A mix of century-old and modern architecture, wide open spaces with well-tended gardens, and lots of opportunities for adventure make Victoria B.C. a popular getaway for those of us who live nearby, as well as visitors from all over the world. Though only a 2.5-hour Clipper ride from downtown Seattle, you feel like an international traveler once you dock in the quaint city. Of course, technically, you are, and the variety of languages that surround you while walking on Victoria’s sidewalks or sitting at a cafe confirms it.
Victoria brims with history and entertainment, much of which is focused in the Inner Harbor. Jay (my husband and favorite traveling companion) and I took in as much as we could in the three days we were there, so I’m going to write three blogs this week about our adventures whale watching, dining, going to museums, touring Butchart Gardens, and walking all over the city.
We took an early-morning Clipper from Seattle, which went through smooth and rough water but gave me no cause for seasickness (the crew provides medication if you think you might need it). The catamaran holds about 350 passengers and offers light meal service as well as free coffee and tea. I recommend the Northwest selection, which includes a double portion of smoked salmon with cream cheese, rye crisp, craisins and dessert. If you don’t like salmon, try the vegetarian option or the turkey/cheese croissant.
We arrived in Victoria at about 10:30 a.m. and walked to The Magnolia Hotel & Spa (above from the outside and inside the lobby), located a short block from The Empress Hotel, which is the iconic building that graces the main street of the inner harbor.
The Magnolia is a boutique hotel with lovely decor that is both modern and comfortable. Our room had a view of the bay as well as the Parliament buildings. The hotel is particularly accommodating to its guests, which return frequently for good reason. It is also within walking distance to everything, which we love because it’s the best way to experience a new place.
After walking up Government Street, which is the main tourist strip with Murchies Tea and Coffee, Munro’s Books and Roger’s Chocolates, we lunched at Catalano Restaurant & Cicchetti Bar in the lobby of The Magnolia Hotel. Since Jay and I are trying to eat healthfully, we had the quinoa and roasted vegetable salad with lettuce mix, goat cheese and fresh tuna medallions. It was superb — light and flavorful with a subtle vinaigrette dressing. The atmosphere at the Catalano is simple and elegant. It is the only tapas restaurant that I know of in Victoria, and all of the food is locally sourced and organic. Healthy cuisine with fabulous Mediterranean flavor — you can’t beat that!
Later we went on a CVS bus tour to take in the scope of Victoria. I recommend the 1.5-hour motorcoach ride because it allows passengers to hop on and off at six different stops, making it convenient to visit different parts of the city on foot. We drove through the antique district, Chinatown, the community of Oak Bay, the Fisherman’s Wharf area, and up Mount Tolmie, which gave us a 360-degree view. Later, we returned to several of these areas for more in-depth exploration.
We went to Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub & Guesthouses in Vic West, right across the Johnson Street Bridge, for dinner. With a walking/biking path along the harbor, we could have hoofed or biked it there, but we took a taxi instead, which was only about $8 Canadian. Spinnakers is the oldest privately owned and licensed brewpub in the region. The interior is a beautiful dark wood with large windows (and a large bar) that look out on Victoria’s inner harbor, providing a splendid view.
When on vacation, one must indulge a bit — and if you remember, we had a very light lunch, ahem — so we had fettuccini for dinner. Housemade fettuccini, I might add, with creamy wine sauce and chicken, mushrooms and onions for me and marinara, clam and housemade sausage for Jay. It was full of flavor and delicious!
Then, of course, we had dessert, but only because it was housemade ice cream (yeah, right) — English Toffee. Yum! I think this place is a must if you visit Victoria.
With a full day behind us, we couldn’t resist one more thing. We took in the last hour of the Royal BC Museum from 9 to 10 p.m. and saw the current exhibit about the race to the South Pole, which will be there until October. It was fascinating. There are so many things to learn about in this museum that we could have spent an entire day there, but we had many adventures ahead so we squeezed it into our first day in Victoria.
Photos by Tourism Victoria and Elizabeth Griffin.
This weekend away was courtesy of Tourism Victoria.