This beautiful place is the capital of British Columbia and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island 100 km from Vancouver city on the mainland.
Named after Queen Victoria; it boasts colorful gardens, a lovely harbor, magnificent architecture and a rich British ancestry, reflected in many historic buildings here …notably the Parliament building and Empress Hotel.
Having a temperate climate and being generally snow free; it is called the “garden city”.
A jewel in British Columbia, this place lost its commercial importance to Vancouver after the Canadian Pacific Railway terminus came up at Vancouver.
Our Trip:
We had booked a day tour of Victoria through Super Vacations and they picked us up from our hotel. We were driven to the ferry terminal and the bus boarded the lower deck of the ferry. The vehicles are parked in the lower decks of the ferry and passengers occupy the upper decks. Alighting from the bus in the lower deck , we climbed to the upper deck with a view to the open sea.
The lower deck on the ferry with vehicles and upper deck with passengers
After alighting from the ferry at Victoria we were given some time to explore the area. We walked around enjoying the beauty of this place.
As mentioned earlier, there are a couple of historic buildings here…notably the Parliament building which houses the Legislative assembly of British Columbia and the Empress Hotel
Some pictures…
The Parliament Building
The Empress Hotel
Walking along the harbor front, there were some great views….
A seaplane….a common sight in Vancouver and Victoria
The Marina with yachts…
From March to October every year, thousands of whales migrate through the waters that surround Vancouver Island, making it one of the best locations for whale watching
A whale watching tour operator invites you with this lovely figurine
A beautiful street in Victoria
Another major attraction here is the Beacon Hill Park. Set in nearly 200 acres, this park is popular among the tourists and locals. It has woodland trails , tennis courts, ponds and of course is beautifully landscaped . It also houses a large totem pole.
The Butchart Gardens:
After spending time along the water front, we were taken to The Butchart Gardens. It is designated a National Historic Site Of Canada.
This garden is actually a converted abandoned stone quarry. It is really an example of how proper planning and implementation can convert ordinary places into wonderful tourist destinations. It is actually a group of floral display gardens. There is a Japanese garden,Italian Garden, Rose garden etc.
The featured image in this blog is that of a walkway in Butchart Gardens..
Some pictures…
The Beautiful Entrance
After we finished seeing this beautiful garden, we were driven back to the ferry and sailed back to Vancouver…
A tiring but fulfilling day came to an end…but we still had another beautiful day ahead of us….the trip to Whistler…. See you next week at Whistler before we head for the southern hemisphere….
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