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Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237.
Apr 16, 2024 · Victoria is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Canada, which creates loads of attractions, activities, and other things to do. Below is a list of some of the best things to do when visiting Victoria. Get Stunning Views from Malahat Skywalk.
Discover the beauty and diversity of Victoria, a city where land meets sea and cultures converge. Find boutique hotels, world-class attractions, farm-to-table dining, whale watching, Indigenous culture and more.
- Friday Nights on the Breakwater Barge
- Jun 21 - Jun 23, 2019
- Jun 21 - Jun 22, 2019
- Sidney Street Market
- Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises Exhibition
- Tour Des Iles
- Robert Cameron Law Cycling Series presented by Jim Pattison
- Jan 1 - Jun 20, 2019
- Our Victoria, BC hotel is conveniently located in the Inner Harbour and features Deluxe Guest Studios each with One King or Two Queen size beds, priva
- This is our most popular package. Two nights at your choice of hotel in Victoria and rounds of golf with power carts at three fantastic courses. This
- Apr 1 - Sep 30, 2019
- Address: Wharf Street. 2 hours to Half Day. TIME TO SPEND. The Inner Harbour is Victoria's primary tourist neighborhood. The harbor itself – home to various fishing boats and colorful floating homes – is framed by wide pedestrian streets, often frequented by street vendors and buskers.
- Address: 800 Benvenuto Ave. Parks and Gardens. TYPE. 2 hours to Half Day. TIME TO SPEND.
- Address: 501 Belleville St. Free, Sightseeing. TYPE. 1 to 2 hours. TIME TO SPEND.
- Address: 675 Belleville St. Museums. TYPE. 2 hours to Half Day. TIME TO SPEND. The Royal British Columbia Museum offers visitors a comprehensive introduction to the region's history and culture.
- Overview
- History
Victoria, city, capital of British Columbia, Canada, located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island between the Juan de Fuca and Haro straits, approximately 60 miles (100 km) south-southwest of the province’s largest city, Vancouver. Victoria is the largest urban area on the island. It has the mildest winter climate of any city in Canada, and its ...
The history of settlement by Coast Salish (Salishan) First Nations (Native American) people in the Victoria region dates back well over 10,000 years. The site of the future city was known to the Coast Salish as Camosun or Camosack. In 1778 explorer Capt. James Cook reached the island. English navigator George Vancouver was with Cook on that voyage and returned in 1792 to circumnavigate and survey the island, which was later named for him. As fur trading became established in the region, the Hudson’s Bay Company came to dominate the island and in 1843 established Fort Camosun—later called Fort Albert and then Fort Victoria, for the British queen—at the city’s present site.
In 1849 Vancouver Island became a British crown colony with Fort Victoria as its capital. More settlers arrived, and a small village arose near the fort. By the early 1850s the village site had been formally surveyed, and in 1852 the settlement was named Victoria. Agriculture, forestry, and coal interests were by then replacing those of fur, but there were never more than several hundred residents until the discovery of gold in 1858 along the banks of the Fraser River and later in the interior Cariboo region, both in mainland British Columbia. The region, including Victoria, was transformed instantly by an influx of some 25,000–30,000 gold seekers (many of them American and Chinese), most of whom used Victoria as the port of entry to the mainland and as the supply centre for their mining ventures. (In 1858 British Columbia also was made a crown colony.)
Gold fever was thus responsible for Victoria’s rapid growth from a few hundred to several thousand inhabitants. It was incorporated as a city in 1862. In 1865 the Royal Navy designated an existing naval base at Esquimalt (now a suburb of Victoria), on the west side of the harbour, as its Pacific headquarters, further spurring population growth in the region. During this period Victoria became the most important city in Canada’s western region. It was made the capital of the combined colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia in 1866, and by 1871 the city of Victoria’s population was 3,630. The city’s protected harbour facilitated import and export services for the whole colony, and agriculture, forestry, and fishing provided additional employment. Victoria became the colony’s financial centre and a focus of industry, with a flour mill, soap works, gasworks, tanneries, shipyards, and brickyards, as well as baking, brewing, and distilling plants.
The arrival in 1886 of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) at Burrard Inlet, near Vancouver, made that city an international port connected to the rest of North America by rail. As a result, Victoria’s commercial activities and population soon took a backseat to booming Vancouver, although Victoria and its surrounding region experienced steady growth.
- Brett Mcgillivray
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Victoria is the capital of Canada's westernmost province; British Columbia, near the southern tip of Vancouver Island. Victoria contains a perfect combination of the old and new Canada. Amidst the bustle of this little city, you can venture through the classical British architecture to the preserved Chinatown, or all the way back in time to the ...
Attractions. Active and educational or relaxing and rejuvenating, Victoria’s got something for every interest—part of why it was voted the Number 1 City in The World by Condé Nast Traveller readers in 2023. Visit the world-class Royal BC Museum, tour 125-year-old heritage buildings, or explore diverse marine wildlife along our coast.
