Butchart Gardens Private Tour with Driver: How to Get to Butchart Gardens by Car

A garden planted in an exhausted limestone quarry is an unlikely tourist destination, and yet this one has drawn visitors for well over a century. The Butchart Gardens now cover 55 acres at Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island, remain privately owned by the founding family and were designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2004. Jennie Butchart created them, the family still runs them, and the place feels like it.

Reaching them is easy by car and awkward by anything else. Public buses take close to an hour from downtown Victoria, and the ferry timetable affects everything for visitors arriving from the mainland. A Butchart Gardens private tour with driver puts one vehicle under your control from the arrival gate to the garden entrance and back.

Butchart Gardens by car: distances from every gateway

Those figures come from the Gardens' own getting-here page, which also lists Sidney at about 16 km (10 miles). Brentwood Bay is on the Saanich Peninsula, and the usual road is the Pat Bay Highway (Highway 17), then West Saanich Road and on to Benvenuto Avenue. The address is 800 Benvenuto Avenue.

Time of day matters less than ferry timing. A driver who knows when the mainland sailings land can stage a pickup to avoid the brief build-up of traffic after each arrival.

Price & book your ride

The usual gateways, and what each needs

From Victoria Inner Harbour or a downtown hotel. The most common pick-up. The car heads north on the Pat Bay Highway and reaches the Gardens in 35 to 45 minutes in normal traffic. A mid-morning departure keeps you ahead of the afternoon commuter flow on the way back.

From Ogden Point cruise terminal. The Gardens' official page lists a cruise shuttle and taxi fares from the terminal, which sits on Victoria's waterfront. A private car is quicker than a shuttle that stops to collect others, and it can wait at the Gardens so the return is not left to chance. Ship departure times are fixed, so build a clear margin, and ask the desk to plan the drive back from the sailing time.

From Victoria International Airport. A traveler who lands in the morning can be in the Gardens within an hour of baggage claim, with luggage held by the driver or the hotel. Public bus connections from the airport take about an hour according to the official page, and require a transfer.

From Swartz Bay. Foot passengers and drivers arriving by BC Ferries can be met at the terminal. The official page gives 10 to 15 minutes from the highway along West Saanich Road. For passengers crossing from Tsawwassen, the sailing takes about 90 minutes.

Downtown Victoria's Inner Harbour is also served by passenger ferries from Seattle and Port Angeles; the official page names Victoria Clipper and Black Ball. For travelers starting in Seattle, our Seattle limo service page and the Sea-Tac airport page cover the departure side.

Coming from Vancouver: the ferry day

A day trip from Vancouver is feasible but long. The sailing between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay is about 90 minutes each way, and the Tsawwassen terminal lies south of Vancouver, so the realistic round trip takes 11 to 13 hours including a visit of two or three hours. The Gardens' page notes that a full-day tour from the mainland is available from several operators, and that floatplane packages exist.

A chauffeur can handle the Vancouver leg: collect you at your hotel, drive to the Tsawwassen terminal and meet you again after the crossing with a vehicle on the island. Travelers often cross as foot passengers, and our local operators on each side coordinate the handover. Confirm the sailings on the BC Ferries website and book your chauffeur around them.

Because this involves two operators and a ferry, we suggest booking early and writing down your sailing times. Our Vancouver limo service page and the Vancouver airport page explain the mainland side.

What the five gardens contain

The official site names five gardens within the grounds:

• The Sunken Garden, in the former quarry, is the signature view. A lookout above gives the standard photograph.
• The Rose Garden, best in summer but with hips and autumn colour later.
• The Japanese Garden, a quiet area with water features, which suits early-morning light.
• The Italian Garden, a formal layout with a pond.
• The Mediterranean Garden, with drier planting and a different palette.

Beyond the planting, the site lists a Rose Carousel, a seed and gift store and several places to eat: the Dining Room, the Blue Poppy Restaurant, a coffee shop and a gelateria. Allow two hours as a minimum and three or more if you plan to eat there.

Seasons and what is on this autumn

The Butchart Gardens run through the year, with seasonal pages for spring, summer, autumn, winter and Christmas. In October 2026 the official site lists:

• Autumn Display, October 1 to 31.
• Greenhouse Tours, on Saturdays and Sundays from October 31 to November 29.
• Magic of Christmas Dinner and Dance, November 27 and 28, in the evening.

The site shows daily opening hours that change with the season, so the hours for your date should be read from the Gardens' own Hours & Rates page, not assumed. Christmas visits use separate tickets, according to the site.

