Is Victoria BC, worth visiting?
How far is Victoria from Vancouver?
What's the best way to get to Victoria?
Can you visit Victoria from Vancouver in just one day?
Victoria is definitely worth visiting! The capital of British Columbia is European in style and home to one of the world’s most beautiful harbours. The city has a grand British Colonial feel with a vibrant and youthful undercurrent that attracts younger generations. The city is located 117km (75 miles) south of Vancouver, and you can visit Victoria comfortably in one day. Travel to Victoria by seaplane as the coach and ferry service from downtown Vancouver takes too long.
Earlier this year, my partner and I started planning our summer holiday to British Columbia, Canada's westernmost province. Our aim was to include an equal mix of city & resort sightseeing along with plenty of outdoor adventure.
Ideas and Adventures: We decided to concentrate our sightseeing around the Vancouver region and spend several days exploring the outdoors around BC's famous mountain resorts. We also wanted to visit Glacier National Park and explore the Selkirk Mountain wilderness trail. The trails around Whistler were also on our wish list, including cycling parts of the Valley Trail. We had lots of great ideas and adventures on our 'to-do list' - but only 15 days to fit them all in.
We allocated 5 full days to explore the delights of Vancouver, including the nearby North Shore mountains and time allowed, we would 'squeeze in' a day visit to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia - located at the southern tip of Vancouver Island.
The distance from Vancouver to Victoria is approximately 117km (75 miles), and the journey takes 4.5 hrs by coach & ferry departing from downtown Vancouver. Although Victoria is easily accessible, the journey and travelling time needed careful planning. We had just one full day to complete our sightseeing visit to Victoria, with no spare time for an overnight stay.
As well as visiting Victoria's main attractions, we also wanted to spend a couple of hours cycling the city's renowned scenic routes. We found plenty of bike hire outlets around Victoria harbour, with most offering Mountain, Hybrid, and Touring bikes, along with good route advice. Bike hire was available with full, half day or hourly rate basis.
At the end of the day (and if time allowed), we hoped to visit one of Victoria's many friendly pubs. The Irish Times Inn looked great for a snack and a few pints of Guinness before starting our journey back to Vancouver.
This was our plan: (1) Enjoy a scenic ferry ride to Vancouver Island. (2) Discover the main sights of Victoria, cycle the city's trails and enjoy the island's stunning landscape. (3) Head back to the harbour and relax with a few beers before starting our journey back to Vancouver. Our plan looked great, but not so achievable with an 8-hour round trip coach and ferry ride departing from downtown Vancouver.
Travelling to Victoria from Vancouver (without a car):
There are basically three ways to travel to Victoria; your choice will depend on how quickly you want to get there and back, plus your travel ticket budget.
Travelling round trip to Victoria by coach and ferry can be enjoyable and very scenic (weather permitting), but perhaps not the best use of your vacation time. You have 3 main transport options:
(1). Coach & Ferry - takes just over 4 hours each way from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria and costs approx. CAD 85 each way.
(2). Sea Plane - Harbour Air Seaplane takes 40 minutes from Vancouver Harbour direct to Victoria's bustling Inner Harbour and costs approx CAD 160 CAD each way.
(Flights depart hourly from morning till evening in high season).
(3). Scheduled flights from Vancouver International to Victoria airport (located 16 miles northwest of Victoria).
The Seaplane Experience: We decided to travel both out and back by seaplane, and although flying was the more expensive option, it gave us an extra 5 hours sightseeing in Victoria and 30 minutes extra in the pub. Top Tip: Arrive early for your seaplane flight and grab yourself a window seat; you can sometimes reserve a window seat (for a small fee) at the time of booking. The views from the air over Vancouver, the Burrard Inlet, BC's coastline and the approach to Victoria harbour are all stunning (even when overcast).
If I visit Victoria a second time, I will plan my visit the same way, except perhaps spend an extra few days discovering more of the island. The seaplane flight was convenient, exciting, very scenic and worth the additional expense; both the outward an return flights provided wnforgettable (and possibly once in a lifetime) experiences.