June 30th, 2013
In this record heat-wave weekend, the Pacific Northwest basked in glorious sun and mid-80°F. We dusted off our sunglasses and tried hard to rub some tan into our fish belly skin tone. It was a perfect weekend to visit Victoria.
Victoria City is part of Vancouver Island which is part of the British Columbia province of Canada. Geographically, it is actually closer to the USA, only a few miles from San Juan and about 80 miles north of Seattle. It is a small tourist town teeming with shops, hotels, restaurants, and bars. The Inner Harbor was busy with all kinds of activities. Most people were simply relaxing and enjoying the nice day.
Butchart Gardens (Canadians say Butch-Art, instead of Bu-Chart) is a must-see. There are all kinds of arrangements available to get there. A bus ride that includes the admission is slightly less than $60. If you are disciplined on time, you can also take bus ($2.50 plus admission at about $30). This garden is worth about 2 hours of casual walking around. If you stop to smell every rose, it will take all day.
Other than eating, drinking, and shopping, there are several nice museums. The Royal BC Museum is about natural history. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is more about art. To go there from downtown, take any bus at the corner of Fort and Douglas and head east. Get off at Fernwood. While you are there, visit Craigdarroch Castle to understand what it mean to display wealth conspicuously. To get back to town, walk up one block to Yates and reverse your previous route. Buses are pretty much the only transaction that does not accept US money. So get your Canadian money ready.
The heavily promoted afternoon tea at Empress Hotel is staggering $60 each person. Instead, we went to Murchie’s on Government Street and spent less than that for all 4 of us. The teas, coffee, and munchies were excellent. Of course we did not get fancy china, classy furniture, and grandiose decor. But I would probably pick Murchie’s over Empress every time.
Other than Butchart Gardens, I cannot come up with many things Victoria has and Seattle does not. The inner harbor is very concentrated and everything is within walking distance, kind of like Pike Place Market. The bars and restaurants are about the same density and quality as Belltown and Queen Anne. If one is willing to go 30 minutes away from the city, there are also some very naturally beautiful places surrounding Seattle. I guess it is a nice weekend get-away for Pacific Northwesterners and a reasonable destination for far-away tourists who are also visiting Vancouver City. Definitely use Clipper for transportation if you start at Seattle. While you are there, check out the combo packages. Sometimes there are good deals.