Places to Explore

• Cowichan Valley

  The Cowichan people were on to something when they called this fertile valley north of Victoria "The Warm Land." The region, roughly from Mill Bay to Ladysmith, is said to be blessed with the warmest year-round... (more)

• Downtown Victoria

• Galiano Island

  Galiano, with its 26-km-long (16-mi-long), unbroken eastern shore and cove-dotted western coast is arguably the prettiest of these islands. It's certainly the best for hiking and mountain biking, with miles... (more)

• Mayne Island

  The smallest of the Southern Gulf Islands, Mayne also has the most visible history. The buildings of Miners Bay, the island's tiny commercial center, date to the 1850s, when Mayne was a stopover for prospectors... (more)

• Oak Bay, Rockland, and Fairfield

  The winding shady streets of Victoria's older residential areas—roughly bordered by Cook Street, Fort Street, and the seaside—are lined with beautifully preserved Victorian and Edwardian homes... (more)

• Pender Island

  Just a few miles north of the U.S. border, Pender is actually two islands: North Pender and South Pender, divided by a canal and linked by a one-lane bridge. Most of the population of about 2,000 cluster... (more)

• Salt Spring Island

  With its wealth of studios, galleries, restaurants, and B&Bs, Salt Spring is the most developed, and most visited, of the Southern Gulf Islands. It's home to the only town in the archipelago (Ganges)... (more)

• Sidney and the Saanich Peninsula

  Home to the B.C. and Washington State ferry terminals as well as the Victoria International Airport, the Saanich Peninsula, with its rolling green hills and small family farms, is the first part of Vancouver... (more)

• Sooke and the Southwest Coast

  The village of Sooke, on the shore of Juan de Fuca Strait, about a 30-minute drive west of Victoria, has two claims to fame: it's home to Sooke Harbour House, one of Canada's best-known country inns, and... (more)