Last Sunday afternoon, we loaded up the car with our bicycles and luggage, dropped off the pups with a dog sitter, and headed off island. We drove two hours to Port Angeles, Washington, where we spent the night before catching the early morning ferry to Victoria, Canada.
Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, sits on the southern end of Vancouver Island. Named for Queen Victoria, the city is one of the oldest in the Pacific Northwest. A fun fact about Victoria: In the latter half of the 19th century, the Port of Victoria became one of North America's largest importers of opium, serving the opium trade from Hong Kong and distribution into North America.
Chinatown
After disembarking from the ferry, we found our Airbnb condo and parked our car in the garage below the building before setting off on foot to explore the city.
Our first stop was Chinatown. Victoria's Chinatown is the second oldest in North America after San Francisco. It had its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century with the mass influx of miners from California.
We wandered the streets and came upon Fan Tan Alley, the narrowest commercial street in North America at just 4 feet wide. It's filled with boutiques and shops selling clothes, jewelry, and music. Named after the Chinese gambling game Fan-Tan, the alley was originally well known for opium factories until opium was made illegal in 1908.
Fisherman's Wharf
From there we headed down Government Street passing the famed Empress Hotel (known for its high teas) and ended up at Fisherman's Wharf, located just around the corner from Victoria’s Inner Harbour. The community is a quaint and quirky mixture of colorful floating homes, restaurants, and gift shops.
We stopped at the famed Barb's Fish & Chips for lunch. After eating, we wandered along the docks before hopping a water taxi, a tubby little yellow boat, back to Government Street.
We enjoyed the taxi ride so much, we decided to take a harbour tour on a "pickle boat." It was a great way to experience the inner harbour and Victoria's waterfront and learn about its history.
Nanaimo
The next day we drove to Vancouver Island's second-largest city of Nanaimo. It's about an hour and a half from Victoria. We rode our bikes around the city, stopped for lunch at a Thai restaurant, and then began the hunt for the real reason we traveled to Nanaimo...the Nanaimo Bar.
These bars, one of Canada's most popular desserts, were highly recommended by several dog park friends and we even had a request to bring some back with us. So, of course, we had to see what the fuss was about. The Nanaimo bar is a no-bake dessert with rich custard icing in the middle, a chocolate ganache top and a graham cracker coconut base. Many varieties exist, with multiple types of crumbs, icing flavors, and chocolate. More than three dozen different versions of the bar can be found on the Nanaimo Bar Trail. We selected several of the traditional bars plus a peanut butter version.
We tried a few bites that evening and they are a lovely mix of creamy and crunchy. As they are definitely super rich sugar bombs, we recommend cutting them into small pieces to avoid falling into a full-on diabetic coma.
The Butchart Gardens
On our third day on Vancouver Island, we checked off a bucket list item: The Butchart Gardens. The historic landmark is a 25-minute drive north of Victoria, up the Saanich Peninsula.
If you've never been, The Butchart Gardens is an internationally-renowned 55-acre display garden created from a former limestone quarry by Jennie Butchart. Still privately owned and operated by the family, it is on National Geographic's Top 10 Magnificent Gardens list. A full time staff of 50 gardeners tend five different gardens and millions of bedding plants in over 900 varieties. The Rose Garden has over 2500 rose bushes in 250 varieties.
It is truly a feast for the eyes.
All five gardens are magnificent, but our favorite was the Japanese Garden. Although it didn't have the explosion of color like the other four gardens, it was serene and peaceful.
After several hours of taking in the beauty, we headed out of the grounds. As we were exiting we overheard a rave review by another visitor:
"I don't really care about flowers that much, but I guess there's some nice ones here."
She gets the award for Understatement of the Year.
The Goose
Victoria is often referred to as the bicycle capital of Canada, so on our fourth and final day on the island we decided on a bike ride on the Galloping Goose Trail. The trail, known as "The Goose," is a very popular multi-use route used for both for commuting and recreation. The 40-mile long stretch of paths that moves through urban, rural, and wilderness scenery, was originally a freight railway line built during the First World War and converted to a spectacular rail-trail in 1987. The Galloping Goose Trail is named for a noisy gas rail-car that carried passengers between Victoria and Sooke in the 1920’s.
There were many people walking, running, and cycling on The Goose that day, so it isn't just a mecca for MAMiL (Middle Aged Men in Lycra), although we did spot a few of that particular species on the trail.
We rode several hours through all types of terrain. We traveled along the harbour and through beautiful stretches of forest before arriving at the town of Colwood where we stopped for lunch before heading back to Victoria.
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So glad you went there. Sorry no on told us about the dessert bars. I loved the gardens.
Hope to see you soon.
Love the tales of your adventures! And, yeah, there were a few pretty flowers 🤣😉🪷 The gardens sound heavenly. ⛲️
Very Nice! You both look good and what a lovely relay of your experiences!
Beautiful! And it's so funny, my email feed sent me a list of recipes for the best bar cookies. On the list? Nanaimo bars, which were described as really popular in British Columbia and largely unknown in the States. I saved the recipe! And then I read your blog and here they are again. I think it's the cosmos telling me I have to make these. Or maybe it's that I have to get my butt to Victoria. I really want to see Butchart, which I've heard about but never seen in person.
What a great trip!
What a great finale to an amazing summer.😀 Loved the photos and the facts about each.
Awesome pics!
We visited Victoria as part of a vacation where we split time between Victoria and Whistler. We did a kayak tour to look for Killer whales, which was really cool. I would like to go back and see some of the places you visited.
What thorough travelers you two are, with very good descriptive skills. Thanks for all the sharing you’ve done. Makes me miss the pacific NW! The comments one hears are a hoot. Our experience, at Tunnel View in Yosemite: “So, what’s so great about Yosemite?” People…
Keep having fun!