This was our final stop when we did our Alaska cruise. We knew it would be a Sunday night and that…read moremost businesses would be closed, so we just enjoyed walking around. Sunset at the marina was lovely and so were the lights around the Parliament buildings. We were able to stop in a couple of stores for some last-minute souvenirs that were Canada-made. It's definitely a city that we need to return to when we have time to see what else it has to offer.

Historical and modern, and also catered to the cruise ship tourists. There is a huge homeless…read morepopulation and it's paired with old money opulence; the class warfare is in full swing like many other larger cities in the world. Beautiful city and a lot of money has been invested into making the city friendly for tourists

As one of the busiest ports in Canada, they were very welcoming to us as cruise ship passengers. We…read moreeven had a shuttle bus pick us up right from the port area to take us into downtown and then back to the port. There is a small gift shop located in the port building and plenty of self parking at paid meters. The Ogden Point Cruise Terminal is also walking distance to the coastline and the Fisherman's Wharf where there are floating restaurants.

Our cruise ship arrived in Victoria at the Ogden Point Terminal, situated around 1.5 miles from the…read morecity's downtown. Victoria has been welcoming cruise ships since 1978, and is one of the busiest ports in the Alaska cruise season, hosting hundreds of ships and thousands of passengers throughout April to October, each year. The port has two piers for cruise ships that can accommodate up to three ships at any one time. Shuttle buses are available to ferry passengers from the terminal to downtown, or you can take a taxi if you have another destination in mind. In doing my research for this trip, I found it was cheaper to either take a taxi or an Uber into town instead of the bus. Rickshaw drivers and horse-drawn carriages can be found outside the cruise terminal, but they are very pricey. Inside the terminal are gift shops, an exchange bureau, and bicycle rentals.

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, known for its rich colonial history, incredible…read morewildlife, and vibrant cultural scene. Nicknamed the City of Gardens, it plays host to a plethora of open green spaces, where visitors and locals can relax. The waters around Victoria abound with life and three of the world-famous orca pods call them home. Millions visit this city every year and enjoy its natural beauty, temperate climate, and heritage charm that Victoria offers its citizens every day. Victoria is a city of neighborhoods, each with distinctive character and charm.

Victoria is a cool city to visit, or to live in. There's a lot of interesting history and…read morehistorical buildings. The downtown area offers plenty of shopping options for all budgets. The demographics here tend toward older European/white people so there's a lot of tea/coffee shops, bakeries, jigsaw puzzles, wool shops, and souvenirs. People are friendly and polite in general. Being a harbour town, you'll see ferries and boats, and seaplanes right in town. Lots of tourists and touristy things to do. Many diverse restaurants. Flowers and sculptures abound. Be sure to take in the magnificent Empress Hotel that dominates the waterfront. Explore the region from this central location. It's a beautiful island and Victoria is a real highlight.

If you don't live on Salt Spring, you really won't have any reason to pop into the Post Office…read more Which would be a real shame, as it's probably the most cheerful post office experience you'll ever have. It's "small town charm" at it's finest. There's usually an adorable golden retriever to greet you, there's never a line, parking out front (trust me, in Fulford, this is a plus) and the folks that work here are the friendliest around. The lady who has served me all of two times (apologies for not remembering your name, but i'm sure my mother will correct me on this) always remembers me. Granted, my mother is in there a few times a week but it's still nice to walk in the door and get asked about your recent goings on. It's TINY and the supplies are limited but they have the basics and really, this review isn't about what kind of packing tape I can buy. It's about the fact that every time I leave here, I do so with a smile. I wish all post offices could say the same.

This is my location of choice for getting out of the house to work. The library is spacious,…read morerelatively quiet, and has decent WiFi. As long as you're not eating peanut containing food, it's OK to have a snack (don't make a mess) or coffee. They even have a study room that can be booked up to twice a week for two hours to have meetings (same day booking only - call or come in when they open). As far as traditional library services go, they have a great collection of Sci-Fi (my escape of choice) and a huge selection of DVD's. The entire GVPL catalog can easily be searched online and books, DVDs, and CD's can be reserved to be picked up at the branch of your choice. The staff have been unfailingly courteous and helpful. They even apologize in advance when they are running a program in the "Living Room" and thank us for our forbearance after.

on the last week of October 2023 I did the fingerprint at the police and went to Service BC…read moreVictoria and requested a name change on November 1 2023, at Service BC Victoria and the representative there told me it would take 12 weeks to process. it is now February 25 2024 and even though I check my mailbox daily still nothing. it has been over 16 weeks now and counting. I'm just wondering which lazy government employee is supposed to be looking after this for me as I well know the paperwork doesn't take more than an hour to process. so I'm sure it is still sitting on someone's desk waiting for that person to actually do their one day a month worth of work. I'm not impressed at all as you can tell be my sarcastic manner. Maybe they should implement a new program for all government employees that they all make minimum wage and get commissions on the amount of work processed. I think the ones that actually do work really hard would end up making more money than they are now and the lazy daisies would end up being terminated after three months of not producing their fair share or work. I truly believe the provincial and federal governments would produce a lot more than what being done now. and the lengthy waits on the phone lines and the waits for passports and things like name changes and new birth certificates would improve greatly. Still waiting impatiently. HBW N

A+ to Vital Statistics for being a speedy, organized bureaucracy. I ordered my birth certificate…read moreon-line on Wednesday, it was printed on Thursday and arrived in my mailbox in Vancouver on Friday. It can't get faster than this. Also, the new design for birth certificates is pretty cool: they're made of the same paper-thin plastic as Australian cash, so they're indestructible. Someone's really been thinking over there.

Like the fact that I can simply click on "GVPL" and connect to wifi. No hoops to jump through like…read moreopening up a web browser that then redirects me to a login page. No barcode numbers & passwords to enter. Nice spot to turn into workspace when in town. The Internet can slow down to a crawl at time so be prepared to use up some of your cellular data as a hotspot or there are other wifi locations around. It is near many restaurants when you need a break. I do find that this library is lenient on ringing cellphones, loud chatter other library disturbances.

I like the fact that there is free internet here, but usually, in the mornings and around lunchtime…read morethe download speed drops off, sometimes to zero. Does anyone know why this happens?

The walking gardens are sooo nice and beautiful open to public - public grounds and parking…read moreavailable onsite .. Loved sunken, herb and rose garden and the fountains around particularly

incredible gardens! Open daily with free access and free parking, great for a picnic spot or just a…read morenice wander through all the different areas. Huge and so underrated!