| Place |
Notes |
Pictures |
|
Lotbiniere St.
|
The much smaller equivalent of
San Francisco's Lombard St.
There's actually a few streets that go up and down. I think
the locals call them the 7-sisters and all the hard core
runners post their Strava time for them.
Park at Government House for free.
|
|
|
Craigdarroch Castle
|
As far as I can tell this was built by a wannabe-king American
who wanted a castle.
|
|
|
Clover Point Park
|
Must go for flying kites - which reminds me I need a more
impressive kite to compete with the locals.
|
|
|
Ross Bay Cemetery
|
One of the oldest 2nd nations (?) cemeteries on the West Coast.
Very interesting to see the waves of immigrants as immortalized
by their mortality (it starts with mostly British, some Dutch,
then the Japanese came in very early 1900s, then other nations).
|
|
|
James Bay Coffee and Bookshop
|
2nd hand bookstore with lovely reading area and coffee shop.
You can spend some time reading Trotski while sipping tea here.
|
|
|
Fisherman's Wharf
|
Floating houses and fish and chips - also seals, otters and
cats - all begging for some fish. Bring your own fish to feed
the fat seals.
|
|
|
Emily Carr's house
|
Quaint house - more of a historic importance place.
|
|
|
Cardboro-Gyro Park
|
Kids between 5 to 100 will love this park - all kinds of
contraptions to play in.
|
|
|
Mount Douglas and
Mount Tolmie
|
Two peaks opposite each other in the city. You can survey the
entire region from different directions. Very pretty views
especially at sunset/sunrise- similar to Gonzales Hill Park.
|
|
|
St Charles St, Rockland Ave and Terrace Ave.
|
This is a 1.6km tour of peak British houseiness - mansions next
to mansions from the early 1900s with manicured lawns and
actual carriage houses, the polar opposite of Vancouver
mansions.
|
|
|
Esquimalt Lagoon
|
A very picturesque bike ride off the Galloping Goose Trail.
|
|
|
Hatley Castle
|
If you made it to the Esquimalt Lagoon you can go visit here
too.
|
|
|
Thetis Lake
|
So many people go swimming/stand-up paddling here - there are
many easy trails to hike around the lake and places to have a
picnic on the rocks above the water. Most teenagers jump off
the rocks - too much for my old age.
|
|
|
Dominion Observatory
|
Spend your Saturdays summer evenings star-gazing and listening
to astronomy lectures.
|
|
|
Commonwealth Place
|
AKA UBC Aquatics - this is an Olympics type swimming pool/gym
facility - very well equipped for a small city like Victoria.
|
|
|
Malahat Skywalk
|
Similar to Saarland's most
famous feature
a tree skywalk (built by the same Swiss company as the Saarland
skywalk). A little overpriced and overcrowded for my taste.
|
|
|
Gonzales Hill
|
A very sneaky park on top of a rock outcropping. There's an old
astronomical observatory locked-out on top of it.
|
|
|
Mount Newton
|
An air-traffic radar dome is perched on the peak. I thought it
was another astronomical observatory.
|
|
|
Government House
|
Open to the public for free and it has free parking if you
want to visit the Lotbiniere St. (which is adjacent to the
Government House).
|
|
|
Goldstream Trestle
|
A neat railway bridge crossing the Niagara Canyon. Be careful
you don't fall it's very tall. You can also visit Niagara Falls
(it's not that tall) and the Goldstream Hatchery while you
are there.
See
this blog
for more details.
|
|
|
The Coriander Indian Restaurant
|
At the end of the day you will be tired and hungry. The
Coriander is hands down one of the best Indian restaurants in
BC and also affordable. Their motto is "Good, Cheap, Slow -
you can only choose two".
I know I'm not biased when most of the local indian diaspora
eats here.
|
|