Anchoring the southeastern corner of
Vancouver Island, the city of Victoria has become one of
the continent's favorite tourist destinations. Conde Nast
Traveler magazine listed Victoria as one of the five most
pleasant cities in the world to visit. Established by the
Hudson's Bay Company when the Oregon Treaty was signed,
Victoria has lost its early roughshod atmosphere and is
an oasis of British Columbia gentility, where high tea in
the Fairmont Empress Hotel has become a standing
tradition.
Victoria has shed some of its
more-English-than-England atmosphere over the past 30
years, and has become the fully modern capital of the
province with a distinctive ambience. The people are
friendly, the pace is leisurely and a variety of
attractions and recreation bring people back to Victoria
again and again. It is also a popular retirement city.
What to See & Do
The Inner Harbour provides a focal point for
visitors, with the local infocentre located under an art
deco tower. Here are the terminals for ferries to Seattle
and Port Angeles, Washington, and seaplane flights to
Vancouver. Across the harbor are the B.C. Parliament
Buildings, which sparkle at night with hundreds of
lights. An excellent introduction to the province is a
visit to the Royal B.C. Museum, located next to
the Parliament Buildings. This major museum concentrates
on B.C.'s natural history and native heritage. More
history can be soaked up at Fort Rodd Hill, an 1896
British bastion, now operated as a national historic
site.
Bastion Square in the downtown area is the site
of old Fort Victoria (1843). Craigdarroch Castle,
a Victorian mansion built by coal magnate Robert
Dunsmuir, is open for tours.
Visiting Victoria's Parks & Gardens
The greater Victoria area is blessed with many gardens
and parks. The most famous and extensive of these is
Butchart Gardens, located in Sidney near the
Swartz Bay ferry docks. At any time of the year Butchart
Gardens provides a panorama of flowers, trees and shrubs
in what was once a huge gravel pit. The gardens of
Government House, the residence of B.C.'s Lieutenant
Governor, are open to the public daily. The city has a
wide range of hotels, motels and bed & breakfast
places, some of them surprisingly inexpensive during the
off-season.
Other Attractions
Travel by car to the outskirts of Victoria is
recommended: to Saanich Inlet, Sidney and Cowichan Bay
where boat rentals, guides and tackle are available.
Sooke, west of Victoria, is part of a scenic natural
area, perfect for picnics or for sophisticated dining
(more on this later).
Golf courses within the city include Uplands,
Cedar Hill and Gorge Vale. Glen Meadows Golf Club is at
West Saanich & McTavish.
Miniature World is a two-minjte walk from the
Fairmont Empress Hotel, and is a longstanding and very
popular attraction -- a world of smallness for kids and
adults. You'll see the world's smallest operational
sawmill, two of the world's largest doll houses, one of
the world's largest model railroads, plus circus
displays, and an Enchanted Valley of Castles. Special
effects in lighting, sound and animation help to create a
memorable experience. Open every day.It's located at 649
Humboldt St. in downtown Vistoric. For information, call
(250) 385-9731.
Short Drives from Victoria
Forest Backroads
There are two kinds of roads on Vancouver Island: the
normal paved highways and logging roads, which are built
and maintained by logging companies. One "mainline"
logging road, which offers an important recreation access
route, is the Cowichan Lake-to-Port Renfrew Road in the
southwest corner of the island, an hour's drive north of
Victoria. This partially-paved road begins in the
Cowichan Valley, in the community of Cowichan Lake near
Duncan. It then leads cross-country to several camping
areas in the forest lands and to the village of Port
Renfrew. Cowichan Lake is one of the most popular
vacation destinations on the island. Port Renfrew is the
access point for the southern trailhead for the West
Coast Trail of Pacific Rim National Park. This road also
provides access to several other roads that lead toward
the west coast of the island, including the towns of Port
Alberni and Bamfield.
Day Trip to Parksville & Fir Tree Groves
Some of the best preserved groves of old-growth
Douglas fir trees are found within an hour's drive of
Parksville, which is north of Nanaimo and two hours'
drive from Victoria. Leaving Parksville for an outing,
take Highway 4 west toward Port Alberni. Along the way
there is access to several provincial parks that contain
striking geological and forest attractions. The first is
Englishman River Falls Provincial Park, 9 km (5.6 miles)
south of the main highway. The park has a large
campground, a gorge and waterfall. There is good fishing
for steelhead, rainbow and cutthroat trout. Back on Hwy.
4, there is another waterfall at Little Qualicum Falls
Provincial Park. Take the marked road north for 4.5 km,
and you'll see more beautiful falls and forest groves.
The park features swimming and canoeing.
Returning to Highway 4, Cameron Lake Picnic Park is a
good place for lunch and more fishing. At the end of
Cameron Lake is Cathedral Grove, part of MacMillan
Provincial Park. Here are some of the largest remaining
Douglas fir trees on Vancouver Island, set aside by
Harvey R. MacMillan (whose company became MacMillan
Bloedel) and presented them to the province. There are
walking trails and picnic areas in the park.
If you haven't seen enough scenery after all this, Mt.
Arrowsmith Regional Park offers alpine hiking and fishing
at this wintertime ski area.
