Having just returned from another enjoyable trip to Victoria I am happy that my family and I have th

Having just returned from another enjoyable trip to Victoria I am happy that my family and I have the town down and can go spend a few days of fun there without toronto hotel deals breaking our stride with missteps, such as, for example, visiting the heavily advertised Craigdarroch Castle. Clearly this place is some people s cup of tea, but in our opinion (formed from a regretful visit there years ago) it is a drab tourist trap. Here are a few tips you might find useful if you feel inspired to cross the water over to our lively, friendly, and less rainy Canadian neighbor, rightfully known as The City of Flowers.
We drove approximately 1.5 hours from Bainbridge Island to Port Angeles to catch the 2pm Black Ball ferry to Victoria. Having made a reservation on-line ahead of time, we arrived an hour early, as instructed. You now need a passport to visit Canada, so if yours are expired, get them renewed, toronto hotel deals stat. It takes about six weeks for the application process, but you can pay extra for expedited passports, which takes about half the normal time. We read in the car and played games to pass the time. We avoided buying crummy overpriced food on the ferry by bringing our own snacks and water. toronto hotel deals After the 90-minute ferry trip, we read more while waiting for the customs line coming off the boat.
We drove from the ferry four blocks to our inexpensive, comfortable, and excellently situated hotel, The James Bay Inn, where we had made a reservation a few weeks in advance. The James Bay Inn is a historic building that was once the home of Canada s beloved artist Emily Carr. The building is now a busy inn with spacious rooms, basic but adequate amenities, toronto hotel deals a pleasant staff, and great prices. They offer free parking, a mini-fridge, free Wi-Fi, lounges, an ice machine, and a discount at the popular restaurant/pub downstairs. The only complaints we could come up with are that they do not have hair dryers, their televisions toronto hotel deals and showers are small, and their light switches are placed in puzzlingly impractical locations. We don t mind the old-building funky factor and love that it is not a large, generic, oversized building with windows that don t open. The best thing about this hotel, aside from its truly great prices and general civility, is its location.
The James Bay Inn is four blocks south of downtown Victoria, a pleasant four-block walk from The Empress Hotel, the BC Museum (well worth a visit), the IMAX theater, the historic toronto hotel deals British Columbia government building, the ferry terminal, and James Bay. Although The James Bay Inn is close to so much action, it is on a relatively quiet, tree-lined street. Best of all, it is one block from the wonderful Beacon Hill Park. Beacon Hill Park is a huge city park with trails, flowers, play parks, gardens, ponds, fountains, old growth toronto hotel deals trees, extraordinary bird life, a charming petting farm, and one of the most important heron nesting sites in the Pacific Northwest.
On our first evening in Victoria, we rode our bikes around Beacon Hill Park to check on the heronry. Signs informed us that the herons toronto hotel deals were nesting late this year, with their eggs not hatched yet, so we left them in peace to roost, happy to know they were alive and well and fulfilling their seasonal cycle.
My family spent the morning munching on breakfast, purchased from a neighborhood toronto hotel deals food shop (built in 1915), while sitting in Beacon Hill Park observing ducklings, herons, geese, and free-ranging toronto hotel deals peacocks enact strikingly humanlike behaviors, including territorialism, jealousy, ferocious loyalty, and spring-fever madness. I ventured north on the Lochside biking trail and met up with them at Butchart Gardens, receiving zealously friendly help with directions on my merry way. The Lochside trail, part of the Galloping Goose Trail, is a bit dicey downtown but is worth the effort toronto hotel deals once it veers off into wooded and farmy terrain.
Butchart Gardens is a must-see Victoria treasure, worthy of all the hype. Since we always go to Victoria toronto hotel deals in May, we get to see the tulips at Butchart in their Victorian splendor. It is pleasant to have lunch there (even if it is overpriced) and take your time meandering toronto hotel deals around toronto hotel deals the various gardens. Kids will enjoy a ride on the new carousel. Don t miss the Sunken Garden in the old quarry and the Japanese Garden. Take a moment to consider toronto hotel deals the accomplishment of Mrs. Butchart and her family, the creative force behind this extraordinarily lovely and unlikely place of stunning beauty and ingenuity.
With an early start, I ventured on my bicycle northwestward along the Galloping Goose Trail, which proved maddeningly difficult toronto hotel deals to follow through urban/suburban neighborhoods and busy streets, interspersed with rewardingly lovely views of Esquimalt Harbour and tree-lined streets snowing pink blossoms profusely everywhere. Turning south, I rode back downtown to connect with The Seaside Touring Route, a lovely if busy bike route (shared with cars) starting downtown and heading along the coastline eastward and then northward, toronto hotel deals through residential neighborhoods, past a coastal off-leash dog area, and past more upscale homes.
My family met me for a picnic lunch at the Ross Bay Cemetery, a lovely, fascinatingly old reprieve from the traffic of the Seaside Touring Route. After reading two-hundred-year-old grave sites, we meandered our way back to our hotel. After a rest, we strolled into downtown Victoria, where we toured the Empress Hotel, including their famous tea room, where visitors can enjoy high tea and delectable sandwiches and desserts. We then ventured past shops and galleries into Old Town for a snack.
Later we headed over to Beacon Hill Park to visit the petting zoo, arriving in time to brush baby goats and watch the late-afternoon running-of-the-goats, a delightful daily event at the farm and a must-see for families with young children. Watch the video of the Running toronto hotel deals of the Goats.
The morning of our departure, toronto hotel deals it was raining hard. Feeling graced by the weather gods, we departed Victoria on the morning ferry, ready to go home and looking forward, in time, to another visit to the City of Flowers.
Tags: Bainbridge Island to Port Angeles , BC Museum , Beacon Hill Park , Beacon Hill Park petting zoo , bike route , Black Ball ferry , British Columbia government building , Butchart Gardens , Canada , City of Flowers toronto hotel deals , Craigdarroch Castle , cup of tea , downtown Victoria , Emily Carr , Empress Hotel , Empress Hotel high tea , Esquimalt Harbour , expedited passports , families with young children , Galloping Goose Bike Trail , goat stampede toronto hotel deals , heron nesting sites , heronry , James Bay , James Bay Inn , Japanese Garden , Lochside Bike Trail , Mrs. Butchart , off-leash dog area , Pacific Northwest , passports to visit Canada , Ross Bay Cemetery , Sunken Garden , the running of the goats , the Seaside Touring Route , Victoria , Victoria BC , visiting Victoria , Visiting Victoria: A Travel Log
2492 3 Responses http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidebainbridge.com%2F2011%2F05%2F15%2Fvisiting-victoria-a-travel-log%2F Visiting+Victoria%3A+A+Travel+Log 2011-05-16+04%3A21%3A13 Julie+Hall toronto hotel deals http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidebainbridge.com%2F%3Fp%3D2492 to Visiting Victoria: A Travel Log
Thanks Monica. I sincerely hope this information toronto hotel deals helps you and your family have a great visit. toronto hotel deals I look forward to a report on your Victoria trip and any additional tips you can offer. P.S. We are still working to get our video up of the running-of-the-goats, which is pretty toronto hotel deals darn sweet to see.
[ ] is a delightful daily ritual at the petting zoo at Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, Canada (go here to read our travel log about Victoria). Spring and summer bring many adorable goat kids, drawing [ ]