Call me biased, hey, call me what you like, but I love Victoria, in BC, Canada. I would go so far as to say it is one of my favourite cities in the world. I ended my honeymoon there in August 2004, having flown in to Calgary and travelled across the Rockies to Vancouver. That was my third ... Read review
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Advantages: Clean, safe and compact Disadvantages: It's a long way from England
...was my third trip to Victoria and it didn't disappoint me.
I first visited Victoria in 1978 and stayed for 5 weeks. Next was 1994 for just under 3 weeks and then 5 days at the end of my honeymoon. I think my holiday memories from 1978 have had a huge influence on my love of the place. Each visit has just confirmed my feelings though.
So, where is it? Victoria is on the south east tip of Vancouver Island, on the west ... ...
To get to Victoria from the UK you will have to fly into Vancouver which is eight and a half hours direct. You can then either get another flight into Victoria airport, which takes about 20 minutes or take the ferry across which takes an hour and a half. If you are flying in, you can then take a taxi or bus to the downtown area. A bus will cost about £2 each but will take you an hour, a taxi is a lot quicker but needless to say costs a lot ... more
Call me biased, hey, call me what you like, but I love Victoria, in BC, Canada. I would go so far as to say it is one of my favourite cities in the world. I ended my honeymoon there in August 2004, having flown in to Calgary and travelled across the Rockies to Vancouver. That was my third trip to Victoria and it didn't disappoint me.
I first visited Victoria in 1978 and stayed for 5 weeks. Next was 1994 for just under 3 weeks and then 5 days at the end of my honeymoon. I think my holiday memories from 1978 have had a huge influence on my love of the place. Each visit has just confirmed my feelings though.
So, where is it? Victoria is on the south east tip of Vancouver Island, on the west coast of Canada. The island is 276 miles long and averages 48 miles wide. Being in quite a sheltered spot it has quite a moderate climate compared to most of Canada and does not suffer from the extremely cold winters.
To get to Victoria from the UK you will have to fly into Vancouver which is eight and a half hours direct. You can then either get another flight into Victoria airport, which takes about 20 minutes or take the ferry across which takes an hour and a half. If you are flying in, you can then take a taxi or bus to the downtown area. A bus will cost about £2 each but will take you an hour, a taxi is a lot quicker but needless to say costs a lot more.
A recommended route, if you have the time, is to pick up a Pacific Coach Lines coach at the Vancouver Pacific Central Station. The ticket price, about £15, will cover the cost of the ferry and will drop you off in the heart of the downtown area. The ferry ride across to Vancouver Island is incredibly picturesesque, with the ferry negotiating a path between numerous pine covered islands on route.
The downtown area is quite compact with most of the shopping and tourist attractions being centred around Douglas Street and the inner harbour area. In summer, hundreds of hanging baskets are suspended from the globe shaped street lights making it very pretty. You will also see London buses used for sightseeing. It all adds to the genteel atmosphere and what the Canadians like to think of as the Englishness of Victoria - I wouldn't go that far though. Since when do you get snow capped coastal mountains, whale watching tours and sea planes in an English seaside town?
The downtown area is very easy to walk around, although you can also take horse drawn carriage rides. The buses work on a zone fare system, with rides in the downtown area being about a pound per trip. Taxis are plentiful but as always can be expensive.
The inner harbour is dominated by the Parliament building, built in 1897, and The Fairmont Empress Hotel. At night the Parliament building is illuminated by hundreds of light bulbs and is well worth a look. The Empress Hotel is famous for its afternoon tea. You need to book ahead and dress for the occasion. Also in the harbour area is the Provincial Museum which houses a superb collection of Native American artifacts. Just outside is Thunderbird Park which is a collection of totem poles.
Other attractions in the harbour area, beside the street artists and buskers, are the wax works, including the obligatory chamber of horrors. However, the only real horrors are the likeness of the models! Good for a laugh but don't expect real likenesses. The Pacific Undersea Gardens is a large aquarium and quite good. Miniature World is a vast collection of working models, quite interesting and has been there for at least 25 years (I have been each time I have visited).
An absolute must though is a whale watching trip. There are a number of operators with offices in and around the harbour and it is worth checking the price, length of trip and whether a naturalist (who knows about the fauna, not someone who is starkers!) goes on the trip with you. Trips usually last a couple of hours and you will see the harbour seals, bird life and the main attraction - whales. In the summer months you should see familys, called pods, of Orcas (Killer Whales) or even a Grey Whale. I can't begin to tell you how exciting it is. Trips cost about £40 and are really worth the money.
