Butchart Gardens and Craigdarroch Castle

We will be in port from 8:00 to 4:00 on Oct. 1. My husband wants to visit Butchart Gardens and I really want to see Craigdarroch Castle. Is it possible to see both sights in the amount of time we have in port? What is the best way to get to these locations? I've searched the HOHO tours as well as CVS Tours and didn't see an option which includes both locations. Has anyone done both on a relatively short port day?

Well, I actually think that is a good amount of time to spend in Victoria. Other port stops there are much shorter.

You won't get off the ship until closer to 8:30 or 9 when the ship is cleared. I would recommend you rent a car; you can drive yourselves out to the Gardens first and spend, maybe 3 hours there, then head back into town and see the Castle. A cab to Butchart Gardens is at least $50.00 one way, so not economical. Are you up for public transportation? You can take a city bus but in my opinion, that is a time suck with waiting and transfers.

Yep, I'd say a car rental for the day would be my personal decision, knowing the area as I lived there for 30+ years. The major companies will pick you up at the pier (Ogden Point) and possible return you there as well, but many of them are located by the Fairmont Empress hotel and that is a short-ish walk back to the pier (if everyone is reasonable fit and you aren't too tired from your day of walking at the gardens).

I'm excited for you! Have a great time! Also Rogers Chocolates on Government Street is a must -go. Still my favorite. :)

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You have ample time (even enough to do them both using transit, despite the much-longer trip to Butchart going this way; ballpark 80-90mins each way). At $5pp for a day pass, value cannot be beaten - but I agree with Karen that a rental car is a more efficient way to do it.

If you really don't want to drive, and do want some commentary,you could simply do a HOHO for downtown & Craigdarroch, then a separate Butchart trip with CVS.

Lastly, with a rental car other sites also become feasible to visit instead of or in addition to these. e.g. Hatley Castle is vastly superior to Craigdarroch IMO, which is the worst example of dodgy advertising in Victoria. Hatley at least looks like a castle, with nice crenellations and also an excellent garden - Craigdarroch is a Scottish Baronial manor house and a big disappointment architecturally if you've ever seen an actual castle. It does have good stained glass and period furniture, so if you go with the right expectations it's totally worth a visit. Hatley is out of the way enough that a fairly pricey cab ride or your own vehicle are the only feasible ways to see it in conjunction with Butchart, even with 7+ hours in port - transit schedules would be dangerously tight.

...Hatley Castle is vastly superior to Craigdarroch IMO, which is the worst example of dodgy advertising in Victoria. Hatley at least looks like a castle, with nice crenellations and also an excellent garden - Craigdarroch is a Scottish Baronial manor house and a big disappointment architecturally if you've ever seen an actual castle....

I agree with you, friend.

Have spent time in both castles - Hatley Castle is on Hatley Park National Historic Site, where a friend of mine's husband was the commandant at the time and he showed us around. It is magnificent. Craigdarroch is used for so many things now - piano lessons, etc. I took an art class there when I was a kid. It's sort of billed as one thing and it presents as another, but I absolutely understand the appeal and the draw for visitors.

Seems like most tour companies leave from Fairmont Empress and not the cruise ship dock. Anyone know of a way to see the Gardens that leaves from the port?

Seems like most tour companies leave from Fairmont Empress and not the cruise ship dock. Anyone know of a way to see the Gardens that leaves from the port?

Just so you know, they are not really that far apart. I know that's not what you asked but in case you don't find a tour that leaves directly from Ogden Point, it would be a 20 minute easy walk along flat streets, or a quick cab ride to the Empress (we do not have Uber yet).

Further to Karen's point, CVS actually used to offer a shuttle from the pier to the Empress for an extra $10pp. Since a cab from the pier to the Empress which you can load with 4 or 5 people also costs $10... I'm sure you can guess why they stopped offering it!

Anyone doing enough research to find out about CVS in advance generally knows their options for getting to the Empress; cruise pax who remain ignorant of the transport situation generally pay the cruiseline for their shuttles (which run $10pp or more, in USD) - so all-in-all there simply isn't a viable market for the tiny amount of folks who want a pier pickup and are willing to pay enough more than a cab to fund a bus running back & forth...