Coach Hire Canada

Victoria in a minibus: gardens, harbour and island day trips

Victoria is compact, and most of what visitors come for sits around the Inner Harbour or a short drive up the Saanich Peninsula. A minibus with a driver keeps your group together from plane or ferry to the gardens and back again.

Arriving by air or by sea

Victoria International Airport is out at Sidney. The Inner Harbour is 27 km or so away, half an hour or a little more on a quiet road. Pre-booked rides collect at the curb of the Short Term Lot, just across from where you walk out of arrivals. The airport doesn't publish a coach staging area, so fix the meeting spot before you travel.

Sailing over from Vancouver takes about 1 h 35 min from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, and Swartz Bay is 35 to 40 minutes from downtown. Anything licensed to seat 16 or more pays BC Ferries' bus fare and is booked through its commercial or group service. In summer that space goes early.

Ford Transit minibus cabin with blue and grey seats
Ford Transit minibus cabin with blue and grey seats

Stopping near the legislature

There's no visitor parking on the Parliament Buildings grounds, so expect a nearby drop-off and a short stroll. City rules keep charter and sightseeing buses from parking outside residentially zoned property, white curbs need a loading permit, and Humboldt Street's 800 block, on its south side, can be set aside by the city for tour buses coming in from out of town. The operator plans around all of that; you just need to know where to meet afterwards.

Flying into Victoria

Places your group will want to see

  • Chinatown and Fan Tan Alley — Canada's oldest Chinatown, Old Town
  • Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites — Coastal fort and lighthouse in Colwood (Parks Canada)
  • Craigdarroch Castle — Victorian mansion museum in Rockland
  • Inner Harbour — Harbourfront promenade in front of the Empress and the legislature
  • Royal BC Museum — Belleville Street, beside the Parliament Buildings
  • BC Parliament Buildings — 501 Belleville Street; free tours, group tours booked in advance; no visitor parking on the grounds
  • The Butchart Gardens — Brentwood Bay; on-site coach parking, group services department books tour groups in advance

Neighbourhoods groups stay in

  • Langford / West Shore
  • Sidney (near YYJ and Swartz Bay)
  • Saanich / Uptown
  • Old Town / Chinatown
  • James Bay
  • Inner Harbour / downtown

Arriving by ship

An afternoon at Butchart

The Butchart Gardens at Brentwood Bay are about 30 minutes away and have their own coach parking. Groups book ahead through the gardens' Group Services, and the driver plus one tour escort per bus get in without charge when they show company identification.

Over the Malahat

Duncan and the Cowichan Valley are about an hour north, Chemainus an hour and a quarter, Nanaimo an hour and a half. From October 1 the Malahat stretch of Highway 1 is a signed winter-tire route, so the operator confirms the vehicle is equipped. Sooke, about 45 minutes west, makes a gentler seaside day.

Your questions

Can we take a minibus to Port Angeles?

The Coho sails there year-round in about 90 minutes. Nothing taller than 13 ft 10 in can board, commercial vehicles reserve by phone with the ferry line, and US immigration is cleared in Victoria before you sail, so bring accepted travel documents.

Can a driver meet our cruise ship at Ogden Point?

Every vehicle collecting passengers there needs a Greater Victoria Harbour Authority decal, so we look for an operator that holds one. Tell us the ship and date.

Should we book Butchart before the vehicle?

It helps. Reserve your entry through Group Services first, then send us the time and we'll build the pickups around it.

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