Från Vancouver: Victoria, Butchart Gardens, & Gulf Islands Cruise

Our tour guide, Andrea, was a marvel! She provided a full narrative throughout the day of the sights and locations, and kept us all informed of the plans, proceedings and timeline. AND she was an excellent driver, keeping pace, assuming a smooth and comfortable ride, and attending to everyone’s needs. We loved the travel and the destinations including Butchart Gardens (do NOT miss this) and an afternoon in Victoria (an exuberant, fun city).

We had conflicting information about how the long the tour actually was. One piece said it was 6-8 hours the other piece said 13 hours. We unfortunately had made additional plans, so had to leave the tour early. The Buchart gardens were amazing 👏 they were everything I had imagined. Everything was in bloom and just gorgeous. It was alot of walking though and a few of the older guests had a difficult time with the walking. Our guide was very nice, and friendly. He explained alot, but he also put a bit too much of his own stories into the dialog. He did help advise us what to do as we left the tour, though so that was helpful. One of the guests did not sent to walk around Victoria, so it would've been helpful if he had some suggestions as to what to do instead of walking. Like the hop on hop off bus, or have coffee in a café down Government street. Some options 🤔 We enjoyed the gardens and the history, but have a hard time giving the tour 5 stars 🌟

Worthwhile . Beautiful gardens. Well organized trip. Good knowledgable guide. A good way to see Victoria.

Anthony was great and very professional. My family and I had a lot of fun on the trip. We never had a guide as friendly as Anthony, hence 5 star for Anthony and the whole trip.

Our guide Alex was very knowledgeable and articulate. Good sense of humour and genuine love for his job

The Butchart Gardens are breathtaking. Each time we rounded a corner we were treated to a beautiful sight. Highly recommend going there and spending a minimum of two hours there.

I will start by saying I went to the gardens 50 years ago and they have only gotten better. Building four distinct gardens were Jennie Butchart’s answer to her her husband’s quarry business of Portland cement mining which left a scared landscape close by. Lots of planning, topsoil, plants, hardscape and now the fourth generation’s love of this treasure’s longevity. Days are long in the summer and if you stay for the evening’s entertainment they light the Sunken Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden and the Italian Gardens up with colored lights for a totally different experience at night. A twofer! Plan an extra day at least for the gardens and Victoria. Second largest Chinatown after San Francisco. The Empress Hotel is stunning for a drink in the bar or high tea. Anthony was our very knowledgeable local with years of experience, historical knowledge, and where to see and eat. Anthony gets five stars too ⭐️

Anthony was your guide/driver. He was excellent.

Be prepared to be in awe of the beauty of Buschart Gardens! Dave was a great bus driver / city guide.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable experience which we'd absolutely recommend. So the negative part first. Our pick up was 820am. We were outside the hotel at 755am. Apparently the pickup had been changed to facilitate an earlier ferry. We had received no notification. Our guide seemed more keen to explain the lengths he'd gone to find us rather than apologise for the poor admin. At Butchart gardens we were advised we'd be leaving at 2pm. After a third of the bus got off, this was changed to 230pm. On arriving back at the bus at 155pm after a rushed visit ( ferry delayed) we found the bus locked. Again no apology for this. This was a long day, with around 2 hours in both Butchart and Victoria. But both of these places are absolutely worth the visit so you may have to accept that there might be some bumps in the road in undertaking this tour. Whilst we found our guide lacking in some areas, they were especially knowledgeable and kept a steady interesting flow of information going during the long journey both there and back. We thought this part was excellent. The gardens especially are quite stunning and this time of year, the flowers are in virtually full colour making this a spectacular display. We did feel rushed, especially around Butchart but on balance thought that it was worth what we had paid for this trip.