Getting oriented
Saanich is a district municipality on Vancouver Island within the Greater Victoria area, sitting on the Saanich Peninsula immediately north of Victoria. For a visitor, that geography matters: much of what you'll want to reach — downtown Victoria, the ferry terminals, and the airport — lies just beyond Saanich's borders, so getting around usually means connecting into the wider Greater Victoria network rather than staying within the municipality alone.
Rail, metro and tram
There is no rail, metro, or tram network to speak of in Saanich or the surrounding Greater Victoria area. Visitors should plan on buses, taxis, ride-hailing, bicycles, and their own two feet instead.
Buses and public transport
Public transit in the region is provided by BC Transit, and it is the main way to move between Saanich, Victoria, Sidney, the airport, and the ferry terminal. The network is built around a few key routes and transfer points, so a trip often means one easy connection.
- Route 70 is a limited-stop service running between the Victoria (Swartz Bay) ferry terminal and downtown Victoria via downtown Sidney and McTavish Exchange. Because it makes fewer stops, it is faster than Route 72. It operates daily with numerous trips.
- Route 72 covers the same corridor — the Swartz Bay ferry terminal to downtown Victoria via downtown Sidney and McTavish Exchange — but as a regular (non-limited-stop) service, so it takes longer.
- Route 88 links the airport, McTavish Exchange, and downtown Sidney. It runs roughly half-hourly on weekdays and hourly on weekends.
- McTavish Exchange is the key transfer point where you switch between the airport route and the routes heading into Victoria.
For a visitor arriving by ferry at Swartz Bay, Routes 70 and 72 are your connection into downtown Victoria. For a visitor arriving by plane, you take Route 88 to McTavish Exchange and transfer there to a Victoria-bound bus.
Taxis and ride-hailing
Taxis and limousines are a practical option in the Greater Victoria area, and they are readily available at major arrival points. At the Ogden Point cruise ship terminal in Victoria, for example, taxis and limos line up at the pier to meet arriving passengers. For general point-to-point trips around Saanich and into Victoria, taxis are a straightforward fallback when buses don't fit your schedule.
Walkability
Walking is an easy, free, and enjoyable way to explore the compact downtown core of Victoria, where you can move from hotel to museum to shops, stop for coffee, stroll along the harbourside, and grab a bite. Saanich itself is a separate district municipality rather than a dense downtown, so walking works best for local errands and neighbourhood exploring rather than as a way to cover the whole region.
Bicycles
Victoria is regarded as one of the most bike-friendly cities in Canada, helped along by its very mild winters. Bike rentals are widely available, and cycling is a genuinely viable way to get around. Some destinations, such as Oak Bay Marina to the east, are described as an easy bus, taxi, or bicycle ride from downtown Victoria.
Getting from the airport into the city
Victoria International Airport (YYJ) sits on the Saanich Peninsula, southwest of downtown Sidney and north of downtown Victoria. The practical public-transit route into the city works like this:
- Take Route 88 from the airport to McTavish Exchange (a short hop of a few minutes). Route 88 also continues to downtown Sidney.
- At McTavish Exchange, transfer to Route 70 (faster, limited-stop) or Route 72 (slower, more stops) for the run into downtown Victoria.
If you'd rather not manage the transfer, taxis and ride-hailing are available, and the airport is also reachable by road via Highway 17 (the Pat Bay Highway), which runs south along the Saanich Peninsula from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal area past the airport toward Victoria.
Other ways into the region
Some visitors arrive by water rather than air, and those arrivals connect to the same bus network:
- Victoria (Swartz Bay) ferry terminal, about half an hour's drive north of Victoria near Sidney, is served by BC Ferries and connects to the mainland and the Southern Gulf Islands. Routes 70 and 72 link it to downtown Victoria via Sidney.
- Victoria's Inner Harbour is a convenient port of entry right in the heart of town, serving helicopters and floatplanes, with operators including Harbour Air, Kenmore Air, and Helijet.
- Ogden Point cruise ship terminal, southwest of the downtown inner harbour, welcomes cruise ships from April through October. From there you can walk into downtown, take public buses along Dallas St., use the terminal's shuttle services, or grab a taxi or limo at the pier.
Practical tips for visitors
- Plan around McTavish Exchange if you're coming from the airport — it's where the airport route meets the Victoria-bound routes.
- Choose Route 70 over Route 72 when you want the quicker trip between the ferry terminal/Sidney area and downtown Victoria.
- Keep cash or a transit fare handy for short local bus hops, such as the buses along Dallas St. near Ogden Point.
- Renting a bike is a realistic option given the region's mild winters and bike-friendly reputation.
- For longer regional journeys, coach services such as the BC Ferries Connector (Vancouver to downtown Victoria) and IslandLink Bus (from Tofino, Campbell River, Nanaimo, and Port Alberni) supplement the local transit network.