Awesome to be in Victoria we also walked the city it's best walking it…read more Just go and experience Canada for your self it's so beautiful.

The husband and I THRIVE off of double-decker bus tours whenever we travel to a new city and this…read moreparticular tour ruined it for us. All of the previous reviews came to fruition for us as we also experienced the lack of accurate scheduling, an extremely run-down bus, and a poor audio recording of city details that could barely be heard from anywhere on the bus. Sadly, both my husband and I honestly fell asleep on the tour. Save your money and avoid this tour! Victoria was a Port stop during our Alaskan cruise and Expedia gave us $50 in excursion credits for booking through them. There weren't many cheap options and I got excited when I discovered this tour on the list at a decent price. In the end, it wasn't even worth $5. You don't EVEN get what you pay for! After taking the shuttle from the Port into downtown, we had to walk just a few blocks to "Stop One" and waited an extra 40 minutes past the time stated for the first bus to show up. How disappointing it was though that the first bus to show up was a covered bus with no open windows and definitely not a double-decker. What a scam! I asked what seemed to be a Supervisor about this and she said they put this bus in rotation as it was "raining" that morning and that an open-top bus would arrive at 2:15. We decided to wait and grab coffee at the shop next door to kill time. (Quick note: The coffee was excellent and they provided free WiFi and clean restrooms. See my review for more information.) At 2:40, the promised 2:15 open-top bus arrived and the Husband and I boarded. I greeted the driver and asked him how he was doing and he replied, "I will be better in just a few hours." Fortunately, that was the last that I ever heard him speak as unfortunately this tour just pops on a dated recording. Again, avoid this tour and pay the extra amount to do the Greyline tour. I honestly cannot believe this company is still in business and it is an embarrassment to this city.

We used Island Time Tours for a private tour to Bouchard Gardens. She made it incredibly easy for…read moreus as cruise ship passengers to see this world-class garden even though our stop over was relatively short. The pricing is reasonable and well worth the cost. Colleen, the owner, was our tour guide -- she was so informative, kind, and fun. She made the drive extra special by giving us a full history of the gardens and a mini driving tour on the way home of downtown Victoria. Highly recommend doing this!

Wow, what a great time find! We came to Victoria on the Clipper, just before New Year, and my wife…read morewanted to take a winery tour, so we ended up booking Island Time Tours while on the boat over. We were thinking it would be in a large bus with 40-50 other people and I was not excited about it, and we were surprised the next day when Coleen met us in her small party type bus that only seats about fourteen people. There were only four of us and it felt like we were going out for the day with friends. Coleen was very personable and informative, and with only four of us it felt like we were going out with friends for the day. We don't think it was just because of our small group but how Coleen just seems to be. It turned out to be more than just a winery tour as she pointed out various sights and places of interest. We only went to two wineries and an apple cider farm because of the time of year. Coleen appeared to have a good relationship with the wineries that made it more personable. We had a great lunch that was included in the price. Actually, I am not even a wine drinker but I really enjoyed the entire day because it was more than just tasting wine. We started at the boat terminal but she dropped us all off at our hotels. We had planned to go to Bucthart Gardens the next night and were going to take the typical large bus with 40-50 people, like we had done before, and found out that Coleen also runs tours to the Gardens. We decided to go with her and she picked us up at our hotel and again, there were only four of us. The cost was the same as with the large bus tour, but so much more enjoyable since she takes the back roads with less traffic and also get into places easier because of the small van. Victoria is one of our favorite the places to go and finding Island Times Tours has been a great and we will surely use them again.

Booked a tour with this company to visit Butchart Gardens last Summer in 2019 while visiting the…read morecity 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.

REVIEWER #18…read more 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!

Used this service in mid-October and absolutely loved it!…read more What a fantastic way to see Boston (or any city!). With a 2-day pass, we rode with three different drivers, and each one made the experience memorable. We even used it as our go-to way to get around town. But the standout by far was Quince -- delivering history with humor and making the ride unforgettable. Highly recommend!

This review is for the hop-on hop-off bus that leaves from the Inner Harbour in front of the…read moreEmpress Hotel. We got there around 11:45 am on a weekday and bought tickets for the bus. We paid $173 total ($60 per adult, $39 for our teen, and the rest for our tween), and they gave us brochures outlining the route and stops, plus one timetable as they were almost out. That's when we realized the bus frequency is every hour, and not every 15 minutes. The last bus was at 5:30 pm. Fortunately, they had a bus scheduled to run at the half hour mark during summers (10, noon and 2), so we would not need to wait for an hour every time we disembarked. The long gap between busses meant we had to restrict the number of places we hopped off - we chose to see the Songhees lookout on the other side of the water, and take a lunch stop in Oak Bay Village. Of the places we'd originally planned to see, we ended up skipping Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, and Beacon Hill Park (with its 150+ feet-tall totem pole). Many of the other places on the "itinerary" were either closed or obvious tourist traps. The busses are double-deckers and are fairly comfortable - some have open roofs, others don't. They tend to run about 5-10 minutes behind schedule. Service level was mixed. We got one nice tour guide, and a rude one who chastised us for all the things we MAY do on the journey (like throw trash everywhere instead of in the bin!), even before the bus had departed the starting point. Verdict - overpriced and not worth wasting a day of precious vacation time on. Wish we had taken a cab or water taxi instead and visited just the places we wanted to see.

