Booked a tour with this company to visit Butchart Gardens last Summer in 2019 while visiting the city of Victoria on a 1 day stop on a cruise ship They have a small booth in front of the Empress Hotel to reserve tours and to be picked up by their buses. We waited for over an hour on the street for their tour bus to come pick us up and were reassured it was "coming soon". After 1 hour we gave up and asked for a refund and wasted time standing around waiting for nothing. They said their tour bus broke down, but we later found out this company went to pick up and take care of cruise ship booked tours. Bottom line is they will simply drop you or leave you stranded if more lucrative or more profitable tours come their way...Buyer beware. read more

REVIEWER #18 Visiting Victoria? Want to head to Butchart Gardens or the Butterfly Garden without renting a car? If you answered yes to all of these questions then CVS tours is definitely the way to go! Super easy, convenient and no driving necessary- for you atleast. I was looking into tour buses that will take me to Butchart Gardens as I was visiting Victoria for two days. I came across CVS Tours on the website: Viator as an option. For less than $55 you get a ride to and from Butchart Gardens, as well as entry in. Can't beat that, right? The buses pick you up right in front of the Empress Hotel, which is located on Government Street, right downtown! They advise you to arrive 10 minutes before your departure time to check in and receive your tickets. I love that the bus that are double decker! It makes the ride so much more fun and interesting as you're able to see the view from up high. Once you get to your destination, the buses drop you off right in the front. You're able to venture out on your own and the buses leave from the destination upon every hour of the hour. The last bus leaves Butchart Gardens at 5 p.m. The ride to The Butchart Gardens was great! The buses are very comfortable and doesn't seem to fill up quickly. During the ride, the drivers usually provide history and helpful information about the Gardens. For the price that you pay and the comfortable seats on the bus, it definitely makes the pricing all worth it! I would for sure recommend that you book through CVS if you plan to visit Butchart Gardens! read more

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Last time we were in Victoria, it was one of the ports of call for a cruise we were on. Rather than booking through the ship cruise line, we booked through CVS Sightseeing instead. Saved a good amount of money and time with CVS. We had a nice 20 minute walk from the port to the Empress Hotel. The Empress was where we were to meet. Took the bus to Butchart Gardens. The bus was very comfortable, and the driver gave informative commentary. We spent several fun-filled hours at Butchart Gardens. There are CVS buses and shuttles leaving the gardens to take folks back to Victoria. Our driver was very cool too. He took the extra time to take us all the way back to our ship instead of just dropping us off back at the Empress. Now, that is customer service! So if you are in Victoria, BC for a cruise, do yourself a favor and use CVS Sightseeing instead. You will save both money and time! Just do not be late for your ship! read more

CVS Sightseeing - All Day Shuttle Pass - Tours Near Me - Victoria, British Columbia

We did the hop on and off day pass and it was well worth it. We got to see the city in such a awesome way. We only had a day here and without this there was no way of even seeing half the places. Our driver even took us to a few extra places at the end since we were the last bus of the day. It really was worth it. read more

Outstanding Bus Service and Drivers! Our Atom Rep Hockey Club chartered with CVS Tours on two occasions for road trips up island to Port Alberni and Port Hardy. Both trips were excellent. Well organized, very accommodating driver, LeRoy, was the best! The coaches are newer, clean and very comfortable with DVD players and numerous screens. Our team also chartered with them the season before. Their rates are consistently cheaper than their main competitor on the Island, Wilson's. I highly recommend CVS and driver LeRoy read more

I booked with CVS for the Butchart Garden Tour this past Memorial Weekend, because they offers numerous daily departures to and from the Butchart Gardens from Downtown Victoria, and also provide a fully narrated tour, air conditioned motor coaches, and free downtown Victoria hotel pick-up for $42 (adult fare) round trip. The price also included the admission to the garden, as well as all taxes. The drivers were courteous and very punctual. The best part for booking with them is that - stay as long as you want at the Gardens, you don't have to come back on a specific trip. All the tour schedules are listed on their website. It's easy to book on-line. The only down side is, if you ever need to contact them, the best way is to call them directly and speak to someone, because I've tried emailing and leaving voice messages, but they never responded. read more

