Victoria?

I don't want to do a shore trip, Is there stuff to see or do within walking distance of the ship.

Hi! Check out TourismVictoria.com for some good ideas. This is our first time cruising to Alaska, and don't want an excursion in Victoria, either. We're thinking of taking a carriage tour on our own, stopping some where for lunch.

Do a search on the Alaska board for Victoria -- I got lots of ideas there, too!

Happy cruising!!!

There were double decker shuttle buses at the pier for $5 per person all day into the downtown area. There were also taxis and other transportation right at the pier. If you walk into town it would maybe take about 25 minutes. We did not do a tour just went into town to shop. It is alot more expensive to shop in Victoria then in Alaska so don't save your shopping for this port. Also their tax is very high. I spent $66 dollars and tax on that was $10!

The walk from the ship to downtown will take you about 20minutes and there you are at the inner harbor where our Provincial Parliament Buildings are located, our Provincial museum, the wax museum, Under Seaworld, Butterfly Conservatory, the Empress Hotel which is famous for its afternoon tea (which is served all day), and also the main shopping area.

We just got back from Victoria. I think you should DEFINITELY see Butchart Gardens! They are absolutely beautiful. I've been to Cypress Gardens in Florida and Butchart has those beat hands down! LOVELY!

Can you take the double decker bus to Butchart? And then walk to the inner harbor from there? Not sure the best way to use our short amount of time.

Butchart Gardens is 14 miles from Victoria. You can take the public bus (quite inexpensive) or the Grey Line from downtown: see the Butchart Gardens "How To Get Here" directions.

It isn't a trip for those short on time, either. I managed to do the entire garden last year in about a morning, but I practically ran through. When I went, I took the public bus and it did take a while because of the periodic stops.

We don't arrive into Victoria until 7:30 pm. Is it safe at that time to actually walk into town? Would take a cab back to the ship, but wondered about getting into town.

It's safe to walk in Victoria anytime, but take a cab or shuttle to save time and head to the inner harbour area where there are lots of activities going on.

We just returned home from our cruise two days ago. We arrived at Victoria around 6:30 this past Saturday night. We didn't book any excursion because we weren't sure that we would be getting off the ship since it was our last night. We did end up getting off. There were lots of tours, buses, taxis, etc. at the pier. We decided to take a pedicab. (There were about four at the pier.) The guy offered to take us to downtown or give us a tour. The pedicab had tours available of each "favorite" tour spot or a tour of the whole town. We did the whole tour. It was great!!!!! The guy took his time and explained lots of things to us. We stopped in the gardens and park. He gave us feed to feed the ducks and squirrels. He stopped in some of the favorite shops in downtown. He offered to stop when we wanted to stop. (I stopped at Starbucks because I had missed it while on the cruise.) The whole thing lasted about 2 1/2 hours. It was a bit pricier than a cab, I am sure, but I liked taking it slow and seeing it all from the open carriage.

Just to clear up something in TLHB's post - the gardens they would have stopped at were NOT Butchart Gardens, most likely Beacon Hill Park. Butchart Gardens are a 20 minute drive from downtown Victoria and even the most "inshape" pedicab driver could not have got you out there and back within 2.5 hours.

Yes, cruiseryyc. I am sorry that I didn't make that clearer. The park that the driver took us to did have some smaller, beautiful gardens. It is not the big Butchart Gardens. I asked the pedicab driver about Butchart Gardens, and he told me that they do, indeed, go there but that trip would not allow time for the other spots. He told me that the park was beautiful with smaller gardens and flowers so DH and I chose to do the overall and get a taste of the small gardens and park instead of the whole trip being just the Butchart Gardens. Also, I will say that much of the pedicab trip was uphill and the driver did a fantastic job!!!!!!!!! I couldn't do it!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just returned home from our cruise two days ago. We arrived at Victoria around 6:30 this past Saturday night. We didn't book any excursion because we weren't sure that we would be getting off the ship since it was our last night. We did end up getting off. There were lots of tours, buses, taxis, etc. at the pier. We decided to take a pedicab. (There were about four at the pier.) The guy offered to take us to downtown or give us a tour. The pedicab had tours available of each "favorite" tour spot or a tour of the whole town. We did the whole tour. It was great!!!!! The guy took his time and explained lots of things to us. We stopped in the gardens and park. He gave us feed to feed the ducks and squirrels. He stopped in some of the favorite shops in downtown. He offered to stop when we wanted to stop. (I stopped at Starbucks because I had missed it while on the cruise.) The whole thing lasted about 2 1/2 hours. It was a bit pricier than a cab, I am sure, but I liked taking it slow and seeing it all from the open carriage.

It sounds like so much fun. Is the pedicab an open air like ricksaw with the person riding a bicycle? If yes, we've done those in San Diego and loved it. If you don't mind me asking, what did it cost for the tour he gave you? Thank you.

Yes, the pedicab was open air.

The price for DH and me was $120. I really thought it was reasonable considering that the guy had to pedal uphill so much of the trip, we saw the highlights of the town, we stopped when DH and I wanted to stop, the driver povided the food for us to feed the ducks and squirrels, and he took pictures of DH and me all along the way. We had our own personal tour and guide, and we loved it!!!!!!!