Victoria at Night

[jolim2]

Hi. Thinking of booking another Alaska cruise, but this one has an itinerary that includes Victoria, during evening hours.  Is there much to do in Victoria at night? Don't want to waste time in a port we may never get to visit again just staying on the ship. Do the cruiselines usually offer excursions for evening tours when in port at night? 

 

 

[martincath]

It's a government town so a lot of folks work 9-5ish; with a very mild climate even by Canadian standards, Victoria also attracts a lot of retirees; but it's also a university town, so a lot of youngsters need venues to party hearty into the wee small hours so while I've often used phrases like 'roll up the sidewalks at night' myself it's a bit tongue-in-cheek! There's plenty of nightlife and much of the downtown area is very attractive, with many buildings well-lit at night so it's totally worth a wander about for photos even if you don't actually buy tickets to go to anything. Even very touristy sites rarely extend their hours much beyond 5pm however, so the vast majority of ticketed attractions like museums, historic houses & gardens are shut down for the night by 6pm or earlier.

 

Exceptions:

• Butchart Gardens know which side their bread is buttered on, so they not only light up the gardens at night but even allow cruise buses to come after they have officially closed to the public during shoulder seasons. So you can usually get a Butchart excursion from your cruiseline, even if the timing is late enough that local independent shuttles don't work for you - though it will cost you a fair bit of a markup over doing it yourself.
• The Royal BC Museum stays open later on Fridays and Saturdays in summer, until 10pm - it's an excellent museum and well worth visiting if it is open on your dates.
• Buskers will be there to entertain you in the Inner Harbour almost any cruise night.
• The Empress Hotel's 'afternoon' tea gets extended to the point of ludicrousness in cruise season, I've seen them take bookings until after 9pm!
• Shops on Government Street also tend to run later hours on cruise days, so you'll be able to pick up souvenirs and snacks.
• Bus tours will definitely be available, as will carriage rides - just watch out for the latter as any 'carriage' ride that isn't at least triple-digits in cost is almost certainly one of the huge trolleys that seat about 25 people on what's basically a trailer with a roof. If you're on one of those the outside person on each row can see, but everyone else is looking through other pax -  except the front row whose view is blocked by not just a raised seat for the driver but also a literal horses ass 😉