We rode a CVS bus to get from downtown Victoria to Butchart Gardens on a Sunday in August 2013. The ride to the gardens was as-advertised: timely, comfortable, and informative. The ride itself was never the problem. Passengers have the option of buying transportation-only tickets or transportation + admission combo tickets. When we arrived at the gardens, the driver passed out tickets at random, which meant some who purchased combo passes were left without the garden tickets they had paid for. The driver was sweating bullets once the problem became apparent, and we felt bad for him as he hurriedly tried to fix the problem. Unbelievably, the exact same thing happened when the same driver came to pick us up a few hours later. It was like Groundhog Day. Same panicked look, same sprinting to the admission gate to find out who had the wrong tickets, same everything... except he had the gall to blame the prior group of passengers for the delay! It might've been funny if we didn't have a ferry to catch. We ended up leaving 25 minutes late and made it to the Clipper just before they closed the gates. So bottom line: the service was as-advertised, but they desperately need a new ticketing system. You're probably better off on the $2 public bus, even when the timeline is tight. read more

Let me start by saying this review would've been a 4, but the 10:45 bus from the butterfly gardens to the Butchart Gardens did not show up and we had to wait for the 11:30 bus. Of course if we had known this we would've spent 45 more minutes with the butterflies and/or in the gift/souvenir shop instead of sitting on the bench waiting... We booked our trip for today through the Concierge at the Marriott Inner Habour. We went from the hotel to the butterfly gardens and then to the Butchert Gardens then back to Victoria. Ironically we had the same driver, Dave, on all three legs of our trip. The bus was clean and the a/c worked great. Along the way Dave shared his knowledge of the area. Our return bus, to Victoria, had a flat tire and Dave was able to get us all transferred to another bus in a matter of moments. read more

My husband and I went to visit the Butchart Gardens for their Magic of Christmas experience on December 11, 2015. We traveled via a double-decker CVS motorcoach to the Gardens - upon arriving at the Gardens, our driver parked and allowed us to exit (he did not turn on any of the bus's interior lights to help us navigate our way off the bus, even though the sun had already gone down and it was dark - so we shuffled our way off the two story bus in the dark). Once we got off the bus, our driver made no mention of what time the bus would be leaving the Gardens (to bring us back to downtown Victoria). We made a point of asking him what time he'd be leaving the Gardens so we could be sure to make it back to the bus in time. He told us that he was leaving immediately after we got off the bus and that the buses would be returning throughout the night to shuttle people back. We thought that was strange (we assumed that we'd have a set departure time), but after asking again to clarify, and receiving the same response from him, we went with it. When we were finished looking at the Gardens, we returned to find out that the bus had left 15 minutes before we got there and the next one wouldn't be leaving for another hour. We were then told that every bus had a set departure time and that our driver should have told us what time to back on the bus (he never informed us when we arrived at the Gardens or when we asked him repeatedly before we went into the Gardens). We ended up taking the public metro bus back to Victoria rather than waiting another hour for the next CVS bus to arrive. Super disappointed with this experience - I'm not sure if the driver was new or in a rush but the least he could have done was to clearly explain over the speakers and also when directly asked what time the bus would be leaving. read more

Watch your head. Seriously. My wife and I had a short stop in Victoria on a recent cruise, so we decided to do the sunset double-decker bus tour. It was easy to find the CVS personnel and shuttle at the pier, and after a short trip, we got dropped off at the Empress Hotel, where we boarded the tour bus. Try to get there early in order to get the seat you want; they cram the buses full! We lucked out and found spots on the uncovered part of the upper level. The tour itself was both interesting, strange, and dangerous. Victoria is a nice city, so it was great to be able to see so much of it in a short time. However, the speakers on the bus weren't very loud, so we could barely hear our driver's descriptions of things. Our driver seemed to make some strange navigational choices when going from place to place, but perhaps that couldn't be avoided. The highlight of the tour was supposed to be the sunset view from the highest point in the city, but the timing was poor and the sun had barely started to set when we were there. While most of the tree-lined roads have carefully pruned branches that pose no threat to riders on the top level, there were a few sizable branches that would have hit passengers' heads if we hadn't ducked in time. Overall, it was a lackluster tour. I would have rather wandered the city on foot, but we were tired after doing a lot of hiking earlier in the week. read more

