Victoria Express

Magnificent views of Butchart Gardens can be enjoyed during any season, but summer at The Gardens is breathtaking. Ravishing floral splendor greets you at every turn.

As the brilliant light of the sun retires for the day and dusk falls, The Gardens' other personality takes over. Thousands of lights, of varying intensity and colour, bring out a different look and feel to the gardens. With great skill, the lighting artists on staff use the play of light and shadow to cast a magical glow upon the shrubs and trees, and upon the flower beds as well. This nightly transformation into a wonderland of light is known as Night Illuminations and will be available to September 15th.

Each summer evening the Concert Lawn stage comes alive with a variety of performing artists.

Come sit on a bench, or bring a blanket for the lawn and enjoy marvelous music and entertainment in the open air. Even the swallows seem to be influenced by the music as they sweep back and forth over the lawn.

Summer Saturday night visitors in July though to the Labor Day weekend will be thrilled by the pyrotechnic marvels of one of the most extravagant firework displays in North America. The concerts are timed to end with enough time to allow visitors to stroll across to the Fireworks lawn.

$20 Round Trip Special Ferry To Victoria

Come to Victoria for the weekend and take advantage of our 20th Anniversary - $20 Round Trip to Victoria special fare. Make plans for a fun day trip of make it a weekend and enjoy all that Butchart Gardens has to offer. There are enough attractions in the Gardens to last a lifetime. Victoria Express can make all of your 'Staycation' travel arrangements. Call today - 360-452-8088 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Be sure to bring proper ID when traveling to Canada

Our passenger ferry service to Friday Harbor on Washington's San Juan Island starts soon, on June 25, 2010. Start planning your trip now, and if you are a resident of Vancouver Island you can take advantage of our Victoria / Friday Harbor SideKick Special - buy one ticket and get a second ticket at half price. Spend a day, a weekend or the entire week exploring the island.

Half the fun of visiting Friday Harbor is getting there. Our scenic day cruise to San Juan Islands offers approximately 2.5 hours of sightseeing up the coast of the Saanich Peninsula, through Haro Strait, past Roche Harbor and Spieden Island on your way to Friday Harbor. Be sure to bring your binoculars and a camera and be prepared to be inundated by the magnificence of the waters, the islands and the Olympic and Cascade Mountain Ranges.

Once on the island you have over 3 hours to explore the whale museum, art galleries, restaurants and shops. You can even take a shuttle bus and explore the island during your day visit. One thing is certain - you'll be ready to sit back and relax during the return trip on Victoria Express San Juan Island ferry.

There are wonderful overnight accommodations should you choose to make it a weekend adventure - Let Victoria Express take care of all travel arrangements. Be sure to bring proper ID for your Friday Harbor cruise. Call 360-452-8088 US / 250-361-9144 CANADA or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Consider exploring the gardens of Victoria the next time you ride the ferry to Victoria.

Butchart Gardens comes to mind right away when folks think about the Gardens of Victoria. Summer at Butchart Gardens is splendid. Everything is in bloom. Visit the Sunken Garden, the Mediterranean Garden, and the Rose Garden. Sit by a burbling fountain. Enjoy a meal or a drink at The Blue Poppy. Relax in the shade of a tree.

Night Illuminations start June 15. Each evening as the light fades, trees, shrubs and flower beds start to glow thanks to the magic and skill of lighting artists. Live music adds to the allure nightly, starting July 3. Butchart Gardens is a wonderful place to bring the whole family.

There is another garden in Victoria worth a peek. Abkhazi Garden is a mere 1-acre, but it is lush, colorful and romantic. Abkhazi Garden was the creation of Marjorie Pemberton-Carter and Russian Prince Nicholas Abkhazi, who fell in love, endured separation and imprisonment, rediscovered one another, married, and built a life together in Victoria. Their garden is their legacy.

A hornbeam hedge hides a garden fit for royalty from the street. The design works harmoniously with land that features dramatic rocky slopes, large Garry oaks and stunning views. The Abkhazis loving cultivated their garden together for more than forty years, and visitors today walk among mature Japanese maples and rhododendrons. The Abkhazi's former house is now a tearoom and gift shop.

Our ferry to Victoria is celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2010 with $20 round trip tickets between Port Angeles, WA and Victoria, BC. This special lasts all season, making it easy to travel to Victoria again and again. Go for the day or pack a bag and stay the night.

