SOUTH ISLAND
ADOBE STOCK
■ One million visitors a year see the internationally renowned Butchart Gardens, a National Historic Site of Canada. ■ The Royal British Columbia Museum, founded in 1886, is one of the foremost cultural institutions in the world. ■ Victoria’s Chinatown is the oldest in Canada and the second oldest in North America after San Francisco. You will find the narrowest commercial street in Canada here, Fan Tan Alley, where former opium and gambling dens are now small boutiques and shops.
■ Victoria has more restaurants per capita than any other place in the country and rivals the foodie scene in San Francisco. ■ The city is home to one of the largest collections of heritage buildings — both commercial and residential — in Canada. Stroll the downtown and see buildings from the late 1800s carefully restored. Buy a book at Munro’s and marvel at the architecture and have a pint of local brew at the Irish Times Pub. Murchie’s has been serving coffee and tea here for more than 125 years. ADOBE STOCK
■ Stroll through the grandeur of the Fairmont Empress Hotel, the landmark on Victoria’s Harbour, and have high tea there. Half a million cups are served annually at the Empress.
■ There are 18 golf courses in the Victoria area. Winters are mild, so you can play year round. ■ Victoria gets 2,183 hours of sunshine per year and eight months — sometimes more — that are frost free. ■ 1,500 lamp posts across the city hold hanging flower baskets every summer. ■ Mile 0 of the Trans Canada Highway is next to Beacon Hill Park, at Douglas Street and Dallas Road. Look for a statue of national hero and cancer fighter Terry Fox. ■ Bastion Square, the historic, pedestrianonly site of the original Fort Victoria, is home to shops, restaurants, and a busy artisan market and talented buskers.
“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you... I could walk through my garden forever.” - Alfred Tennyson
Now located at 950 Fort St, Victoria, BC INTERNATIONAL AWARD WINNING JEWELLERY DESIGNERS • SINCE 1972 • 250-383-3414 • www.idar.com 14
DISCOVER 2021
Jewellery Designs © 1972-2021 IDAR
The Summer Series