Just a stone throw from the harbour is Chinatown. It is worth checking out Fan Tan Alley which is only about four feet wide in places. It was used in the Mel Gibson film "Bird on a Wire". He rides down it on a motorbike with Goldie Hawn on the back.
For all the gardeners, it is well worth taking a coach trip to the world famous Butchart Gardens. Coaches can be taken from the coach station located beside The Empress Hotel. The gardens are about 13 miles from Victoria and were built in an old limestone quarry. There are various themed gardens and in the evenings fireworks displays are set to music, with the gardens illuminated.
If you fancy a day at the beach, you can catch a bus on Douglas down to Oak Bay. It takes about half an hour on the bus. You can hop off the bus in Oak Bay and wander around the shops and then walk down to Willows beach from there, which takes about 5 minutes. The beach is very clean and beautifully sandy. Across the water you can see the coastline of America.
Another good day trip is to the timber town of Chemainus. Faced with a downturn in the lumber market, the town faced financial ruin. They came up with the idea of getting well known Canadian artists to paint murals around the town. The paintings have become a tourist attraction and are well worth a visit. Again, coach trips are available.
If you want a really different experience, why not go and see a game of lacrosse. Now I know that conjures up images of St Trinians but trust me, school girl lacrosse this is not, I used to play it, so I should know. The home team is the Victoria Shamrocks and they play box lacrosse. The sport is played indoors and is really tough. It is a bit like comparing ice hockey with school hockey. Box lacrosse is a uniquely Canadian form of lacrosse and is played in an indoor hockey rink with the players kitted out like American footballers. They all wear shoulder, elbow and kidney pads, padded gloves and a helmet with a face cage. That should give you an indication of the speed and ferocity of the game.
Hotels and restaurants are plentiful in Victoria, along with shops - a lot of which are souvenir shops though, selling the usual rubbish. If you are booking a hotel, it is worth checking the address. Even if it is on Douglas Street, it does not necessarily mean it is in a downtown location. Douglas Street is very long! A good point of reference is The Crystal Gardens which are 713, Douglas Street and just behind The Empress Hotel. The Sandman Hotel is 2852, Douglas Street and about a 25 minute walk from the Crystal Gardens. If the hotel address is between the two, you can guage how near to the main attractions you are.
There is so much to see in Victoria, you can easily spend a couple of weeks there. The people are friendly, attractions and eating out is relatively cheap given the current exchange rate of over $2 to the pound. Getting around is easy and accomodation is plentiful.
Are there any draw backs? Hey, don't ask me, I'm biased!
Advantages: Pretty city Disadvantages: a bit dull after one day.
Victoria is the Capital of British Colombia. She is located on Vancouver Island and is a very 'civilised' city, in the sense that one has the feeling that you are still in 50s Britain (in the nicest sense, with a much more cosmopolitan nature!). Vancouver Island has many many great features but as I am concentrating on just Victoria, I will attempt to limit myself. Built on a harbour (known as the Inner Harbour), which forms the centrepiece of the ... ...highlight of my visit to Victoria without any doubt. I did lots of museums in Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, via Toronto and Ottawa, and this was my favourite by quite a way. I'm not really sure why, either, there wasn't anything particularly stunning about it, but I'd recommend a visit anyhow. The thing that really fascinated me, was, a little un-PC this, and please excuse me, vegetarians, the dead birds. They have stuffed animals like a lot ...
womble 28.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Victoria (Canada)
Advantages: Beautiful, idyllic island that will make you want to stay forever Disadvantages: Your own transport is a necessity
...hour ferry ride out of Victoria – whether you want to go for a week or stay for your life you won’t be disappointed!
I went to Canada to see one of my oldest, closest, and most attractive friends - Jennifer Lyons. As well as seeing a lot of Victoria and Vancouver it was SSI that will always be closest to my heart. The views on the ferry ride alone are enough to make your eyes water!
There are a few towns around the island but I’d ... ...a familiarisation flying lesson in Victoria and I chose the option of flying over SSI! The place looks even more fantastic from the air than it does from the ground and it was terrific being able to pick out landmarks and places I had been! :) This sort of flight is very economical – less than £20 I seem to remember – and it’s a great introduction to flying! If you ever go ask for Steve or Jennifer (yep THAT Jennifer) who are both ...
tekk 17.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Victoria (Canada)
Advantages: first time whale watchers can see minkie whales Disadvantages: waste of time if you have seen minkie whales before
We travelled to Victoria from Vancouver with the ferry. The scenery from the island is amazing. Although I didn't go to the museum or the famous garden, I heard that they are well worth going to.