I had some friends visiting and we decided to head out to Butchart Gardens over the holidays and decided to use this company as we wanted to drink. Friendly drivers and a wonderful experience. read more

In Victoria recently for a visit, I decided I finally had to make it out to Butchart Gardens. (I'd been to Victoria three times before, but had never actually been before.) I did not have a car, so my options for getting there were city bus or CVS Tours. I was tempted to save a few dollars and go with the city bus (I am not afraid of public transportation nor the "adventures" it might bring). My husband, though, liked the idea of the "comfort and convenience" the tour bus would afford. And so we went with that. It turned out to be a good choice. First, I really liked that, for the Butchart Gardens Tour, anyhow, you buy a RT ticket and can come back on any of CVS' buses that day. (So, you are not limited to a certain amount of time if you want more, or stuck there for longer than you'd like to be if you want less.) The ride out was fine. The driver gave commentary along the way, but much of it was pretty lame (like, did you know, that in some parts of Canada, English is the primary language, but in other parts, it is French?). He really seemed to be making it up as he went along. But, he got us to the gardens quickly and in one piece; so, that is what really matters. We were going on a Saturday in the summer and, as you may know, Butchart Gardens has fireworks on Saturdays in the summer. And, CVS Tours has buses lined up to get you out of there and back to downtown Victoria after the show. And, that was where taking CVS Tours instead of the city bus really paid off. We left the gardens (after a fabulous fireworks show), got on the bus, and, after it filled up (which was pretty quickly), we hit the road. I had had some concerns that leaving the gardens after the fireworks would be like leaving a venue after a concert -- and we could be stuck in traffic in the parking lot for an hour; but that was in no way the case. When we got back to town, the driver (a different one than on the way out) let the bulk of the passengers off at the Empress (the primary stop for the tour), but also drove some people to the doors of their hotels. I knew there were some places closer to our hotel where he mentioned stopping, so we asked him which would be the best for us to get off for our hotel. He offered to take us there! At one stop before ours, he let some people off at a back entrance to their hotel, which, was easier for him to access; he actually waited until they were safely inside before he left. That is service you don't get on the city bus! He could not drive us right to our door as our hotel (the Inn at Laurel Point) has a narrow driveway not conducive to accommodating a 40 foot-long bus, but he did drop right at the edge of the driveway. Certainly a lot closer than we expected to get and very much appreciated at 11:00 at night when were tired. That is superior customer service and why I am very glad we opted to go with CVS Tours for our trek to Butchart Gardens. read more

We visited Victoria for the weekend from Seattle via the Clipper and did not have a car, so we booked the CVS tour to Butchart Gardens. The bus was clean and very convenient. The pick-up and departure times were very clear. We booked through groupon and saved a bit of money. This is the easiest way to get to the Gardens if you don't have a car! We paid about $55 each and that included round trip bus fare and entry into the garden. My only complaint is that I wished the tour guide didn't talk the ENTIRE ride. I liked hearing the history and that he pointed out some cool sites, but he literally talked the entire time. Just a preference thing though, I'm sure some people love hearing all the stories/history! read more

We went on a 90 bus tour, just the general one that goes around Victoria. We liked it, and were able to see lots of the city, especially parts you probably wouldn't see on your own. The tour guide knew his stuff and was very friendly, not the most exciting narrator, but not bad either. I would recommend this if it is your first time in Vic read more

