Sightseeing in Victoria?

[RN_Prof]

We are sailing the NCL Encore at the end of September. The ship docks at Victoria, BC, Canada, at 8 p.m. and sails at 11:59 p.m. Last time we were at Victoria, we just walked to Beacon Hill Park. I would like to see the city this time, but with the port time being so late, is it worth booking an excursion? Is there much to see downtown?

[karatemom2]

There is a lot to see downtown, but many of the shops may be closed that late. However, Victoria is beautiful at night with the buildings all lit up and there will likely still be things happening at Inner Harbour. Maybe a carriage ride around town? Or visit some of the famous pubs? You don’t have much time, but in my opinion Victoria is always worth it, even for a short window. You will just have to expect limited options at that hour with little time. 

[Northern Aurora]

When we stop in Victoria on those brief port call designed to satisfy PVSA requirement we  walk down to the Bard and Banker Scottish Pub.  Beautiful building, great  food.

[martincath]

Agree that since this will be dark o'clock, the only interior spaces to visit are pubs - every ticketed attraction, except possibly the IMAX theater at the museum, will be long closed and even the Fairmont's egregiously overpriced 'Afternoon' Tea (which notoriously takes bookings as late as 9pm in peak summer) is unlikely to be on offer beyond 5pm once Labour Day has rolled around.

 

Wander into town by going left or straight ahead instead of right toward the park; enjoy looking at parliament and other buildings around the inner harbour all lit up nice, visit a pub (personally it's always Swans for us, up next to Chinatown) and then wander back to the pier.

 

In terms of actual excursions I wouldn't bother personally, but there will almost certainly be some options available both indy and through NCL - if you're horsey people and want to blow a wodge of cash rent a carriage (don't take the trolley, they have rows of bench seats with poor sightlines unless you sit on the outside, anything costing less than $75pp is almost certainly a trolley!); if you're small boat fans, then there's a chance the pickleboats might be running for tours of the harbour from the water for a much more modest price; NCL might package a coach tour pub crawl - much cheaper to just take a cab between pubs yourself if you don't want to walk. 

 

If your visit is in the first half of Sep, NCL will almost certainly sell you a far-too-short and overpriced visit to Butchart Gardens. If they are selling one that means the gardens are open, so you could split a cab with a couple of friends each way will give you more time at the gardens than the cruise bus will and also save a pretty hefty chunk of cash (assume about $120 for a cab that seats at least 4 and $40 per adult ticket, all in CAD - compare that to price of NCL excursion to see what the saving is). Butchart is a great garden, but I'm not a fan of doing it all in the dark even though they do light it up - even early in Sep you're unlikely to arrive with much in the way of daylight!

[Donwoods123]

On 3/27/2024 at 5:55 PM, martincath said:

Agree that since this will be dark o'clock, the only interior spaces to visit are pubs - every ticketed attraction, except possibly the IMAX theater at the museum, will be long closed and even the Fairmont's egregiously overpriced 'Afternoon' Tea (which notoriously takes bookings as late as 9pm in peak summer) is unlikely to be on offer beyond 5pm once Labour Day has rolled around.

 

Wander into town by going left or straight ahead instead of right toward the park; enjoy looking at parliament and other buildings around the inner harbour all lit up nice, visit a pub (personally it's always Swans for us, up next to Chinatown) and then wander back to the pier.

 

In terms of actual excursions I wouldn't bother personally, but there will almost certainly be some options available both indy and through NCL - if you're horsey people and want to blow a wodge of cash rent a carriage (don't take the trolley, they have rows of bench seats with poor sightlines unless you sit on the outside, anything costing less than $75pp is almost certainly a trolley!); if you're small boat fans, then there's a chance the pickleboats might be running for tours of the harbour from the water for a much more modest price; NCL might package a coach tour pub crawl - much cheaper to just take a cab between pubs yourself if you don't want to walk. 

 

If your visit is in the first half of Sep, NCL will almost certainly sell you a far-too-short and overpriced visit to Butchart Gardens. If they are selling one that means the gardens are open, so you could split a cab with a couple of friends each way will give you more time at the gardens than the cruise bus will and also save a pretty hefty chunk of cash (assume about $120 for a cab that seats at least 4 and $40 per adult ticket, all in CAD - compare that to price of NCL excursion to see what the saving is). Butchart is a great garden, but I'm not a fan of doing it all in the dark even though they do light it up - even early in Sep you're unlikely to arrive with much in the way of daylight!

I agree that the Garden is underwhelming at night, although when we were there they had fireworks.  They were ok, not great.

 

Last time we were there, we just took a walk to the harbor.  It took about 15 minutes to get there.