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Vancouver Island is one of those places that is difficult to describe with just a few photographs. You can photograph the mountains, forests, ocean, harbor, historic buildings and beautiful streets of Victoria, but there is something about the island that photographs alone cannot quite capture. I have a lot of photographs from my time on Vancouver Island, and looking through them brings back many different memories. Some are of beautiful places, some remind me of hiking and exploring, and others remind me of things that made me stop and think. Vancouver Island is certainly beautiful, but like almost every place I travel, I don't want to show only the postcard version. Travel, for me, is about seeing a place as it really is. If you are coming from Vancouver, getting to Vancouver Island is part of the experience, and you could even make this a day trip from Vancouver, preferably by car so you have more freedom to explore once you arrive. One of the main routes is the BC Ferries crossing from Tsawwassen, south of Vancouver, to Swartz Bay, north of Victoria. You can make a reservation ahead of time, which I would recommend if you are taking a vehicle, especially during busy periods. You can also simply drive to the ferry terminal and travel if space is available. Once you arrive at Swartz Bay, having your own car makes it much easier to explore Victoria, Fisherman's Wharf, the Inner Harbor and some of the surrounding attractions before returning to Vancouver on an evening ferry. If you have more time, though, Vancouver Island is certainly worth more than a day.
Don't think of the ferry as simply transportation. The crossing itself is part of the trip. Go outside onto the deck and look around. The ferry moves through beautiful waters with islands appearing along the way, and on a good day you may find yourself spending much of the crossing outside just watching the scenery. Sometimes the journey to a destination becomes one of the attractions, and this is certainly one of those journeys.
On a cold and windy day, the ferry itself becomes a comfortable place to relax and enjoy the journey. After spending some time outside on the deck taking in the views, step inside and warm up with a hot cup of tea or coffee in the ferry restaurant. The crossing gives you plenty of time to explore the ferry, walk around the different decks, watch the scenery through the windows and then find a comfortable seat with a hot beverage in your hands. There is no need to rush. Part of visiting Vancouver Island is simply enjoying the ferry ride itself.
If you are traveling with a bicycle, Vancouver Island becomes even more interesting. Cyclists can take their bicycles aboard BC Ferries, and once you arrive at Swartz Bay you are in a wonderful position to begin exploring on two wheels. The Lochside Regional Trail connects the Swartz Bay area with Victoria, so you can arrive by ferry and begin cycling toward the city. The route takes you through a mixture of countryside, farmland, wetlands, beaches and communities before eventually bringing you into the Victoria area.
Cycling is a major part of life around Victoria, and the regional trail network is impressive. The Lochside connects with the Galloping Goose Regional Trail, which stretches for about 55 kilometers from Victoria toward Sooke. There is also the E&N Rail Trail – Humpback Connector, providing another important walking and cycling route through the region. Together these trails allow you to explore a considerable amount of the Victoria area without depending entirely on a car.
One small thing cyclists should look for near Victoria's Inner Harbour is the bicycle counter. As cyclists pass, the counter records them. It isn't really a tourist attraction, and perhaps that is why I found it so interesting. It gives you a glimpse of how much cycling is actually part of everyday transportation in Victoria. If you enjoy cycling as I do, stop and take a look at the number. Combined with all the bicycle paths and regional trails, it tells you something about the city's relationship with bicycles. People aren't only riding for recreation. They are using bicycles to get around.
Cycling also changes the way you experience a destination. From inside a car, we pass things without even noticing them. On a bicycle, you smell the forest, feel the temperature change when you enter the shade, notice a small beach or bridge and can stop whenever something catches your attention. Some of my favorite travel memories have come from places I never planned to stop at in the first place.
Of course, Vancouver Island isn't only for cyclists. This is wonderful hiking country. There are easy coastal walks, forest trails, waterfalls, mountains and serious wilderness routes for experienced backpackers. Around the southern part of the island, East Sooke Regional Park is a beautiful place to experience the rugged coastline, with trails through forest and along rocky shoreline overlooking the water.