Seasonal logic for planning:

• Spring for bulbs and blossom, with cooler mornings.
• Summer for roses and long evening hours, but the heaviest crowds.
• Autumn for foliage and quieter paths.
• Winter and Christmas for the Christmas programme, with short days and cold paths.

Dress for outdoor walking on gravel paths and uneven steps at any time of year, and bring a waterproof layer between October and April.

If you can choose the hour, give the first part of the morning to the Japanese and Sunken Gardens, which are quietest early, and keep the Rose Garden and the restaurants for later. A slow circuit in the order you prefer works better than the shortest route, so ask the driver to leave the collection time open-ended instead of fixing one that you will feel obliged to keep. The desk can always be reached if your pace changes.

Tickets, passes and what to book ahead

Admission and passes, including a 12 month pass and separate Christmas tickets, are sold on butchartgardens.com. The homepage does not mention timed entry, so buying a ticket online mainly saves queue time and lets you plan the day. For Christmas dinners, evening events and group visits, book ahead; the site has pages for groups and tours.

Garden prices change seasonally, and we do not repeat them. Our own fare is quoted in the online booker for your exact pickup, vehicle and timing, before you confirm.

Where the car stops

The official getting-here page does not describe the car park in detail or address coach access, so we do not make claims about it here. In practice, a private car drops passengers at the entrance, and the driver then either waits in the visitor car park or returns at your agreed time. Tell the desk if anyone needs step-free access, since the Gardens provide a separate accessibility page that is worth reading before the visit.

Ways to get to Butchart Gardens compared

The bus is honestly the lowest-cost choice, and the Gardens themselves list it as an option, though not every afternoon journey on bus 75 reaches the Gardens, so check the destination sign. A chauffeur is the right call when the schedule is fixed by a ferry or a ship, when there are four or more people, or when the garden visit is one stop in a longer private tour.

A chauffeured day on the Saanich Peninsula

1. 9:00 am. Pickup in Victoria. The car drives north on the Pat Bay Highway.
2. 9:45 am. Arrive at the Gardens as they open. The Sunken Garden and Japanese Garden are quietest early.
3. 12:30 pm. Lunch at one of the on-site restaurants, or leave for Brentwood Bay village.
4. 2:00 pm. Return south via West Saanich Road, with a stop at a roadside farm stand if the season allows.
5. 4:00 pm. Inner Harbour drop-off, in time for the Parliament Buildings or tea.

This sequence leaves the Gardens by early afternoon and lets the driver return before the commuter peak. If you are a cruise guest, reverse the order: the Gardens first, then the harbour, then Ogden Point with a generous margin.

Book a driver for the day

A rainy-day plan

Victoria's autumn and winter are damp, and the Gardens are an outdoor attraction. The Gardens are an outdoor attraction, and the greenhouse tours and restaurants give you indoor time, but a wet day changes the pacing. Check the day's status on the official site before you leave, since seasonal programmes can change. Shorten the garden walk, spend longer over lunch and keep the driver on call for an earlier pickup if the weather turns. Gravel paths hold puddles; closed shoes and a compact umbrella are worth carrying. Pack a change of shoes for the car, because the return drive is the one part of the day when you are sitting still and cold.

Pairing the Gardens with the mainland

Many visitors reach Vancouver Island at the end of a Vancouver stay. If you are doing both, a sensible order is the city first and the island second, because the ferry crossing is easier to schedule when the mainland sights are already behind you. Our Vancouver guides cover the best of the city by car: a seawall loop at Stanley Park, the market at Granville Island and the gondola at Grouse Mountain each work as a half-day, and the same desk can arrange the Vancouver leg and the island leg under one booking reference.

Reserve your chauffeur

Working with us

LimousineWorldwideDirectory.com books every transfer through a 24/7 desk, then hands it to a vetted, licensed, insured local operator on Vancouver Island, with one confirmation and one invoice. Vehicles are late-model and fully maintained, and the exact model is confirmed at booking. A First Class Sedan suits a couple; a Luxury SUV carries up to six; larger groups can ask for an Executive Sprinter or a mini-coach on request. Child seats can be requested.

Tourism offices and concierges can use a trade account for guest transfers. You can read more about guided versus self-directed days on our private tours with driver page, find other places on the attractions hub and see the regional picture on the North America directory.

Official sources

• The Butchart Gardens for events, tickets, passes and hours.
• Getting to the Gardens for distances, buses, taxis and ferries.
• Tourism Victoria for visitor information; the Visitor Centre is at 812 Wharf Street.