Cross to Vancouver Island by ferry, stroll Victoria's Inner Harbour and walk the world-famous
gardens, all in one day from Vancouver. Every bus tour compared: the timings, the order and what is included.
Ferry and gardens includedWhat is in the price, and what is not
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Tours
Choose your Victoria & Butchart day tour
In the centre, the classic Vancouver to Victoria and Butchart Gardens tour by bus. Beside it,
the most reviewed version, which visits the gardens first, and a smaller mini-coach day.
Every day tour follows the same route and takes about 13 hours. What differs is the order
(gardens first or Victoria first), how long you get in each place, the size of the coach and the price.
Children 3 to 12 book in their own age band on the day tours. Lunch and gratuities are
extra on all of them. Every tour here cancels free up to 24 hours ahead.
The route, explained
Victoria is on an island: the ferry is part of the day.
Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is not a district of Vancouver and not on a "Victoria
Island". It sits on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, across the Strait of Georgia, and there is
no bridge. Every bus tour drives you to the Tsawwassen terminal south of the city, rolls onto a BC Ferries
sailing through the Gulf Islands, and drives on from Swartz Bay on the other side.
The Butchart Gardens are not in downtown Victoria either. They sit in Brentwood Bay on the Saanich
Peninsula, between the ferry terminal and the city, which is why tours visit them either first or last.
The honest part: it is a 13-hour day with about three hours on ferries, and you get roughly 1.5 to 2
hours in the gardens and 2 to 3 hours in Victoria. Guests call it long but worth it.
1 h 35
The ferry crossing each way, Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay.
Look out for eagles and, with luck, whales.
BC FerriesGulf IslandsButchart GardensInner Harbour
Victoria's Inner Harbour, where most tours give you free time.
01
Is the ferry included?
Yes, on every day tour here: the round-trip BC Ferries fare is in the price.
02
Is lunch included?
No. Eat on the ferry, in Victoria or at the gardens; budget for it.
03
How long is the day?
About 13 hours: pickups from 7:30 AM, back in Vancouver around 9 PM.
04
Who might skip it?
Anyone who wants a slow day. Stay a night in Victoria, or try a half-day whale watch instead.
The day
How the Victoria day unfolds
The classic Landsea tour by bus, hour by hour. Gardens-first tours swap steps 03 and 04.
01
Pickup and the ferry
Meet at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver or your hotel and drive to Tsawwassen for the morning sailing.
From 7:35 AM
02
The Gulf Islands
1 hour 35 minutes on deck between forested islands, then on by coach from Swartz Bay.
Mid-morning
03
Free time in Victoria
About three hours for lunch, the Inner Harbour, Parliament, the Empress and Chinatown.
Midday
04
The Butchart Gardens
About 1.5 hours in the Sunken, Rose and Japanese gardens, then the evening ferry home.
Pickup and timing, prices and ages, the garden itself and what to bring: one tab each.
Landsea: be at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver at 7:35 AM for the 8:00 tour or 8:35 AM for the 9:00 tour; hotel pickup must be arranged with the operator.
The operator confirms the exact time, which depends on the ferry schedule. Check your email the day before.
Tours with several hotel pickups add time at both ends of the day.
Expect to be back in Vancouver between about 9 and 10 PM.
Discover Canada Tours starts at Canada Place; STAR Sightseeing collects from downtown hotels between 7:25 and 8:00 AM.
Day tours run from $162 to $257 per adult in USD, including the ferry and the garden ticket.
Adults are 13 and over; children 3 to 12 book in a separate age band; some tours add a senior band.
Lunch, drinks and gratuities are extra on every tour.
Garden tickets bought at the gate in 2026: adult C$36.75 in October, C$28.60 in November, C$44.25 in summer.
55 acres, created by Jennie Butchart in an exhausted limestone quarry from 1904; a National Historic Site of Canada since 2004.
Five main gardens: Sunken, Rose, Japanese, Italian and Mediterranean.
On-site: The Dining Room Restaurant (afternoon tea), The Blue Poppy Restaurant, a coffee shop and a gelateria.
Hours change by season: 9 AM to 4 PM in October 2026, 10 AM to 4:30 PM in November.
Comfortable walking shoes: the gardens are hilly, with steps in the Sunken Garden.
Layers and a light rain jacket: it is breezy on the ferry deck.
A charging cable: guests note you can charge devices on the ferry.
A card for lunch and a tip for your driver-guide.
A plan for Victoria: free time goes fast, so pick two or three sights.