Farther west, the Juan de Fuca area introduces you to the wilder Pacific coast, where beaches, dense forests and rocky shorelines create a completely different experience from downtown Victoria. If you travel farther north, Strathcona Provincial Park reveals another side of Vancouver Island with mountains, lakes, waterfalls and large areas of wilderness. Cathedral Grove offers the opportunity to walk among enormous old-growth trees without requiring an expedition into the backcountry, while the Wild Pacific Trail around Ucluelet is another wonderful place to experience the dramatic coastline.
Vancouver Island gave me forests, hiking trails, cycling routes, ocean views, city streets, ferries, seaplanes, water taxis, fish and chips and plenty of photographs. But it also gave me something I value even more from traveling. It gave me things to think about. If waterfalls are your thing, make time for Goldstream Provincial Park. A hike through the beautiful forest will take you to Goldstream Falls, where the waterfall and surrounding scenery make the walk well worth the effort. For the more adventurous, the park is also known for the old railway trestle high above the forest. I made my way up there during my visit, and the view from that height was breathtaking. However, the trestle and railway corridor are now closed to public access, so don't cross barriers or enter restricted areas. Even without going onto the railway, Goldstream Provincial Park has plenty to explore, and the forest, trails and waterfall make it a worthwhile stop on a Vancouver Island trip.
I love the Canadian enthusiasm for the outdoors. Every time I’m in Canada, I seem to notice it everywhere. Whether I’m in a subway station in Montreal, walking along a sidewalk in Toronto, or somewhere in Vancouver, I’ll spot backpackers carrying their gear and looking ready for their next adventure. It always excites me because that outdoor spirit matches my own love for hiking, travel, and exploration.
I also enjoy visiting stores like SAIL, with all that wonderful outdoor gear lined up and ready for adventure. It gives me the same feeling I get walking into REI in the United States. There’s something about seeing backpacks, tents, hiking equipment, and camping gear that immediately makes me want to start planning the next trip.
This is why I wouldn't recommend traveling all the way to Vancouver Island and seeing only Victoria. Victoria is beautiful, but Vancouver Island is much larger, and some of its greatest experiences begin after you leave the city behind. Give yourself time to drive, cycle, hike and explore.
Victoria itself, however, deserves plenty of time. One of the easiest ways to begin is simply walking around the Inner Harbour. The British Columbia Parliament Buildings dominate part of the waterfront, while boats, historic architecture, restaurants, hotels and people moving along the promenade give the harbor its distinctive atmosphere. You don't necessarily need a complicated sightseeing plan here. Sometimes the best thing you can do is walk.Around Victoria's Inner Harbour, take your time and explore on foot.
As you walk, stop at the statues and monuments along the way and learn a little about the people and history behind them. Don't be in too much of a hurry to move from one attraction to another. If you're up for it, you may even find yourself playing a game of chess with a stranger out on the lawn — one of those simple, unexpected moments that can become a favorite travel memory. Then continue walking along the harbor with no particular destination in mind. Watch the boats coming and going, the seaplanes landing on the water, cyclists passing by and people simply going about their day. Sometimes the best way to understand island life is not through an attraction at all, but by slowing down, walking along the waterfront and watching life happen around you.
One of my favorite simple experiences is sitting on the lawn in front of the Parliament Buildings. Not every moment of travel needs an itinerary. Sit down on the grass for a while and look at the Parliament Buildings, watch people walking around the harbor and enjoy being exactly where you are. Instead of taking a photograph and immediately moving to the next attraction, give yourself twenty minutes to do absolutely nothing. Sometimes those quiet moments become stronger memories than the attractions we rushed around trying to see.
Speaking of photographs, sometimes watching other people trying to get the perfect shot can be just as entertaining as taking your own. Around the impressive buildings of Victoria, you'll see people experimenting with different angles, stepping backward, crouching down and moving their cameras around trying to fit the very top of a building into the frame. When it doesn't quite work, it often turns into a laughing moment for everyone involved. It reminds me a little of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, where people come up with all kinds of creative poses and camera angles to make their photographs different. Take your pictures, but also look around and enjoy the fun of watching everyone else trying to create theirs.
While you are around the Inner Harbour, look toward the water and sky because there is another interesting sight here. Victoria Harbour Water Airport is right in the harbor, and watching the seaplanes arrive and depart can become entertainment of its own. You hear an aircraft approaching, watch it descend toward the water and then see it touch down and taxi across the harbor. Before long another may be accelerating across the water before lifting into the sky. With boats, ferries, water taxis and seaplanes all sharing the harbor, there always seems to be something moving.