On one of the days we spent at Victoria we went whale watching. On the way to where we thought the whales were we were told had to stop off and rescue a boat with crew who had been stranded on some mud flats. We never heard any more about them - maybe they ... ...birds on an island which cut in to our time, although they were beautiful birds it was meant to be whale watching. We then went to see an eagles nest. Finally we arrived at the spot where the whales were - I could have guessed where they were because there were about 5 other boats circling an area - oh what a surprise when some whales surfaced. However, we only saw a couple of small minkie whales on the trip.
We headed back to the dock when we were ...
chrisfisherman 25.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Victoria (Canada)
Advantages: pretty, clean, great value and relaxing! Disadvantages: not enough time in the day to enjoy it!
...here. To a visitor Victoria wouldn’t be much unless you had a good map and knew where to go(you can’t get lost). The focal point of Victoria is the inner harbour as it’s the heart of the city. This is great on summer evenings – you can hear music, the calm water, the well lit parliament building, pretty hanging baskets…truly a great experience in such a short space. Near this spot is Government Street. Here you have a quiet street with plenty of ... ...The Cheesecake café is a must see. If you want to see a mall…the newly named Bay Centre is on Government st too…For a multi level mall, it hides well and does not impose itself on the smaller stores.
This a walking city and if you are wondering about public transportation, it’s the best I have come across. The drivers are almost tour guides and friendly, CAN$1.75 gets you to any destination within the city. Willows Beach is a MUST see, and you even ...
fowzie 29.03.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Victoria (Canada)
Victoria is a great place to start exploring Vancouver Island. There are frequent, excellent whale watching and sightseeing trips to the San Juan islands from the city, a fantastic museum and some excellent hotels. The famous West Coast Trail is close by - a decent drive that is. There are mountains to explore on the island and old forests, but beware of clearcuts which can be depressing. Parts of the island are awesome including, Clayoquot Sound, ... ...population of cougar on the island and a good few bears. Orcas live in and migrate through the waters around the island, and you can regularly see grey whales from Tofino. Humpbacks migrate past here too. Most people have never heard of Vancouver Island unless they like to cut down trees, which is a shame because you could spend a month here and be stimulated every day. Our own personal favourite is secluded Gabriola Island where you can sit on the ...
Saturn 12.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Victoria (Canada)
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At all cost I try to avoid flying charter but at the time of booking my holiday to Victoria, (BC, Canada) I preferred to have the extra £200 in my pocket than in an airlines, so one of the the Canadian charter company's Air Transat were offering the best deal and I booked with them.
Apart from saving money the other advantage of flying Air Transat was that I could fly to Vancouver without having to change planes (I'm a strong believer that if you don't change planes you have more chance of getting your luggage at the other end and less chance of being delayed).
Although I was going to Victoria it was much cheaper to get a ferry from Vancouver than another flight.
All booked I arrive at Manchester Airport July 6th, at least 3 hours before the flight, as recommended by the airline. The que I was faced with was unreal but I kept ...
nicolasreed 24.09.2001 (12.10.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Air Transat
Advantages: Scenery to die for and more importantly whales watching! Disadvantages: It is hard to get around once you're there.
I spent about a week on Vancouver Island back in 2002 during a trip to British Columbia and Washington State. I travelled alone which was an interesting experience. I am glad I did it but in honesty I would have preferred company. Vancouver Island is a beautiful place, with a long and rugged coastline, a plenthora of marine and other wildlife, topped of with a backdrop of the rocky mountains on the mainland in the distance. Heaven to the eyes.
Facts about Vancouver Island
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Vancouver Island is situated off the West Coast of Canada and at 32,134 square kilometres it is the largest North American island in the Pacific. It is part of the province of British Columbia and has a total population of approximately 600,000. Its largest City, Victoria (population 300 ...
As part of a trip across Canada my boyfriend and I made Ottawa our second stop. The Parliament Buildings were the first things on our 'to do in Ottawa' list. We definately weren't disappointed by them.
HISTORY:
The history of the Parliament Buildings is interwoven with the history of Canada. I'll try to give some idea of the history of the buildings without it sounding too much like a history lesson! In 1857 Queen Victoria was asked to chose a capital for the Province of Canada and she chose Ottawa. The Parliament Buildings, which consist of a Centre Block and East and West Blocks, were completed between 1859 and 1866. In 1867 Confederation was introduced in Canada and the buildings were chosen as the seat of government of the newly formed Canada.
In 1916 fire broke out in the Centre Block, believed to have been started ...
