Stationed at the southern end of rugged Vancouver Island, Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and an ideal destination for travelers looking to combine outdoor adventure with urban exploration. Residents and visitors to Victoria are spoiled with nearby outdoor recreation opportunities – hiking, biking, surfing and whale watching, to name a few – as well as excellent restaurants, museums, cultural venues and galleries celebrating local Indigenous peoples. And since Victoria is located in the rain shadow of Washington State’s Olympic Mountains, it enjoys clearer, bluer skies and relatively mild weather year-round compared to the rest of the north. -western Pacific. In other words, there really is no bad time to visit.
Southeast Vancouver Island is the historic home of the Saanich Nation of Coast Salish Peoples, whose presence remains influential and celebrated in and around Victoria. Today, the current population is approximately 100,000, and the city itself is located about halfway between Vancouver, Canada and Seattle, WA, although it is separated from the two cities by water. (You’ll need to fly or take a ferry to get there.) Just outside of Victoria are the rainforests, mountains and world-famous surf spots of Vancouver Island, a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. Although Tofino is the most well-known surfing destination on the island, there are several beaches in Victoria, including Gonzales Beach and willow beach, and the sea around the town is home to killer whales and other marine life (peak whale watching season runs from March to October). Surfing picks up in winter, and the nearby town of Jordan offers three spots that attract surfers from all over the island and beyond.
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