We will happily make all travel arrangements for you, including lodging; call 360-452-8088 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.

Above photo is the Dahlia Walk at Butchart Gardens.

Victoria is a great place to travel with the entire family. Children as well as adults will enjoy a romp in Beacon Hill Park, a day at Butchart Gardens, and hours at the Royal BC Museum. Succumb to amazement at the Bug Zoo, and take in a movie at the Imax Theatre. The list goes on and on.

Perhaps the best part of travel to Victoria with children is that it doesn't need to be expensive. Let's face it - these days, most everyone has to consider the cost/benefit ratio of everything.

Days Inn Victoria on the Harbour has comfortable, affordable lodging for the whole family. Between April 1 and June 31, rooms start at $98, and children under 12 are free. Save money by booking a room with a kitchenette,  where food may be prepared to feed ever-hungry growing children.

At Days Inn Victoria on the Harbour, you may spend hours in the protected heated pool any time of year. During the summer months, enjoy the outdoor heated pool. Swimming is perhaps the best and most affordable entertainment there is.

$20 Round Trip To Victoria - Special Anniversary Pricing

This season, take advantage of the 20th Anniversary Special at the Victoria Express Ferry to Victoria. Round trip travel between Port Angeles, WA and Victoria BC is just $20. Children under 5 travel for free. Make memories your children will cherish forever.

For more information, please call 360-452-8088 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Travel between the United States and Canada requires a passport or enhanced driver's license. Visit our ID Requirements for more details.

It's a new year, and you've decided you want to spend more time exploring the world with your family. The kids are older, and it's easier to travel now. In other words, it's the perfect time to visit Victoria as a family.

It's exciting to travel to beautiful Victoria BC, and yet it couldn't be easier when you let Victoria Express make all your Victoria travel arrangements. Your children will be thrilled. You'll feel like you had a real vacation. And best of all is the fact that there are many activities in Victoria geared towards families.

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria offers Family Sundays the third Sunday of each month through April, 2010. Between 2 and 4 pm, children and their parents will be guided through various hands-on art projects. Visiting artists, musicians and performers add to the fun. Please visit the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria for more information.

Children and adults alike will be astonished and delighted by the Victoria Bug Zoo, just a block away from the Empress Hotel in downtown Victoria. Glow in the dark scorpions and the alien-eyed praying mantids are just two of the fascinating creatures you'll be able to see there.

Discover the rich history of our regional maritime heritage and plan your family visit to The Maritime Museum of British Columbia located at 28 Bastion Square in downtown Victoria. On display are nautical artifacts spanning hundreds of years, from the original people to European explorers to present day shipping activity.

And of course, Butchart Gardens is always a destination for families. Their Children's Pavilion and Rose Carousel are now open year round, and starting January 15, families will be able to enjoy a taste of spring thanks to the indoor floral conservatory.

Victoria Express is currently offering many exciting travel packages to Victoria that include lodging. Call (360) 452-8088 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more details.

Travel between the United States and Canada now requires a passport or enhanced driver's license. Read our ID Requirements for more information.

Sturgeon Fountain, Butchart Gardens

Folks on the Olympic Peninsula are fortunate to have easy access to Vancouver Island and Victoria; one of the most enchanting cities in Canada is less than an hour away when riding the Victoria Express. Summertime is a great time to explore all that Victoria has to offer, and the Victoria Express runs several specials to help visitors organize their trips.

Our Express Special transports visitors to the world famous Butchart Gardens. First created at the turn of the 20th century by Jennie Butchart to conceal exhausted limestone quarries near their house, the gardens have been expanded over the years to over 22 acres. By the 1920s, thousands of people from around the world were arriving at the Butchart Gardens to see Jennie’s masterpiece. Take a trip over during Memorial Day Weekend and see what is blooming in May: kousa dogwoods, peonies and lilacs should all be filling the air with their glorious scents. The Express Special gives you time to visit the glorious historic gardens and still have time to explore downtown Victoria.

If you are feeling extra energetic, check out Express Special with Butterfly Gardens. In addition to Butchart Gardens, you will be transported to Victoria Butterfly Gardens. It houses over 3000 specimens from of butterflies and moths in an indoor, 12,000 square foot simulated rainforest, and the tropical plants that provide the habitat for the butterflies are as interesting as the butterflies themselves. Don’t miss the nursery window while you are there, where you may witness the emergence of butterflies from the chrysalis.

