone, followed the maps and didn't have one single problem. I know you would have a really great time doing it on your own.

[Kreuser]

My DH gets really uptight about driving on roads that he's not familiar with. I will stick with the shuttle behind the Empress at this point.

 

There are FOUR ships in port that day! What a zoo this is going to be. We want to get to the Gardens and get out quickly! ;) Then amble through the Pioneer District to see the crafts and sights.

 

I understand the Titanic Exhibit is at the Museum now. I've seen that before plus you need to specify a time in order to buy tickets.

 

We leave here this Saturday and will be in Victoria a week from this Friday! Wippee!

 

Vada

[Kreuser]

We had a wonderful time at the Gardens last week!! Too early for roses, but the tulips were spectacular!! The way they plant different areas in certain colors..... well it's impossible to describe.

 

Actually there were 2 other ships in port, and then 2 more came in around 6pm when 2 of us left. (!) I thought it would be wall to wall cruisers, but I really didn't see that much of a difference from when only 1 ship is in port. I was totally surprised, AND pleased. :)

 

We didn't disembark until around 9:30 because of some things we had to take care of, so we got a rather late start. Took the $5 shuttle to The Empress Hotel, purchased our tickets for $37pp which included r/t bus and entrance to Butchart Gardens. ($7 each way and $23 entrance fee) BTW, all these prices I mention are in US dollars. The shuttle buses only ran every hour. We had 45 minutes to kill, so we walked across the street and spent the time at the totem pole park.

 

The bus ride was 40 minutes so we arrived at the Gardens right around noon. We saw everything we wanted to see and left around 1:30. That left me enough time to do some shopping in town and grab a bite to eat.

 

This was the third time we had visited there and we still found it totally amazing!

 

Vada

[itsanita]

Many, many thanks for doing the research on this. We do want to visit the gardens this May. We were there in October several years ago, and enjoyed it, but we were on public transportation. It took all day for that trek, and we would NEVER do that again.

 

 

Bob Swanson

 

 

 

We will be there in October too. Was it crowded?

 

And which public transportation will you never do again?

 

Was it the $56 Butchart Garden Tour, which is provided by Gray Line West behind the Empress Hotel?

 

or the $7.00 "local shuttle" to the Gardens?

 

Or the ships excursion?

[bobnsandi]

We will be there in October too. Was it crowded?

No not at all. In fact, it was a bit cool and there was some drizzle. We were mostly sorry to have missed the roses. We missed them again this May, but we had a FANTASTIC time there.

And which public transportation will you never do again?

Public bus from the ferry terminal. That is the terminal to which the BC ferries arrive from Vancouver. We were working without a car. It took FOREVER to make all the right connections and get to the gardens. When we finally got back to Vancouver many hours later, it was a very dark night and pelting rain (not the fault of BC ferries or Butchart Gardens).

 

Was it the $56 Butchart Garden Tour, which is provided by Gray Line West behind the Empress Hotel?

That is the one we took this time, and everything worked out very well. We were comfortable, the driver was excellent, and we had a decent amount of time in the gardens. We would do it again.

 

Our photos are posted on Flickr at:

 

 

 

or the $7.00 "local shuttle" to the Gardens?

Nope

 

Or the ships excursion?

Nope.

 

Again, we had a wonderful time. Vancouver Island is so lovely, we would consider a vacation some time in the future, just on that island, and in the waters surrounding it.

 

A typical view from the ship:

 

 

 

Bob

[bobnsandi]

We had a wonderful time at the Gardens last week!! Too early for roses, but the tulips were spectacular!! The way they plant different areas in certain colors..... well it's impossible to describe.

 

Actually there were 2 other ships in port, and then 2 more came in around 6pm when 2 of us left. (!) I thought it would be wall to wall cruisers, but I really didn't see that much of a difference from when only 1 ship is in port. I was totally surprised, AND pleased. :)

 

 

There was only one cruise ship in on the 18th: us! The city center was a zoo, to say the least, we wondered just how bad it might be with 4 ships.

 

Interestingly, we found out that the shuttle to town was $5 CDN, and it was a single price, take as many times as you wish. We had been concerned that it would be $5 per trip.

 

The gardens were somewhat crowded, and again we were concerned about how crowded it would get when summer was really going full blast. Between the town center and the gardens, we might balk at the masses of humanity.

 

We agree with you, the tulips were remarkable and all the other plants were amazing. Take a look at our photos (link in another post in this thread).

 

 

Bob

[realent]

We were just in Victoria in May. DO NOT MISS THE GARDENS!!!! We booked a tour through http://www.grayline.com But you can also take the ship shuttle up to the Empress and catch and pay for a grayline trip to the gardens right there. I wish we would have spent all day there! It will be wonderful any time of year as the gardens are constantly changing. Tulips were up while we were there....

[beachgal]

We're going to be on a Princess cruise next year with a stop in Victoria from 7pm to midnight so we will have a lot less choices of what to do. I'm sure most of the tourist attractions will be closed by the time we get off the ship. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[Kreuser]

If I were you I would still look into a tour of Butchart Gardens. I understand they are magical at night!

 

Other than that, I would look at what the cruiseline has to offer, and maybe just plan on shopping and having dinner or drinks in town.

 

Vada

[Wild Thing ~T]

Thanks everyone for ALL of the great Victoria info! We will be there October3, 2007 from 7:00 am - 10:00 pm. Any other great ideas since we will be in town 15 hours? What do you know about the Prince of Whales tour?;)

 

Thank you,

Teri

[newbiefromvancouver]

Thanks everyone for ALL of the great Victoria info! We will be there October3, 2007 from 7:00 am - 10:00 pm. Any other great ideas since we will be in town 15 hours? What do you know about the Prince of Whales tour?;)

 

Thank you,

Teri

 

We are sailing the week after you.

 

I haven't seen any reviews but we are thinking of seeing the Titanic exhibit at the museum. There are also lots of other interesting displays to see there.

 

http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

[Kreuser]

Thanks everyone for ALL of the great Victoria info! We will be there October3, 2007 from 7:00 am - 10:00 pm. Any other great ideas since we will be in town 15 hours? What do you know about the Prince of Whales tour?

Gee, I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Butchart Gardens are supposed to be beautiful at night. Twinkling lights, etc.

We went whalewatching several years ago with Prince of Whales. It was a great experience. We went in a tiny enclosed boat, and I don't believe they still have it as part of their fleet. The orange boats don't have restrooms and that's something to think about. :o

The past 2 times we whalewatched out of Victoria, we went with Ian Stothart at NaturallySalty.com. He has a small enclosed boat with plenty of area outside to stand. Lots of fun.

 

Vada

[Wild Thing ~T]

Gee, I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Butchart Gardens are supposed to be beautiful at night. Twinkling lights, etc.

We went whalewatching several years ago with Prince of Whales. It was a great experience. We went in a tiny enclosed boat, and I don't believe they still have it as part of their fleet. The orange boats don't have restrooms and that's something to think about. :o

The past 2 times we whalewatched out of Victoria, we went with Ian Stothart at NaturallySalty.com. He has a small enclosed boat with plenty of area outside to stand. Lots of fun.

 

Vada

 

I love the twinkling lights Butchart Garden idea! :D How many people did Ian's boat hold? There are 8 of us and we are looking for a small boat / tour.

 

YES! We will also see the Titanic Exhibit and Museum.:p

 

THANK YOU!!:D

"T"

[Kreuser]

"T"- As I remember it, I would say it holds 12 to 15 comfortably. I'm sure he can take more, but both times we were with him I think there were about a dozen of us.

There are photos of his boat on his website. http://www.NaturallySalty.com

 

Vada