HAL Tour of Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC...Anyone Done This???

[mastiff01]

Will be on the Oosterdam in July and in Victoria, BC 8pm-12midnight.

Wondering if anyone has done the Butchart Gardens with Wine & Chocolate tour and if it was any good or not.

 

My primary concern is that it may be too dark to make the tour worthwhile. I talked to two different people at HAL and they gave conflicting info on how much, if any, daylight we'd have at the gardens.

 

Any info would be helpful.

 

Thanks! :) :)

[xpcdoojk]

I have not sailed on HAL so I haven't yet used any of their excursions, but doing the gardens is a wonderful thing to do. We took a ferry from Washington State over to Victoria a couple of years ago, and we booked a bus to the Gardens in Victoria. Lovely, lovely spot.

 

jc

[1drifter]

We did that tour early last July from the Oosterdam. I had the same concerns you have, but it was very nice. There was plenty of light when we first arrived, and then they turned the garden lights on so you could also see it "illuminated". By then we were pretty tired of walking though so I can't tell you about the illumination. You can see a few pictures of the gardens from our trip at http://community.webshots.com/album/162366929YEVWDY

 

And you can find more information about the gardens at

http://www.butchartgardens.com/main.php

Shari

[kruzkeen]

I see that your question has been answered.

 

However, since you are coming all the way from TN could you stay over in Seattle, which is a bautiful city, for a couple of days and take a day trip on the ferry or hovercraft over to Victoria. There is much more to enjoy in Victoria ithan just the Gardens which are about 20 miles out of the city.

[Pete Jackson]

You can get sunrise/sunset times from:

 

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html

 

For Victoria BC on July 15, 2005 (longitude 123.4W, latitude 48.6N, timezone 7 hours west of Greenwich - Pacific daylight savings time), you get:

 

Sunset 9:11 PM, end of Civil Twilight 9:51 PM.

 

Enjoy the Butchart Gardens!

[mastiff01]

Thanks for sharing the great photos! I can't wait to see Alaska!!

 

We are staying one day each pre & post-cruise to see Seattle. Looked at the boats from Seattle to Victoria but seemed pricey but I may need to do some more research.

 

Decisions, decisions!!! :rolleyes:

[cactuslady]

I have enjoyed Butchart Gardens (having come in the back door from the small boat dock in the back). Very lovely. In July, you'll have plenty of light, with twilight up until 11 or so, and gorgeous flowers.

[dakrewser]

I'm going to disagree with the others because I doin't think 4 hours "in port" is anywhere near enough time to see Butchart Gardens. Even if you do dock at 8 it will be 8:30 before you get off. A 12:00 sailing means being back on-board by 11:30. It'll take a minimum of 30 minutes (each way) to board the buses and get to the destination. That only leaves two hours to see one of the most beautiful floral displays in the world (see our pics here)!

[c-cruise]

I would skip the "wine and chocolate" tour and just take the regular Bouchart Gardens tour if offered. This should give you more time to wander around the gardens. It will be dusk/ twilight by the time you get there, but it is pretty neat to see the gardens all lit up at night. Our tour last year was about 4 hours including the 30 minute drive each way to the gardens. 2-3 hours is plenty of time to wander the gardens and enjoy. We walked the loop around the gardens twice and still had plenty of time to wander the gift shop before getting on the bus. It is a fairly large place, but not so huge that you need all day. Think "zoo size" rather than "Disney World size". Sure you could spend all day there, but we have always found 2-3 hours sufficient.

[Time2sail]

This is one excursion I booked with HAL because of the short time in Victoria. They are supposed to get us to the gardens and back to the ship before it sails. At least we can say we went there:)

[xpcdoojk]

There is the Victoria Clipper which is a fast ferry and the price for the 3 hour each way trip is about $100 for advance purchase per person. You can also, go to Port Angeles by car and take the slow ferry the COHO. There is also, ferries out of Anacortes that go to Victoria. We spent a day on the San Juan Island. Rented scooters and went around. We visited a Llama farm, 3 vineyards, watched whales between San Juan and Victoria, visited the site of the Pig War, and had an all around wonderful day. It is probably a 2 hour drive from Seattle to Port Angeles and the ferry is probably an hour plus each way. The ferry ride from Anacortes to San Juan was prettier than Port Angeles to Victoria, but both were pleasant. on the COHO we saw whales a couple of times. We were there for about 2 weeks around Labor day and the weather was spectacular. Blackberries were wild and wonderful, and everywhere. Great place to visit when the weather is nice.

 

jc

[Budget Queen]

I too would strongly suggest only the HAL Butchart garden tour. The gardens are lit up at night too. I wound NEVER however do the Victoria Clipper as a day trip, Victoria is always worth at least an overnight for me. :)

[mastiff01]

Thanks for your advice. I wish we could just do Butchart Gardens tour and skip the wine & chocolate but it's a package deal. Am leaning more toward the HAL tour since the boatride from Seattle to Victoria is long and would eat into alot of our day and it's expensive. Probably better to take the HAL tour and see what I can during our short stay and say I've been there!!! :)

[Time2sail]

On our excursion list for the four hour stop in Victoria, there are two listed for Butchart Gardens. Can't you take the tour with the short city drive (which is just taking you to the Gardens) instead of the chocolate/wine package?

[mastiff01]

I'll check with HAL to see if this tour has more time at the gardens. Thanks.