This summer, ride the Victoria Express and visit your neighbors to the north.

Butchart Gardens is all lit up for the holidays. Thousands of lights make this normally beautiful place downright lovely. In addition to the lights, hundreds of evergreen garlands, holly, and winter berries adorn lampposts and line walkways. The Twelve Days of Christmas are displayed throughout the Gardens – impressive in the daylight but absolutely magical at night. Nightly evening entertainment at the Piazza includes traditional carols and Festive Brass.

Photo of Butchart Gardens compliments of, and copyright by Butchart Gardens

For many in the Pacific Northwest, ice skating evokes memories of childhood in a distant, colder climate. We remember warming our hands around steaming mugs of hot cocoa while we wait for our feet to thaw, not minding the cold because skating was such a special treat. Outdoor ice skating puts everyone in a cheerful mood, whether you gracefully glide around the rink or cling to your companions for dear life; and it is available everyday at Buchart Gardens during the month of December.

It is the joy of parents to make Christmastime magical for their children. Time spent at the Children’s Pavillion, and a ride on the Rose Carousel are moments your children will remember for the rest of their lives.

Victoria Express is currently offering a “Christmas at Butchart Gardens” special from now through January 2, 2010. Take advantage of this to make this holiday season extra special. All you need to do is contact us, and we’ll make all arrangements for travel to Victoria and lodging.

Call 360-452-8088 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.

Travel between the United States and Canada requires a passport or enhanced driver’s license.

One good reason to hop aboard the passenger ferry to Victoria this summer is to visit Butchart Gardens. Each summer, Victoria’s Butchart Gardens has live music every night of the week at the Concert Lawn Stage. Folks are encouraged to bring a blanket and relax, or bring dancing shoes and dance. There are always children enjoying music on the lawn, so don’t feel that you have to leave yours at home. Music starts at 7:30 pm, Sunday through Friday evenings.

Saturday evenings, picnics are available at Butchart Gardens (be sure to order one early), and folks settle down to listen to the music at 6:15 pm. Every Saturday night from July 4 until September 5 the live music is followed by spectacular fireworks. These fireworks rival the best, anywhere. After the skies clear and there is a moment or two of quiet, lovely music from a rare Aeolian Pipe Organ floats out of the Organ Pavilion, filling your ears.

The WEEDS rock Butchart Gardens August 21, 22

August 21 and 22, 2009, plan to listen to the locally grown classic rock of The WEEDS at Butchart Gardens. Don’t worry, these weeds won’t try to choke out the lovely heirloom roses currently in bloom. These Weeds will rock those roses. This is the perfect excuse to take the ferry from Port Angeles WA to Victoria BC for a night or two on lovely Vancouver Island. Remember that Saturday, August 22, The WEEDS will play before the fireworks – a pyrotechnique spectacular!!!

So come take in the beauty of The Gardens and listen to the locally grown classic rock sounds of The WEEDS.

For more info contact The Gardens 250 652-4422 or on-line at http://www.butchartgardens.com

And check out The WEEDS website at http://www.theweedsrock.com

Travel between the United States and Canada now requires a passport or an enhanced driver’s license.

Whales can sometimes be spotted from the Victoria Express

It’s spring, and spring is the beginning of whale watching season in the Pacific Northwest. The Straits of Juan de Fuca and the Puget Sound area are some of the most beautiful waterways in the world, offering views of the Olympic Mountains, the Cascade Mountains, volcanoes and islands.

Orcas, also called Killer Whales, are local residents of the waters around Victoria and Vancouver Island. Whale sightings can be spectacular in May, June, July, August and September during their migration to the feeding grounds of Alaska’s waters.

Orca whales, gray whales and humpback whales are amazing to see, yet they are not the only sea life worth looking for out there. Keep an eye out for porpoises, Pacific white-side dolphins, sea lions and harbor seals. Or scan the skies and tree-tops for bald eagles.

Whale watching is an experience many say they will never forget. A typical whale watching tours is 3 hours in length. Be sure to bring your camera and your excitement. Victoria Express can book your entire tour, including ferry to and from Victoria B.C., a whale watching expedition and even an overnight visit in one of Victoria’s hotels.

If you choose to stay overnight, you can tour Butchart Gardens the next day and have time to explore lovely downtown Victoria.