Took the Victoria Highlights Tour yesterday (July 7) from our cruise (Norweigian cruise lines - 8-day Alaska). I enjoyed all the 3 tours in our 3 previous stops so I was excited about this tour. Worst tour of my life. The voice if the lady tour guide ( who said she is from Winnipeg)was so boring. It's like she just memorized what she was saying. When people ask her a question, she always say I'll get to that later. No life! Other riders said "it's a very expensive way to take a nap." People were sleeping in her bus. Didn't allow us to get out of the bus to take pics at first but when she noticed people are angry and very disappointed, she allowed us to get off the bus and take pics on the next stop. Worst tour! Don't ever get this tour. So not worth it!! Btw, went we took the cab from Empress Hotel to the pier, the very nice cab driver, after finding out we were tourists, offered to give us a free tour and he really meant free. His tour was a lot better. read more

We took the Castle Craigdarroch and city of Victoria tour today with the FABULOUS guide Max. He was very knowledgeable having gown up here, and extremely entertaining. He had so many stories and was able to end each story right when we pulled up to that story's subject. We learned more than we thought we could and had a really fun time!! Totally recommend this tour, and if you get Max, you're in for a great show!! read more

We did the Butchart Gardens holiday lights tour and it was great. Super convenient and the drivers we had were both entertaining and knowledgeable. The tour is definitely not cheap but being in Victoria without a car, it's one of the more reasonable options for getting to the gardens since admission is also included. read more

We did the Victoria Grand City & Castle tour. The check in was easy at the cruise terminal and the shuttle took us to our shuttle for our tour. The shuttle driver was incredibly friendly but the tour wasn't all that engaging. My husband referred to it as "the real estate tour" as it went through numerous neighborhoods and we were told of the cost of housing in those neighborhoods. Given that I don't have a spare million dollars and I'm not in the market for a vacation home, this wasn't helpful information and it didn't tell me more about the city of Victoria. Craigdarroch Castle was pretty but apparently the neighbors get mad if the shuttle bus drives to the castle so they drop you off at the street corner a quarter mile away. That's all well and good if you're not traveling with elderly parents. I wish I had known this in advance. read more

So we booked their Castle Tour/Hop on Hop off tour about 3 months ago on line. The tour was for 1PM. Got there 15 minutes early as detailed in their FAQ. Was told that the next HOHO bus was 1:30. Presented the email with proper codes and they weren't sure what it was. After 10 minutes they said OK. When I questioned about the time change, their response was they recently made new arrangements with GreyLine. I asked why I wasn't notified and their reps got defensive and said that they were just agents and it wasn't their job. While the tour was fine, for something like a time change, they should notify customers. read more

The buses were clean and bus drivers were professional. The price tag for the trip to Butchart was more than I'd expect but I would use them again. read more

We would book with CVS tours again. Our trip started a bit rocky as the shuttle that was to pick us up forgot about us. after contacting CVS - we loaded up into taxi's (at their expense). The rest of the day went without a hitch. The staff are professional and courteous. read more

We had an excursion with CVS Sightseeing in Victoria B.C. Our ship changed the schedule by 1/2 hr and the Gardens we were going to see changed their schedule by 1 hr, so we almost had to cancel our event. But Ollie from CVS stepped in and made arrangements for us to have a person taxi pick us up and brought back to ship in time, and cover the extra expenses for us. Thank you so much for outstanding service, we will be sure to use your company whenever possible. read more

The butchart garden bus tour is worth it, the city tour is lame, not much to see. Almost everything is within walking distance downtown.

Added this ride to Butchart Gardens to our Clipper Vacations package. The bus driver, Brian, was amazing. I learned more during the two 30-minute rides with Brian about the city than during the rest of the time I was here. Even if I had a car, I still would have wanted to take this bus to benefit from Brian. I feel like I know the city now. read more

Through "iCruise", we signed up for and took the 1 1/2 hr. Victoria City tour 5/19/16. Although the first half of the tour was okay, as we drove around downtown and went to the highest point on the island, but it quickly became dark. We were driven through wealthy neighborhoods in complete darkness, and it became exasperating and a total worthless experience. For instance, the driver pointed out a totem pole that none of us could see, as it was DARK!! Maybe it would be better in late June with more light, but this company needs stop this tour before it gets dark!! I think everyone felt it was a waste of time. read more