We booked prior to our cruise. They seem very organized. Rob was a super driver/narrator. Flexible pick-up times. We booked our CVS tour to Butchart Gardens on the internet before our cruise. We had booked the 11AM tour, however we made it into the center of Victoria earlier than expected and they allowed us to take the 10AM tour instead. The CVS kiosk is very easy to find outside the Empress Hotel in the center of Victoria. (See my photos).
When they say 'tour', they really mean a bus ride to and from Butchart Gardens with narration. Your entry ticket is included, but you're on your own in the gardens and you can pick which time you want to come back as they have buses pick-up every hour again from Butchart. I liked that flexibility. We were in the gardens around 2 hours. If you plan on eating there, you would probably add another 60-90 minutes. This schedule allowed us to get back to the center of Victoria and see the town before having to take a shuttle ride back to the ship. By the way, the approx duration of the bus ride from the center of Victoria to Butchart Gardens was 30-40 minutes.
The bus was modern and clean and the driver/narrator Rob was one of the best I've ever had on a bus tour. His narration was very clear and slow and he put passengers at ease with his directions of what to expect when we got there, etc. You could tell he was very experienced.
Butchart Gardens itself was beautiful and a great place to take close up photos of flowers. I'm glad we went early in the day when it wasn't quite so busy.
They have a cafe, plenty of WCs, a visitor center and a large quality gift shop.
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