Me at a rodeo in Canada, I don't usually wear a stetson!
Me at a rodeo in Canada, I don't usually wear a stetson!
Member since:07.10.2002
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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!
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Nov 16th, 2004
(Oct 4th, 2005)
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