Victoria Travel Forum

Hi, We are thinking for driving up from Portland, Oregon and leaving our car at Port Angeles to have less stress on a 3 day trip to victoria, (has anyone done this?) We are wondering if its easy to get around from the ferry terminal in Victoria? Are there taxis? Buses? running frequently? How far is it to downtown area...we are thinking of staying at the youth hostel..? any info would be helpful thanks!
happy travels!
Tara

Not speaking from experience, but basing this on maps of the Coho ferry route, the Coho leaves you right in downtown Victoria, along the Inner Harbour, so yes, it's super easy - couldn't be easier. There are taxis, buses, and all that, but Victoria's downtown is super tiny - everything's within the few blocks around the harbour, you'll just be walking.

Of course, after you've explored Victoria on foot, you'll probably want to head beyond Victoria, and having a car is nice for that. I always recommend driving down the coast to Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, so Sombrio Beach or Botanical Beach, about a 2 hour drive west of Victoria. The vegetation is lush and you get the old growth temperate rainforests (which are lacking in Victoria due to its dry climate and well, it's an urban center of about 300,000). However, you can certainly spend 3 days without a car in Victoria, but exploring beyond Victoria (and I'm talking beyond Greater Victoria) will be more difficult, though not impossible.

... of course, what I'm saying reflects what you're hoping to see/do in Victoria, and what you're hoping to accomplish there. Having visited many times in the past few years, I've had my fill of Victoria and there's only so many times you want to visit the same attractions before exploring beyond. But first-time visitors often wish they had more time (although they often only go for the day). So 3 days should be right.

You'll probably want to spend 3 hours at the Royal BC Museum. If you want to play up the whole British thing, having high tea will take 1-2 hours or so. Whale watching is a good 3 hours. A bus ride up to Butchart Gardens eats about 45 minutes, and then you'll want to stay there a good 3 hours or more before heading back. The shops will keep you occupied for an entire afternoon. Craigdarroch Castle (if you're really interested in the history of Victoria) could eat up 2 hours if you truly read all the info there. You can take a bus into Sidney-by-the-Sea, a charming little town north of Victoria is full of bookstores (and a fantastic antiquarian bookstore), even though it's slightly creepy because it has that "I've stumbled upon a retirement community" vibe.

If you had the car, you could do a day trip to Saltspring Island, which is another ferry ride via the BC Ferries out of Swartz Bay, a 35 minute drive north of Victoria. Very hippy, eco-friendly, artsy island full of art studios and artisan workshops open to the public.

I would drive north to BC Ferries at Tsawassen. Go early in the morning and the border shouldn't be too bad. BC Ferries is a lot less expensive but it leaves you in Sydney. It is about an hour bus ride to Victoria - the city bus is not expensive (you can get a day pass on the Ferry and tour on the city bus) . You can take a lot of buses for what you save on taking the car on the Ferry. If you want to you can rent a car for a day and still be ahead. The tours are really good and once you are in Victoria you can walk most places.