A CAPITAL PLACE

When visiting beautiful and scenic Victoria, be sure to talk to strangers!

- Maria Powell

I first fell in love with the charm of Victoria, B.C., when I visited soon after moving west to Calgary from Atlantic Canada in 2007. The Victoria Harbour is reminiscent of the Halifax Harbour (providing a taste of home for me) and the city offers beautiful scenery, kind people and endless adventures!

Over the years, Victoria has become the vacation spot of choice for my fiancé Paul and me. Our favourite time of year to visit is in May just before the height of the tourist season, and where the weather is generally more temperate than Calgary.

We typically arrive on Thursday and stay until Sunday, spending our nights at a lovely local hotel, and our days exploring the city and beyond.

The hotel is situated on the water, and is within walking distance to downtown Victoria, which features an eclectic variety of shops and restaurants. We like to head to Victoria’s Chinatown, in particular, Fan Tan Alley, to check out a wonderful ice cream shop and a chocolatier.

Water taxis are available in regular rotation from a dock next to the hotel and they are an inexpensive and enjoyable way to reach the Fisherman’s Wharf in the Inner Harbour. Keep an eye out for harbour seals who surface from time to time along the wharf.