IncludedBC Ferries crossingRound trip, Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, 1 hour 35 minutes each way.
IncludedButchart Gardens ticketAdmission for the Sunken, Rose, Japanese, Italian and Mediterranean gardens.
Free timeInner HarbourThe Parliament Buildings, the Empress and the harbour walk.
Free timeChinatownA National Historic Site with narrow Fan Tan Alley.
Your choiceRoyal BC MuseumOn the harbour; entry is not included, so check the time you have.
Extra costLunch and tipsBudget for a meal and a gratuity for your driver-guide.
Where the day starts
Meeting point in Vancouver
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
900 W Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V6C 2W6, Canada
The classic Landsea tour meets outside the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver downtown, or collects you from
select hotels if you arrange it with the operator. The day ends back at the same point in the evening.
Other tours use hotel pickups or Canada Place: your voucher names the exact place and time.
Be ready at 7:35 AM (8:00 tour) or 8:35 AM (9:00 tour)
4.7★★★★★ 2,320 reviews · Victoria & Butchart Gardens tour by bus live Viator & Tripadvisor figure
★★★★★
This tour was well organized and thorough. Our guide was knowledgeable and gave us a great experience in Victoria and the Butchart Gardens. I would highly recommend this day trip from Vancouver!
★★★★★
This was the perfect way to visit Victoria during our stay in Vancouver. From easy pickup locations, to seamless transfers at every stop, plus our wonderful guide sharing knowledge and stories along the way, we were entertained all day long.
★★★★★
The gardens are beautiful. Enjoyed the drive. On the ferry ride, we saw a whale. In Victoria, we ate dinner at Finn's, and it was great!
★★★★★
It's a long day but evenly paced, packed with fun and plenty of bathroom breaks. There were wonderful views and discussion of the history of Vancouver and Victoria. You had enough time to explore on your own in Victoria and at Butchart Gardens.
★★★★★
It is a long day but a good one. Our guide Sam was very knowledgeable and a good driver and entertainer and courteous. The gardens were fabulous and I like the idea of doing your own thing.
★★★★★
Victoria was lovely and the structure of the day, going to Victoria first, meant that Butchart Gardens was fairly quiet and it was easy to walk round and see the planting displays clearly.
★★★★★
I think it was definitely worth it. All the logistics taken care of: getting you to Vancouver Island, seeing and spending time in Victoria, and Butchart Gardens and then back to Vancouver.
★★★★★
Wonderful experience, Butchart Gardens a must see. Our tour guide exceeded expectations: interesting insights and history, sense of humor, provided snacks and hydration. As advertised be prepared for a 12 hour day, well worth it.
★★★★★
Travelers must realize that this tour will take the entire day. No complaint, just a fact that needs to be planned for. Our guide Zac was awesome.
Short on time?
Take the whale watch instead
Five hours instead of thirteen: a catamaran from Vancouver into the Salish Sea to look for
whales and seals, and back in time for dinner.
Half-Day Whale-Watching Catamaran from Vancouver
★ 4.9 · 5,675 reviews · 5 hours
Short on days, or not ready for a 13-hour coach day? Prince of Whales runs a half-day catamaran trip from Vancouver into the Salish Sea, the same waters the ferry crosses, looking for orcas, humpbacks, sea lions and eagles. It is the best-rated Vancouver tour we found, with over five thousand reviews.
Victoria and the Butchart Gardens are the classic day out from Vancouver: a ferry through the
Gulf Islands, a harbour city with a British accent and one of the world's best-known gardens. Here is what
the day really involves, what it costs and how to choose between tours that look almost identical.
Why a bus tour, and what it really is
The trip sounds simple on a map, but Victoria is on Vancouver Island, so it involves a 40-minute drive to
the Tsawwassen terminal, a 1 hour 35 minute ferry, and another half hour or so on the island in each
direction. The Butchart Gardens sit north of the city in Brentwood Bay, off the road from the ferry. A tour
stitches all of that together: the coach drives onto the ferry, the ferry fare and garden ticket are paid,
and the driver-guide keeps the day on the ferry schedule. That is what you are paying for, and it is why
guests who have done the logistics themselves still recommend the tour.
The ferry through the Gulf Islands is part of the day, not dead time.
What it costs, and what you would pay alone
Day tours on Viator run from $162 to $257 per adult in USD, with the round-trip
ferry and the garden ticket included. Doing it yourself as a foot passenger means a ferry fare of C$21 each
way (April 2026, at the terminal), garden admission of C$36.75 in October 2026 or C$44.25 in summer, plus
buses at both ends, which on public transit turns the day into a long relay. A car helps a group of three or
four, but the vehicle fare was C$89 each way in April 2026 and summer sailings are best booked well ahead.
