Vancouver to Butchart Gardens

[Gregrat]

We don’t want to take one of those long 13-14 hour tours from Vancouver that explores both Victoria and Butchart Gardens.

We want to go straight to Butchart Gardens, leisurely explore the gardens and then go straight back to Vancouver.

Is that possible?

Thanks…greg

Edited March 5, 2023 by Gregrat

[Cbtours]

1 hour ago, Gregrat said:

We don’t want to take one of those long 13-14 hour tours from Vancouver that explores both Victoria and Butchart Gardens.

We want to go straight to Butchart Gardens, leisurely explore the gardens and then go straight back to Vancouver.

Is that possible?

Thanks…greg

I’m following! I want to see the gardens but I’m not adverse to doing a city sights type of tour. We are in Vancouver for five days before our cruise leaves on 6 May.

[martincath]

6 hours ago, Gregrat said:

We want to go straight to Butchart Gardens, leisurely explore the gardens and then go straight back to Vancouver.

Totally possible - but only if you do it yourself or hire a guide-with-a-vehicle at very much ka-ching pricing.

 

1) Ferry & rent a car - undoubtedly the most flexible, but still involves a fair whack of time as the trip realistically takes an absolute minimum of 2.5 hours each way by the time you factor in drive time from downtown to ferry, then ferry to Butchart (return trip too!), the requirement to be early for ferry resos, so still a ballpark 8-10 hour day.

2) Fly and rent a car on the island - pricier, but much quicker, and depending where you're staying may involve literally just a short walk between your hotel and the floatplanes or choppers.

3) Hire a guide with a vehicle for either 4 hours (collect you in Victoria if you fly, or Schwartz Bay if you ferry, and take you to Butchart, wait for you or even show you around the gardens, back to transpo) or ~10 hours (collect you at Vancouver hotel, drive you around all day)

4) Just use taxis instead of a guide if you just want transpo on the Island to/from Butchart

5) Charter a floatplane, land right at the dock in Butchart, fly home from there when done (absolutely hands down the fastest possible method, hella pricey but perhaps less than a guide in their car for 10 hours from Van!) Even this is going to work out to ~2 hours + time at Butchart - about half the time of doing a drive by ferry both ways!

6) Want it cheap? Public Transit plus Ferry - there's a bus that connects with the ferry timings and goes to Butchart! Less flexible than a car, as it's a once per hour service even in Summer, but at $5pp for a Day Pass on the island, on top of max $11 for a Day Pass here in Vancouver plus ferry at $18pp (plus a currently 4% Fuel charge, Seniors and kids pay less, all prices CAD) you can't beat the price... and it's actually fairly efficient in timing as walk-on pax don't need resos for the ferries so the timings of the buses on this end usually mean you're on a ship that leaves within ~30mins. So quicker than the bus tours, with more time at the gardnes, but still a 9-11 hour ballpark.

 

Honestly, unless you have Butchart on your literal bucket list it's not worth ANY of these options... and if you do have it as a Must Do Before I Die, then the most sensible option is to extend your trip either before or after the cruise with a night or two in Victoria, fly into or out of YYJ, save the time of repeating the same trip twice in one day. And there's plenty in just Victoria to justify a couple of days, let alone other parts of the Island...

[cruiseryyc]

+1 to Martincath's advice.  Getting to Butchart's from Vancouver for a day is time consuming and/or expensive.  Much better to add extra time to your trip and spend a night in Victoria.

[majmaj4]

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Edited March 24, 2023 by majmaj4
Delete dupe

[majmaj4]

@martincath  What bus is it that does the Vancouver to Victoria.  I think I will stay overnight in Victoria but

[martincath]

21 minutes ago, majmaj4 said:

@martincath  What bus is it that does the Vancouver to Victoria.  I think I will stay overnight in Victoria but

The BC Ferries Connector coach is the convenient bus-based service - website here for routes, booking etc. with the most important page, the schedules, here (scroll down - there's a cruise season specific pickup at Canada Place, but year-round you can get picked up from multiple hotel stops or YVR or the main bus station). If you're schlepping a big bag or two, especially if you're a solo traveler, this is the easiest way and the extra fees (about $80 vs. about $30) for not having to drag luggage around transferring from mode to mode are worthwhile...

 

If you can handle all your own bags easily though, public transit works - Google maps actually has the scheduling for this whole route using both transit and the BCF buses, both BC Transit and Translink started using Google ages ago as it was more accurate than their in-house software - but I'll link each schedule directly so you can look at each element separately if you like.

 

The summary is pretty simple:

1. ride the Canada Line to Bridgeport Station (this is the last shared station, so trains heading to either YVR or Richmond-Brighouse both stop here, ticket varies depending on day of the week and your age, but never more than an Adult 2 Zone fare currently $4.45, and unless you need a Concession fare you can just tap the faregates with most Visa/Mastercards and your fare will be calculated for you);
2. board the 620 Tsawwassen Ferry Express bus (no extra fee, your Skytrain ticket allows you to transfer onto buses free for up to 90mins, unlike other buses there's actually some space for bags onboard the 620 but I still wouldn't do it myself with big roller bags only carry-on sized);
3. board a Swartz Bay-bound BC Ferry at the end of the line, about $19;
4. on the far side the 70 will be waiting - its schedule is timed to meet arriving ferries and it even waits if they are delayed! - and hand over $2.50 cash (personally I'd hand over $5 for a Day Pass - there are no free transfers on transit in Victoria, so depending which hotel you're in and what else you do that day you might easily end up hopping another bus or three).

 

Unfortunately transit outside the Vancouver area is Ye Olde Exact Fare buses, so you need Canadian cash in small amounts - if you're heading straight over from your cruise, ask at the Pan Pacific hotel front desk to see if they'll break some notes for you.

[scottbee]

I'll second the public transportation option for getting to the island; It's the best way of doing it.  But realize you're looking at 4h30m from Vancouver to Victoria each way, so factor that into a trip to Butchart Gardens.