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Butchart Gardens - Victoria, BC


sabrefan

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I visited the Gardens many MANY years ago on a private drive trip, and will be back there next month, also on a self drive trip.

 

Never from a cruise, although we were planning on doing the Gardens when we were going -- or planning on doing -- an Alaska cruise two years ago. But we were planning a tour from the port which WOULD have taken time. I forget how much time ...

 

The gardens are definitely worth seeing!

 

Mura

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Then had a private tour before the gardens opened. That was a lovely way to see it. It is quite beautiful and if you go from the port it will be crowded and time consuming. However, it is a must.

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It's a bit far from the city.

 

I'm sure there are private tours to the gardens, or you can take a cab.

Cab fare would be a bit steep however for that length of a trip.

 

Perhaps google British Columbia Tourism. Victoria is a gem, and BC Tourist board does a great job.

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BC Transit has a bus which goes to Butchart Gardens, I think it's number 75, you'd have to check their schedules. It takes about an hour each way on the bus.

 

We went on our RV trip in 2011; we had plenty of time to drive there, enjoy the gardens in the daytime, drive back to Victoria and stop at the Craigdarroch Castle, have dinner, then drive back to the gardens for their evening tour under the lights (only in the Summer) -- spectacular.

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Then had a private tour before the gardens opened. That was a lovely way to see it. It is quite beautiful and if you go from the port it will be crowded and time consuming. However, it is a must.

 

How nice--we saw the bay where your float plane must have taxied into the gardens.

 

We did a morning bus excursion from the port (Regent), and the gardens were not crowded, nor was it time-consuming. It was getting crowded when we left, around lunchtime.

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Butchart Gardens are about 35-45 min from the cruise pier, depending on time of day and traffic. Most cruise ships on the weekly Alaska run arrive in Victoria in early evening and have limited time in port, so it's difficult to get to the Gardens except by using ship shorex. But if you have longer time in port, there are more options. Perhaps the easiest way is to take CVS which operates a narrated coach service from downtown. You can take any of their scheduled departures, spend as much time as you wish at the Gardens and then return on any other CVS bus. If you purchase tickets on-line before you arrive, CVS will provide pick-up and drop-off at the cruise pier. Otherwise, you can purchase tickets at a kiosk and board the bus outside the Empress Hotel on Government Street, a pleasant 15-20 min walk from the pier.

 

http://www.cvscruisevictoria.com/butcharts.html

 

Prince of Whales also offers a whale watching/Butchart Gardens combo tour on an expedition cruiser. It departs from the Inner Harbour for a 3.5 hr whale watch enroute to Butchart Gardens private landing dock, free time in the Gardens and then a shuttle bus transfer back downtown. There is only a single departure daily but several return shuttles. They offered this a few years ago, then it was discontinued and now it's scheduled to start again.

 

http://www.princeofwhales.com/victoria-departures/#/wgt

 

In addition, there are the obvious car rental or taxi. There is also public transit, which requires transfers and adherence to bus schedules, so there would be less flexibility in planning.

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So MY question is: we're going to be there in about a week's time (well, June 9-10) on a self-drive tour.

 

Any suggestions as to what time to avoid in terms of cruise traffic?

 

I can check what ships are in port myself. Just wondering if you have advice as to the best time of time to go there, since we don't have a problem with getting back to a ship on time.

 

I was there in July 1964 (I know, I know) and we drove on our own, had no problems with lotsa people. But that was then and now is now!

 

Mura

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Maura,

If you can manage it there close to when they open (every morning at 9)you will be way ahead of the crowds and have the pleasure of the dew still on the plants. Early there is much better than mid-afternoon when all the groups are there together. We also enjoyed speaking to many of the gardeners out at that time.

Enjoy!

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Thanks to you both for the info. We'll be two days in Victoria so I think we'll go to the gardens on our second morning so that we can be sure to be there bright and early.

 

We've been to Victoria before but it's been a very long time since our last visit there. Never forgot the gardens, though!

 

Mura

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