Amazingly enough, our cruise puts us into Victoria only from 7 at night until midnight. Is it worth doing the Ghosts and Graveyards Tour, or would it just be better to book a great table at a great scenic restaurant? Any suggestions of the restaurant? And will any shops still be open on a Friday night?

I hate to buy dinner out when they have all that great food on board. ;-)

I don't know what the Ghosts and Graveyards Tour involves. You don't mention what month this is in, but if there is enough light I would take a tour of Butchart Gardens if that is offered. (It is also nice to see the transition to darkness there, as fountains are lit up at night.)

Most stores should be open until 9:00 anyway.

traveler wife, our local tourist board is always telling us what a great boon cruise passengers r to our local economy. sadly for u and other passengers the reality is the bulk of u r only given this 5 hour evening time slot which is not enough to enjoy the charms of Victoria except to walk around the inner harbour and downtown. you'll miss the royal bc museum, the art gallery of victoria, craigdarroch castle, our beautiful parks and lakes and bikeways. i believe april is correct in saying u could hop a tour to butchart garden where in the summer there is nightly free entertainment included in the admission price.

i hope u ( briefly) enjoy our charming city
AndrewDavid

ps the cruise dock is a 15 or 20 minute walk from downtown

Try the Bengal Room at the Empress Hotel-
I believe they frequently have music and it has the feel of old colonial days -
I enjoy just going there for drinks
and appetizers

sunbum1944, what a grand idea! I agree that 7-12 is scant time to do anything at all, but your idea would really do it. After all, the Empress is that big beautiful building that you first notice -- why not just head there and check it out?

I don't there's even enough time to rush through Buchart. From the friends I know who have done this, it's quite a rush to do anything in Victoria.

The inner harbor area is all lit up at night and beautiful for walking around -

The Bengal Room also has a curry bar on the menu - if you are interested in dinner - but we usually just have drinks and appetizers and enjoy the ambiance

Enjoy- its a beautiful city

Travelerwife

As previous posters have said the downtown inner harbour area is great just to walk around. You will find so much to do there - rather than having a quick rushed trip to Butchart Gardens. Come back to Victoria and stay longer - once you have been here you will want to come back. Although we live here and close to the Inner Harbour we walk downtown most every evening in the summer enjoying the sights ourselves. There are buskers in the lower area of the harbour walk who are really good entertainers and fun to watch - the are horse drawn carriages (pricey though) We have Victoria's version on rickshaws - Kabuki Kabs - you can have a tour around town in one of those. I have always recommended the Bengal Room to tourists - a real feel for the Empress and the curry buffet is excellent but as April said - eat on board and spend you time seeing the city. The shops will all be open and its fun to just poke around in them as well. I guarantee you will find plenty to do and enjoy. The ships all run shuttle buses but it is only a 15 minute walk from the cruise terminal to the inner harbour and it is a nice walk - sidewalks and trees. Enjoy your time here.

traveller69 - where are you going to be in late May? And how about that cruise?

Hi Sludick - We are going to be in Oliver in May. I thought of you when we crossed the border this time - we had a female (they've always been tougher) and she specifically asked if we had any fresh fruit or vegetables. I still don't know the answer as to what we are allowed to bring back to Canada but didn't want to ask her in case she decided to search the car looking for a stray apple!!! You will get a shock when you come here again. I can't believe how many orchards have been taken out this last winter and are now in vineyards. Its pretty but I hope we don't lose all of our orchards.

The cruise is coming up in early Sept. We are going to spend a few days in London and then fly to Copenhagen to board the ship. Can't wait - this is going to be a particular fun one. So - when are you coming back to BC?

Better vineyards than houses, although you seem to be losing a lot of land to that as well.

We'll be in Vancouver only briefly at the end of May (5/25-26). Not certain if/when we'll make it to the Okanagan this year -- this fall we're heading to Sedona for a week and then flying directly to the Tetons & Yellowstone for a week (using up timeshare points). That plus the Alaska cruise will pretty much zero out my vacation time at work. Hopefully next May?

Hi again Sludick - If you do the Okanagan next May we should get together. We will keep in touch but in the meantime enjoy all of your other travels. Sedona is beautiful in the fall. We usually make it a stopoff spot on our travels between here and Tucson.

That's a grand plan -- yes, we can perhaps have lunch at one of the wineries.

Three weeks from today -- Alaska.

I believe the reason the cruise ships stop in Victoria has to do with some crazy law that won't allow you to have gambling on a boat if it only stops in US waters. So, they throw in Victoria and voila! The cruise line can make money from gambling.

If you haven't been to Victoria, I'd hang out, eat, and enjoy the town.

Sludick - lunch sounds great. I will do my research I saw a sign for a new winery with a restaurant I think. I will definitely check it out. Right now I am going crazy trying to find tours in all of our ports. I will be wishing we had more sea days to rest up in between. In the meantime enjoy Alaska and the cruise.

traveller69 - It's a date! Enjoy your cruise, and good luck with those tours.