Victoria BC & Butchart Gardens / Butterfly Tour

[Monroviamom]

Hello all!

We are headed to Alaska (from San Francisco) on July 6, 2023 via the Ruby Princess.  I can no longer find the Butchart Garden & Butterfly tour.  What other options might be available for us to be able to still visit both locations (short of renting a car or cab)?  We will be in Victoria from 6:00 a.m. to noon. 

Edited January 22, 2023 by Monroviamom
Error on post

[cruiseryyc]

Well with that shore time, you really don't have time to visit both unless you take a ship's tour.  Butchart's doesn't open until 9:00 and Butterfly Gardens until 10:00.  Its a 45 minute drive from the port and you have to be back onboard by 11:30, so its going to be a very rushed tour.

 

You could use this tour company, but again its going to be very rushed.

 

https://cvstours.com/

[Monroviamom]

Thanks cruiseryyc!  We may have to scale it back to just the gardens.  Looks like cvstours won't work based on their departure time back... we are only in port from 6 a.m. - noon.  Appreciate the suggestion!

[martincath]

This would be a taxi job - Victoria is a very sleepy town, so Car Rental offices often do not open until 9am. If you want to be at Butchart as soon as they open the gates, a cab from downtown is the only practical way. Split with 3 other people and it's actually about the same for a cab and entry as the CVS shuttle - approx $60 each way.

 

2 hours is a little tight to see the gardens thoroughly, but many cruiseline tours and local day tours only give you that long - you do want to leave the gardens promptly at 11pm, so get lucky with traffic and you'll be back close to sailaway, but even if you hit some slow roads you'll easily be back before noon. Watching people run along the pier with just a few minutes to sailaway always happens in Victoria!