They picked us up right outside the Canada building on the pier…read more We did it for 3 hours and he got us back to the pier with an hour to spare. We never worried about making it back in time. Our driver was Dale and he is so knowledgeable about the town. He took us wherever we wanted and took time at each stop. We enjoyed his tales and hearing how he got a Dunsmuir Cadillac. They have a London taxi cab that seats up to 4, and a van for 4+. We got the van because originally there was 4 of us, my husband being a big guy he wanted a roomy vehicle. Highly recommend! The best Tour we have ever taken.

Had a great time with Sandra and John as our guide and driver in our tour of Victoria. This wasn't…read moremy first time to here but saw and did more than my previous visits. The "taxi" was a fun experience and we enjoyed our tour, Sandra is full of knowledge as she guided us through the streets of Victoria. We fed the peacocks with special food she provided us and even stopped in to have a pint at a pub! Now that is a unique tour in itself! Sandra and John are wonderful! Thank you!

I was here for Upstairs Downstairs a production from a local improv theater company. It was lovely…read more A whole bunch of fun in a beautiful castle!! Wow! This place is cool! I recommend a visit here if you can swing it. So nice! Lots of history of course. When it was built, the tower was the highest place anyone could stand in Victoria.

Such a beautiful castle! We enjoyed every minute of our visit. The billiards room was my favorite…read morebut there's so much to see! I didn't expect to find a castle in Victoria, Canada but I'm so happy we did! You should definitely go!

REVIEWER #2 Visiting…read moreVictoria? 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!

Took this tour to Butchart Gardens and also the Butterfly Gardens. The bus driver was full of…read moreinteresting historical information and he was very funny as well! Really enjoyed the trip there and back!

We used them to get to and from our cruise ship, and in both cases our guides were sweet,…read moreinformative, and convivial. Nate took us past some amazing houses, and shared his love of the island and city while steering us into the city. We had a blast with him. On the way back Brian took us a different route so we saw another side of the neighborhoods, and learned about housing on the island. Both were great rides and if you find yourself in Victoria, these fine people will make getting around a dream.

We got off a cruise ship and decided to book a one hour tour with 11 of us around town. Chris, Alex…read moreand Nick were amazing guides. We had a great time. There were some nice photo opportunities included too. I hope to return and do a longer tour next time. I thought prices were reasonable. It was a memorable highlight during our cruise trip. I highly recommend doing this tour when you are in town.

Everything! And the price was better than expected…read more 29 very happy passengers. Very clean, comfortable and on tim

Chartered a tour bus to transport a large group of 23 from a hotel in Bellingham Washington to the…read morecruise ship terminal in Vancouver Canada. Rose the owner was amazing to work with. Quick to reply and had excellent communication setting everything up for the trip. Our driver Jack was right on time for both pick ups and did an excellent job. Wish we had more time in Vancouver to do the local things and have them give us a tour. Will definitely book with Bestcan tours again.

One of the iconic hotels in the world! Moved rooms thank you E**** B! Loved breakfast in the…read morenewly reopened Bengal Room. During Christmas week it was refreshing to have such rich hot cocoa in the lobby during the afternoons. The worst thing though was a very large powerful English mastiff which came out of their room near the elevators on the second floor and began barking ferociously. Frankly, dogs shouldn't be allowed if this place is upscale. Overall, loved the Victorian spirit of this iconic hotel.

I'm really curious what the other good reviews are about because the two times we've stayed here…read moreit's been a pretty nightmarish experience for the most part. I will say however the location is excellent for walkability, exterior is gorgeous and the stunning colorful tulips in the spring are a highlight for anyone stopping by. Very slow/painful check in process, rooms were not ready over after supposed check in time, long wait times for breakfast at The Bengal etc. The ONLY silver lining in our experience was the wonderful hotel manager who saved the day and truly made sure we were well taken care of this second time around when things went wrong - if not for him, we would've written this hotel off completely. We do like the pool and hot tub, the Le Labo amenities and the Harbor View rooms are great for the view. Skip the Willow stream spa- the services were mediocre at best and the mineral pool was totally lukewarm; even the hot tub in the general pool area was better. Best part about the spa was the snack area with the yummy PB oat brownie bites and iced lavender + butterfly pea infused water! That said, it's definitely still a hotel with "old bones" despite the recent remodel and it shows when it gets very noisy with street traffic and buskers on the weekend, even at night. Sound insulation in the hallway is next to non-existent so you will inevitably hear the drunk Bachelorette party girls making their way down the corridor to their rooms late at night, and screaming kids in the daytime. Something to consider if noise is something that you care about during vacation. Other than historic charm and solid breakfasts at The Bengal, I'm not sure what else the hotel has going for it unless you spend a fortune on the Gold experience perhaps!