Another small place worth discovering is Fan Tan Alley in Victoria's Chinatown. It is famous for being an extraordinarily narrow commercial alley, and you could almost walk past its entrance without realizing what is there. Step inside and suddenly you are walking through a tiny passage between historic buildings with little shops tucked along the way. It doesn't take very long to walk through, but that is part of its charm. Not every memorable travel experience has to be a huge national park, famous monument or expensive attraction. Sometimes a tiny alley is something you remember years later.
Eventually, make your way to Fisherman's Wharf. The colorful floating homes alone make the area enjoyable to walk around, but this is also a good place to slow down and get something to eat. Being surrounded by the Pacific, seafood naturally belongs in a Vancouver Island trip, and this is a perfect setting for some fish and chips. For me, food doesn't need to be complicated when I'm traveling. Give me a good piece of fish, some fries, somewhere to sit beside the water and something interesting happening around me, and I'm happy. Somehow fish and chips beside the water just seems to taste better.
While you're at Fisherman's Wharf, don't overlook the little water taxis. Instead of simply walking or driving back toward the Inner Harbour, you can get aboard one of these small boats and see Victoria from a completely different perspective. They move between stops around the harbor, turning ordinary transportation into part of the sightseeing experience. Have your fish and chips, spend some time exploring Fisherman's Wharf, and then let the water taxi become your next little adventure.
There was also another side of Victoria that I noticed during my visit, and I don't believe it should simply be edited out of a travel story. That is homelessness. Like many beautiful and prosperous cities, Victoria has people living without stable housing. You may encounter tents, people carrying their belongings or people struggling on the streets. It creates a striking contrast. You can be walking through a beautiful city visited by people from around the world, surrounded by expensive buildings, restaurants and spectacular scenery, and not very far away someone may be wondering where they will sleep that night.
This isn't something unique to Victoria. I have seen homelessness in cities throughout my travels. But travel should sometimes make us think. We don't have to photograph someone's hardship or judge the people we see. We can simply acknowledge that they are there. The person struggling on the sidewalk is part of the community too. You can appreciate a beautiful harbor while also recognizing that not everyone living nearby is experiencing the same beautiful version of the city. Those two realities can exist at the same time.
I mention this not to discourage anyone from visiting Victoria or Vancouver Island. Quite the opposite. Victoria remains a fascinating and beautiful place. I mention it because I believe travel should be truthful. When we travel, we see landscapes and attractions, but we also see how people live. Sometimes what we see makes us happy, and sometimes it makes us think.
If you are planning a Vancouver Island trip, don't try to see everything in one day. Arriving at Swartz Bay gives you access to Victoria and the southern part of the island. Walk the Inner Harbour, sit on the Parliament lawn, watch the seaplanes, explore Chinatown and Fan Tan Alley, visit Fisherman's Wharf, eat some fish and chips and take a water taxi. If you have a bicycle, take advantage of the cycling network. Then go farther. Head toward Sooke and the coast, walk through the forests, visit the beaches and travel north if your schedule allows it.
Eventually, of course, you have to leave. If you're returning to Vancouver, the journey back to Swartz Bay brings you once again to the ferry. Try not to spend the entire crossing inside. Go out onto the deck. Watch Vancouver Island slowly disappear behind you. Look at the smaller islands as the ferry moves between them, watch the water and feel the wind.
Beautiful places don't have to be perfect places. Travel isn't only about collecting photographs of scenery. It is about seeing how people live, noticing what is around us, slowing down enough to experience a place and occasionally allowing that place to change the way we look at the world.
That's why I travel.
And that's why, when I look through my photographs of Vancouver Island, I don't see just another destination.
I see a story.
Have you visited Vancouver Island? What was your favorite experience — a hiking trail, bicycle ride, ferry crossing, beach, meal or somewhere completely unexpected?
#reflectiveexplorer #funhikingplacesintheworld #VancouverIsland #VictoriaBC #ExploreBC #HikingCanada #CyclingCanada #TravelCanada
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