Victoria and Vancouver Island

Victoria and Vancouver Island Travel Guide

Worth the trip for the ferry ride alone, Victoria is a stunner. The capital of British Columbia, it's full of stately Victorian structures such as the Parliament Buildings, outlined at night with thousands of starry lights. Victoria grew up Anglophile but has been reinventing itself as a city of the Pacific Rim, with due regard for its Asian and native heritage. You can still find a proper afternoon tea, but you'll also find the country's oldest and most intact Chinatown and, at the Royal British Columbia Museum, the definitive First Peoples exhibit. Don't miss Beacon Hill Park; it provides spectacular views of the Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as well as a slim chance for baseball fans to get hooked on cricket. North of town, Butchart Gardens' 55 glorious acres are a celebration of flowers and garden styles -- Japanese, Italian, rose -- with summer fireworks and live music.

Farther north, the rest of Vancouver Island stretches 483 km (300 mi) end to end -- North America's largest Pacific coastal island. At Strathcona Provincial Park, in the middle of the island, stargazers escape the haze of city lights, as do hikers, canoeists, and campers. Whales and seals are among the sights at the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, but winter storms, symphonic in their grandeur, are the draw for tempest lovers. At the park's northern edge are funky, charming Tofino and island-dotted Clayoquot Sound, where lodging options include high-end wilderness retreats. What you can't put a price on is the experience, spiritual for many, of the stillness, the clarity of light, the beauty all around.