Day trip to Victoria
 

Staying in Vancouver, is it possible to do a day trip to Victoria and not feel like we're rushing everything? The plan would be to get on the 9am ferry from Tsawwassen (with the car), drive down from Swartz Bay to Victoria (how long does this drive take), then spend several hours in Victoria, taking the 7pm or 9pm ferry back to Vancouver. Based on an itinerary like this what do you recommend we see and do to make the most of our time in Victoria? We'll be with my parents, in their sixties. Thanks.

Sure it's possible. The drive between the ferry terminal and downtown is only about 30-40 minutes. On the way, you could stop in at Butchart Gardens if that is on your agenda. Matticks Farm could also be a stop along the way. It has some shops - cards, horse gear, rubber stamps, clothes, ice cream, etc., a golf course and tea room. The best tea in town though, in my opinion, is at the White Heather tea room, but I don't know if you'll have time to take a run into Oak Bay. The village itself, a little further along from the tea room, is a cute English-style place.

Before or after Butchart's, head downtown to the Inner Harbour, visit the museum (shouldn't be missed), wander through the Empress Hotel and into town.

Somewhere along the way try to fit in the scenic waterfront drive with perhaps a drive up Mt. Tolmie for an overview. Since you're on a tight schedule, reservations on the ferries would probably be a good idea.

If you're planning to go at a busy time you may be faced with long waits at the ferry terminals. It's quite possible in fact that you could be spending 3-5 hours of your precious day just sitting and waiting to get on a ferry.

Given that you don't really need a car for most of Victoria, (with the exceptions April mentioned above), I strongly reccomend that you take the Pacific Coach Lines bus which lets you off right behind the Empress Hotel and has first on first off priority at the terminals. You could take a tour bus to Butchart Gardens which would also show you some of the other off centre highlights.

I agree. The bus is the most pleasant way to go - no waiting in lineups and no extra cost for reservations ($15 each way for a car).

You can ask at the bus depot in Victoria about trips to Butchart's. They had a sign outside about it but I don't know the details.

Regarding the 3-5 hour waiting for the ferry mentioned above, we will be in Vancouver from Friday June 20 to Monday 23rd. Of Fri, Sat, Sun or Mon, what's the best day to make the day trip to Victoria on the ferry where wait time and crowds will be at a minimum? Also, does making a reservation for the ferry avoid waiting for such a long time, or does it simply guarantee you'll be able to get on the ferry, but you still have to wait a long time to do so. Thanks.

With a reservation you have to be at the terminal between 30 and 60 minutes prior to the sailing, so you'd have to wait at least 30 minutes, which isn't bad. I aim to arrive 45-50 minutes before.

I can never tell when the ferries are going to be busy and when they're not. They always seem to be busy these days. On a Friday morning recently I don't think we would have got on the sailing we wanted without a reservation. On a Wednesday we were there an hour before the 5:00 pm sailing and got on without a reservation. If we'd been another fifteen minutes, I'm not sure we would have.

Generally weekends are busy. How busy Mondays are I don't know. But, as Gary, mentioned, if you take the bus you pretty much cruise right onto the ferry.

Another option is to take the seaplane from downtown Vancouver right to Victoria inner harbor. It saves you tons of time and hassle, and it is in itself a great tourist attraction. Its not that expensive, i know it $60 Can to Nanaimo, but not sure to Victoria. It only takes half an hour, and you;re right in the inner Victoria harbor where everything is within walking distance, and you haven't wasted valuable ferry time. You could do it all in one day easily, comfortably, and if you did want to see Butchart Gardens, there are numerous bus tours from Victoria that will take you there once you get there.