anyone been to the gardens in Victoria?

[wadeod]

Just curious..................tell me what u thought about the gardens

[ceejay_San Angelo]

Buschart Gardens are fabulous!!!!

[42trvl]

They are very nice if your ship is going to stop there or you are going to be in Victoria anyway. However, we did not feel that it was worth taking an entire day out of our stay in Vancouver - not to mention the long trip and expense to get to Victoria, just for the gardens.

[basser]

If you are in Victoria, by all means go to the gardens. They are beautiful. They have a nice resturant there as well.

 

Hey, CeeJay, I taught school in San Angelo for 18 years. I left there in 1987.

[Deb in Cali]

Wade,

 

My husband and I went to the Butchard Gardens in May of 2000. They are one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. The only one that is totally different but just as beautiful is the Hawaiian Botical Gardens in Hilo on the Big Island. Anyway, you cannot take a bad picture at Butchard , unless you get all the people in the way.

 

For the record I like gardens, but am not Presdient of the garden club or anything that drastic. My hubby on the other hand isn't into gardens and was just going along to placate me. He really enjoyed it and raved about the beauty and the designs of the gardens. On the day that we were there (May 23rd), the tulips were PERFECT. Thousand and thousands of tulips in every color of the rainbow. The roses were just budding, so that would be the next big display.

 

IMHO the best way to see the gardens is on your own. It is far, far cheaper and you will get to spend more time there than the cruise ship tours. When we went it was $80 for the ship tour. For that price you recieved roundtrip transportation to the gardens in a bus, time at the gardens and lunch. I'm not sure what was included in the lunch.

 

My husband and I walked into town. We exchanged our money to pruchase a bus pass. Butchard Gardens is about a 20 minute bus trip from Victoria itself. The bus pass also gave us transporation back to the ship. There was a bus stop right next to the pier where we were docked. I'm not sure if they were the only cruise ship docks on Vancouver Island.

 

We spend at least 3 if not 4 hours in the Gardens and could have spent more if we weren't so tired. We ate lunch at the lovely resturant that was more of a cafeteria, but the food was good and a bit different from American food.

 

Our total cost was 34 American dollars each for the bus passes, entrance in and lunch. So we managed to save 46 dollars for the opportunity to spend unlimited time at the garden. Several people that were on our ship were pissed that they spent so little time (about 2 hours in the garden and then the time to eat) at the garden for so much money. I think that the ship tours state that the tour is 4 hours long, but that includes the one hour (at least) of transportation time and of course the lunch.

 

If I had to so it again, the only thing that I will do differently is to make sure that I have Canadian money with me so that I can pick up the city bus system at the dock. I don't know if you can buy a city pass on the bus, so you might have to pay a bit to get into Victoria to buy the bus pass. The pass allows for transfers and stuff, so you can go all over the island if I remember correctly.

 

There is a website address for Butchard Gardens so you can look up the current price and also check to see if it looks like something you would enjoy.

 

Don't worry if it is raining a bit the day that you are there. The Gardens provides umbrellas for your use. Once it started raining the people left in droves. My husand and and hundreds of others decided that it was a good time to eat. It partially cleared so we decided to go back into the gardens. The staff was putting out boxes and boxes of umbrellas. We grabbed an umbrella and toured in a light spring rain. The gardens were just about empty. The way the umbrella system worked was if you went inside a building, put your umbrella in the box and take one out when you leave.

 

A bit later the rain stopped and the Gardens were so empty and so beautful. I guess that some people melt in the rain.

 

The only people that I reccommend not to see the Gardens would be someone that is allergic to bees. Since my hubby is now allergic, I don't think that we will be touring the Gardens this June.

 

Deb

[mii]

By all means do the Butchart gardens. They are spectacular.

 

Marilyn

[Host Caroline]

We are planning on visiting in the evening while on Diamond Princess in June... if these gardens are as glorioius as the Park gardens at the end of the main street in Banff I'm sure I'll want to go back when we have more time. We have a short port call so are planning on taking the ship tour simply because it will be less hassle.

[corniglia]

We are planning on taking our own car to visit the gardens. Could anyone recommend other things worth doing if we wanted to spend the day on the island. Thanks Sue

[Bootscootin]

The Museum in Victoria is quite good, a drive down to the southern point on the island gives you a wonderful vista of Mt. ? across the water. High tea at the Empress Hotel is a treat for people that have British heritage.

[cruiseryyc]

Just to clarify something that DebinCali said - the Victoria transit pass is only good in Victoria not all over the Island. Vancouver Island is quite large, with several different towns and cities on it. It takes roughly 6 hours to drive from the south end (where Victoria is situated) to the north end of the Island.

 

ButcharT Gardens are spectacular at any time of year, I'm quite looking forward to my visit next week to see their magnificent Christmas light display. If your ship is only in port for a short time, I would highly recommend taking the tour the ship offers to ensure that you don't miss getting back to the pier in time.

[Budget Queen]

I have been to Butchart many times and indeed YES just an excellent garden. I like driving there so to stay and leave when I want. :) I have also taken the city bus- pick up on Douglas - behind the Empress and across from the MacDonalds, have Ca money. :) I always do a stop at Fisgard http://www.fisgardlighthouse.com/ as it is just so scenic for me. :) Whale watching is also on my must dos. :) But Victoria is never a day trip for me, if possible and not on a cruise, allow at least 1 overnight.

[AuntieStorm]

Our port time in Victoria was cut short and we wanted to see the Gardens, but the ships excursion was a little expensive, so we got a group together and rented a van from Budget (prior reservations). They picked us up at the pier, drove us to the rental building (about 4 minutes away), we signed the paper work and went back and picked up all the others in our party. We went to Butchart (loved it), stopped at the Butterfly Gardens (nice but no biggie), made a supermarket stop and drove by the Imperial Hotel before arriving back at Budget. They drove us all back to the pier. I can't wait to go back to Victoria, but for at least two days, want to also visit Fisgard Lighthouse. Victoria is a beautiful spot.