Beautiful Victoria, British Columbia

[Metro-One]

Hello

Here are some pics I took of my trip to Victoria last month (April)

Victoria has a metro population roughly around 350 000 people, making it the second largest metro in British Columbia (of course it is much smaller than its younger brother Metro Vancouver, 2.5 million, to the north east.) Victoria is actually considerably south of the 49th parallel on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, which is among the mildest and driest locations in the pacific North West, due to the rain-shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains. The downtown / Oak Bay area receives half the rain of Vancouver, and considerably less than both Seattle and Portland, at only just over 600 mm of precipitation a year. Like the rest of the PNW, there is also a very distinct dry season, with July (the driest month) only receiving 12% the precipitation of the wettest month (November). Victoria's agreeable climate has made it an amazing city for gardens.

The Harbour

First, we will start with the downtown Harbour, the heart of Victoria. Just a side note, on this day it was a mix of sun and cloud in Victoria but rainy in Vancouver










The Inner Harbour now











The Provincial Capital Building of BC









Beacon Hill Park

Here, there are still native Garry Oak meadows. Unfortunately most of the Garry Oak woodlands around Victoria have been destroyed via urbanization.







Looking towards downtown from Beacon Hill Park



Here are some Windmill Palms in the park



Some nice large Arbutus trees



The park then leads down to the ocean, you can see huge clouds hugging the Olympic mountains here and how the rain shadow is created.






Downtown Urban














Victoria does a great job with its Alleys, making them pedestrian ways.





Here is one at night



Another thing I love about Victoria is their double decker transit buses






The Navy Base


Canada's western Navy base is just outside of Victoria, in Esquimalt.







The navy base is actually very old, so many of the original brick buildings are from the 1880's.








Goldstream Park

Last but not least, at the very western edge of Metro-Victoria is Goldstream Park, which has some amazing hiking trails with many beautiful Arbutus and garry Oak groves, with old growth cedars and douglas Firs at the base. Here is the view from the top of one of the local hills in the park.







All pics are my own:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30634635@N03/

Cheers!

[wisla_krakow]

is that neighborhood/subdivision by goldstream park where bear mountain golf course is?
great photos too. victoria just feels so cozy.

[Coldrsx]

I love visiting Victoria and area.

Excellent shot

[LAsam]

Brings back some memories of my trip to Victoria last September. The BC capital is stunningly beautiful. Are you in the Navy or do they let anybody roam their bases? Thanks for the photos!

[mhays]

It's Canada. They actually try to get you to join, offer you a beer, etc.

Victoria is stunning. In terms of cohesiveness, walkability, etc., it's what every city of 350,000 should be. Of course not everybody can have two big cities within daytrip/overnight distance to provide tourists, or be a country's retirement capital.

[downtownpdx]

Beautiful city! Nice shots.

[ColDayMan]

Lovely.

[OhioGuy]

Great photos of a great city!

[tayser]

I've wanted to go ever since watching the '94 Commonwealth games on TV. Vivid memories of all the road race cycling events showing the whole region off.

[Razor]

Man Canada's so vast that it's a haul to visit the west coast, but I would love to make it out to Victoria/Van one day....Nice pics of beautiful Victoria!

[the sage]

Looks like there is some stunning scenery just out of town over there, Ontario is so flat!!!

[Danny]

Very good pictures! Thanks for sharing.

I like Victoria. It looks like a very pleasant and nice city. I´ve liked those seaplanes and the flowers in the parks. I´d like to visit Victoria, of course.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!

[Metro-One]

Thanks for the comments guys!

To get into the Navy Base you just have to call ahead (off tourist season) and arrange a tour guide to take you around (by donation). They are really friendly there and allow you to take pictures almost anywhere. The only thing I could not take pics of was one of the submarines up close.

And yes, that sub division is exactly where Bear Mountain gold course is.

[fern]

I also remember Victoria from the Commonwealth games looks stunning that night shot is great

[armstrong]

my ship sailed up to esquimalt last year for a joint naval exercise with the canadian navy. had alot of fun in victoria! great city and great photos!

[hagbard]

Victoria is a great place to visit but.....

[LouisianaRush]

Such a beautiful city. Great shots man!