The honest small print: almost every complaint about these tours is about time, not
quality. It is a 13-hour day, a third of it in transit, and hotel pickups add more. If you want longer in the
gardens or in Victoria, stay a night: the coach and ferry transfer gets you there for $66,
and the half-day garden tour from Victoria does the rest.
Gardens first, or Victoria first?
This is the real difference between the tours. Gardens-first tours (Westcoast Sightseeing, Pacific Coach,
the budget combo) reach the Butchart Gardens late morning, when you are fresh, then leave you two hours or so
in Victoria. Victoria-first tours (Landsea, STAR, Discover Canada) give you three hours in the city around
lunch and reach the gardens in the late afternoon. One reviewer found the gardens quiet at that hour and
easy to see; another would have swapped the order because the group was tired by then. Pick by what matters
more to you.
The Rose Garden peaks in early summer.
Making the most of the day
Eat breakfast early and buy lunch on the morning ferry, so your time on land goes to sightseeing. In the
gardens, walk the Sunken Garden first, then the Rose and Japanese gardens; finish with the Italian Garden and
its gelato. In Victoria, choose two or three things: the Inner Harbour and the Parliament
Buildings, Chinatown and Fan Tan Alley, or the Royal BC Museum. And wear comfortable shoes: you will walk more
than you expect.
Afternoon tea is a Victoria tradition; the gardens serve it too.
Straight answers to what travelers ask most about the Victoria and Butchart Gardens day trip.
Can you do Victoria and the Butchart Gardens in a day from Vancouver?
Yes, and a tour is the easiest way: it is a 12 to 14 hour day. Coaches leave downtown Vancouver around 7:30 to 8:30 AM, take the BC Ferries sailing to Vancouver Island, give you about 1.5 to 2 hours at the Butchart Gardens and 2 to 3 hours in downtown Victoria, and get you back between about 9 and 10 PM. Read is the day trip worth it.
Is Victoria on Vancouver Island?
Yes. Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, sits on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, not in the city of Vancouver and not on a "Victoria Island". There is no bridge: you cross by ferry (or seaplane), which is why every bus tour is really coach, ferry and coach.
How long is the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria?
The BC Ferries crossing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay takes 1 hour 35 minutes. Add about 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver to Tsawwassen and about 35 minutes from Swartz Bay to downtown Victoria. See ferry, bus or seaplane.
How much does a Vancouver to Victoria and Butchart Gardens tour cost?
In 2026 the bus and ferry day tours on Viator run from $162 to $257 per adult in USD, with the ferry fare and Butchart Gardens admission included. The classic Landsea tour is from $221. Lunch and tips are extra on every one.
Is Butchart Gardens admission included?
Yes, on every Vancouver day tour in our list. The one exception is the coach and ferry transfer, which only gets you to downtown Victoria. Bought at the gate, adult admission is C$36.75 in October 2026 and C$44.25 in summer. See Butchart Gardens tickets.
How much time do you get at the Butchart Gardens?
About 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on the tour. Many guests find that enough for the Sunken, Rose, Japanese and Italian gardens at a steady pace. If you want to linger or stay for the summer fireworks, stay overnight in Victoria instead.
Is lunch included on the tour?
No. None of the Vancouver day tours include lunch; you eat on the ferry, in Victoria or at the gardens' coffee shop and restaurants. Two budget tours add snacks and bottled water.
Which is better: gardens first or Victoria first?
Gardens-first tours reach the Butchart Gardens fresh and earlier in the day; Victoria-first tours arrive at the gardens in the late afternoon, when some guests find them quieter and others are tired. Our comparison shows the order for each tour.
When is the best time to go?
Late spring and summer, when the gardens are in full bloom and open longest, and shops in Victoria stay open later. The gardens also do seasonal shows: autumn colour in October and Christmas lights in December, when they open only in the afternoon and evening. See the best time to visit.
Is it cheaper to drive yourself?
Sometimes, for a group. In April 2026 the ferry charged C$89 for a car plus C$21 per adult each way at the terminal, and you still need garden tickets and fuel. A tour costs more per person but handles the ferry bookings, driving and timing.
Can I cancel the tour?
Yes. Every tour on this page can be cancelled for a full refund up to 24 hours before the start time on Viator.
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