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Butchart Gardens Tea and transport


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We are doing a private tour of Victoria in late July.   I had planned tea at the end of the tour at Abkhazi Gardens, but is closed for a private event that afternoon.  Our guide suggested we instead do tea at Butchart Gardens after we have had a chance to see the gardens.  I have a 2pm reservation for that.  However, we will need to get back to the ship (5 of us).  How is the city bus OR should we plan on a taxi?  Thank you!

 

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3 hours ago, Iwannaseemickey said:

We are doing a private tour of Victoria in late July.   I had planned tea at the end of the tour at Abkhazi Gardens, but is closed for a private event that afternoon.  Our guide suggested we instead do tea at Butchart Gardens after we have had a chance to see the gardens.  I have a 2pm reservation for that.  However, we will need to get back to the ship (5 of us).  How is the city bus OR should we plan on a taxi?  Thank you!

Bus is reliable, cheap, but slow (70-90mins depending on route) and not very frequent on those out-of-town routes - but unlike here in Vancouver it's still incredibly backward in terms of customer payment convenience, accepting only exact cash fares (in CAD$), no free transfers between buses, and even day passes need to be bought from a driver as you board rather than being able to acquire in advance. Sometimes the 75 turns into a different number in town, then continues to pretty close to the pier - if so, you might be able to just stay on and only pay $2.50pp. If a transfer is needed though, 2 tickets cost exactly the same as a Day Pass ($5) so you may as well have CAD$25 cash in hand as you board, ask the driver for 5 Day Passes, and then you're good to hop on and off any bus you like without scrambling for change - if you let your guide know in advance, they should be able to ensure they have some smaller local bills they can swap with you if they're taking payment in USD or by credit card for the tour.

 

Taxis - available cabs with 5 passenger seats are very limited as most vans are adapted to take wheelchair passengers so they lose a row of seats. I know Yellowcab does have at least a few unadapted minivans though - but you'd have to call them and specifically book one of those vehicles, as otherwise you're looking at max 4 bums on seats in the adapted vans or the much-more-common Priuses. Ballpark price on the meter, CAD$60 oer vehicle - traffic could bump that up some, but with 5 folks to split the ride I think it's safe to assume that the equivalent of US$15pp will cover the ride and a tip no problem.

 

Is your guide going to drop you off at Butchart, since you didn't ask about getting there just coming back? No chance you'd consider just paying them extra to hang with you at the gardens then drive you back - that would be pricier than a cab but much less hassle for 5 people, as if anything goes wrong on the minivan cab supply front you would be looking at needing 2 cars for double the price...

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On 6/29/2022 at 8:08 PM, martincath said:

Bus is reliable, cheap, but slow (70-90mins depending on route) and not very frequent on those out-of-town routes - but unlike here in Vancouver it's still incredibly backward in terms of customer payment convenience, accepting only exact cash fares (in CAD$), no free transfers between buses, and even day passes need to be bought from a driver as you board rather than being able to acquire in advance. Sometimes the 75 turns into a different number in town, then continues to pretty close to the pier - if so, you might be able to just stay on and only pay $2.50pp. If a transfer is needed though, 2 tickets cost exactly the same as a Day Pass ($5) so you may as well have CAD$25 cash in hand as you board, ask the driver for 5 Day Passes, and then you're good to hop on and off any bus you like without scrambling for change - if you let your guide know in advance, they should be able to ensure they have some smaller local bills they can swap with you if they're taking payment in USD or by credit card for the tour.

 

Taxis - available cabs with 5 passenger seats are very limited as most vans are adapted to take wheelchair passengers so they lose a row of seats. I know Yellowcab does have at least a few unadapted minivans though - but you'd have to call them and specifically book one of those vehicles, as otherwise you're looking at max 4 bums on seats in the adapted vans or the much-more-common Priuses. Ballpark price on the meter, CAD$60 oer vehicle - traffic could bump that up some, but with 5 folks to split the ride I think it's safe to assume that the equivalent of US$15pp will cover the ride and a tip no problem.

 

Is your guide going to drop you off at Butchart, since you didn't ask about getting there just coming back? No chance you'd consider just paying them extra to hang with you at the gardens then drive you back - that would be pricier than a cab but much less hassle for 5 people, as if anything goes wrong on the minivan cab supply front you would be looking at needing 2 cars for double the price...

Thank you! Our guide said much of the same. She has said she will stay and drive us back. 

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