Tours and Tickets by Gray Line Sightseeing Victoria
Overview
Discover the best of Victoria at your own pace on a half-day Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour. The comprehensive route takes you to 15 of the city's most popular locations, including China Town, Ogden Point, Fisherman's Wharf, and Craigdarroch Castle. On board commentary offers insight into the city’s history and culture. Feel free to hop off at any destinations that interest you or simply enjoy the ride.
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Review of: Hop On Half Day Sightseeing Victoria
We lucked out during our recent, last week of February trip to Victoria in that the Hop on Hop off bus tour “opened early” for a couple of weeks. The cost of $38.00 per adult for a 24 hour pass was a great way for us to experience Victoria. We decided to ride the full 90 minute loop first, so we could decide how to spend the rest of our day using the hop on hop off options. Our tour started at 10:30 am in front of the historic Empress Hotel, which is where the kiosk is also located to buy our tickets (or you can pre purchase on line. We chose to sit outdoors on top and it was nice they provided some blankets to help keep us warm. The tour is fully narrated (recorded) and provides all the history & details you need to know about Victoria. If you know you want to visit the Craigdarroch Castle, you can also purchase your tickets here and save a couple of dollars. Check on line to find out the tour schedule – when we did the tour, the bus would return every 90 minutes to a stop and with the schedule provided, it was easy to plan the length of your visits at the stops you disembarked from the bus. We chose to spend time in Oak Bay and walked a couple of stops to get picked up at the Oak Bay Hotel. Since it had started raining by then, we chose to sit on the main level of the bus. The top seating area is the best for picture taking & enjoying the fresh air. The seats do have seat-belts and you are asked to remain seated while the bus is in motion. While on top, to let the driver know you want to get off the bus at one the the stops, you stomp your feet & he will give you time to get down the stairs to the main level of the bus. Highly recommend this tour while visiting Victoria.…
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Date of experience: February 2020
2 Helpful votes
Helpful
This is a great way to visit. The only issue we had that in November the frequency of the busses did not allow us enough time to hop on and off, too much lag between busses. We got to see the castle in Victoria, but that was all. We wound up walking through the park to get back to the Empress in time for tea! So the lack of frequency is our only complaint. …
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Date of experience: November 2019
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Review of: Hop On Half Day Sightseeing Victoria
I do not recommend this for a day trip to Victoria. Our day trip started by getting to victoria at 10:35; which meant we had to wait until noon to catch the first bus. In off season the bus only does four to five trips on it's route and it is 1.5 to 2 hours if you get off on a stop and want to get back on. It was a waste of time and we could only utilize it one way otherwise we would've missed our transport at the end of the day.…
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Date of experience: November 2019
2 Helpful votes
Helpful
Response from Vacation65925055408, Manager at Gray Line Sightseeing Victoria
Responded Jun. 2, 2020
Hello BMTRA, Thank you for your honest review. We are disappointed to hear that you did not enjoy our service. We do have less frequency during the off season as we just don't have the ridership that we do in our peak season. That being said, we would be more than happy to offer you two complimentary tickets to use at anytime. It would be wonderful if you could come back during our busy season so you can enjoy our tour. Please send an email to info@sightseeingvictoria.com to receive your complimentary tickets.
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Review of: Hop On Half Day Sightseeing Victoria
The tour guide was really awesome. I feel like some of the stops were just okay. I found the most anticipated stop, the castle, to be over rated. If you are looking for a way to spend the morning and get an overview of the area it is worthwhile, however I wish I had spent our limited time checking out the downtown area.…
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Date of experience: August 2019
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Response from Vacation65925055408, Manager at Gray Line Sightseeing Victoria
Responded Nov. 14, 2019
Hello Jacquel, Thank you for your honest review of our tour. We are pleased to hear that your guide did a terrific job. Craigdarroch Castle is a major tourist attraction here in Victoria and is usually well received. Obviously, the Castle is not for everyone and we can understand your point of view. The downtown core does have a lot to offer for people who have limited time. Our Reasons to Go brochure available on check in and on our buses is a great way to scale down on what to see and do in Victoria on a short timeline. This could be a great tool for you next time you are in Victoria. If you stop by our kiosk next time we would be more than happy to go over the brochure and give you a "must see" list, catered to your interests and likes. We hope you come back soon for another visit!
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This is one of the better hop-on, hop-off bus tours we've taken. It gave us a very comprehensive overview of the city along with some very interesting historical background. The tour takes about 1-1/2 hours and shows you many of the diverse sights of the city. It is only in English over a very understandable speaker system on the bus (I don't know what they would do if you wanted a different language). This was a very worthwhile orientation tour!…
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Date of experience: October 2019
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Response from Wander57496472268, Manager at Gray Line Sightseeing Victoria
Responded Nov. 5, 2019
Hello William, Thank you for your review. We are glad you had a lovely time!
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