I keep reading great things about Butchart Gardens in Victoria. We are staying at the Fairmont Pacific Rim for four nights before the cruise. Would it be worth the long day trip to Victoria?
Has anyone done it?
Any recommendations on the best way?
Thanks!
Butchart Gardens is really incredible, and you won't be sorry if you take the long day trip; however, there are some lovely gardens in the Vancouver area, too, and if you feel pressed for time, you might take them in instead.
My favorite is the
International Buddhist Temple Gardens, but I also like the
Van Dusen Botanical Gardens, and the
Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden
As to the best way to do it, I suppose it would depend upon which airport you fly into. If you fly into Seattle, my suggestion would be to take a taxi from the airport to the
Victoria Clipper (making sure you arrive in time to catch the boat, of course), go to Victoria, spend the night (if you have time, catch the nighttime fireworks at Butchart Gardens), and then try this
tour, and cut one night off your Vancouver stay.
You could also rent a car in Victoria, go see the gardens yourself, then drive out to Swartz Bay and take the
ferry to Tsawassen, then drive over to Vancouver, but you'd want to check out rental prices. I know Enterprise will pick you up at the Victoria Clipper ferry terminal.
If you're flying into Vancouver, you'd probably want to try something like the
Royal Victoria Excursion and leave out the overnight--however, this makes for a LOONG day--I wouldn't make any big plans for the evening before or the morning after. You can also make the trip to
Tsawassen and drive it yourself in a rental, but again, it's a long day and would make for a tired driver.
For a decent sized group, in terms of comfort, it's better to take the clipper and/or tour, but for cheapness, probably better to cross into Canada then rent a car. It depends upon what you want.
