Victoria
Downtown
Royal BC Museum - This museum is a "must see," with fascinating displays of natural history, First Nations and British Columbia in the past 100 years. Check out a large Ice Age wooly mammoth and animals of British Columbia, plus coastal forests, touch pools, fossils and geology. In the First Peoples exhibits there is a replica of a Kwakiutl house, full-size totem poles and canoes, black argillite carvings, and a fabulous collection of eagle, bear, killer whale, raven and butterfly masks. Century Hall re-creates an old main street with hotel, saloon, railway station, clothing shop, plus a sawmill and gold mine, homestead, Chinatown druggist shop and sailing ship! There's lots to see and do in this museum, so don't rush through it.
Thunderbird Park - Outside the museum are full size totem poles, and picnic tables (corner of Belleville St and Douglas St.). These Thunderbird Park totem poles (replicas of those inside the museum) are outdoors, providing a real sense of totem poles as they stand in First Nations villages.Beacon Hill Park -
Throughout the park is grass and shade trees, benches and picnic tables, fountains and flowers in summer.
Beacon Hill Children's Farm - Little ones will have great fun at the Children's Farm with alpacas, ducks, miniature ponies, a Vietnamese pot bellied pig, peacocks, and they can pet the baby goats. Open daily.Playground - North of the Children's Farm is a large playground with climbing structures, swings, picnic tables and water play area in summer.Watering Can Fountain - At the Circle Drive entrance to Beacon Hill Park is a giant watering can fountain. In summer this is a super water play area - push the button and water sprays from the can in all directions, kids will get soaked, so come prepared.Emily Carr House - Visit the birthplace of one of Canada's most renowned artists, Emily Carr. She grew up in this charming Victorian wood frame house. "No work was done in the Carr house on Sunday. Everything had been frightfully polished on Saturday and all Sunday's food cooked too." A wonderful glimpse into another century.
Miniature World - If the weather is gray, head indoors to Miniature World, amazing dioramas of famous battles, intricate dollhouses (these are a "must-see"), a train model of the Great Canadian Railway crossing the continent, miniature saw-mill in every detail, and more.
Maritime Museum - Victoria is on an island, and the sea has always been very important to the people living here. In the Maritime Museum, find out about early explorers (Sir Francis Drake, Juan de Fuca), pirates and shipbuilding, life at sea - climb up a crow's nest, peer through a telescope, take the helm, plus models of sailing ships, Canadian steamships, and ocean liners.
Chinatown - This is not the huge, bustling Chinatown of San Francisco or New York but just a few blocks of a separate world. One of the best things about Victoria's Chinatown, shops, restaurants and markets, is getting there through tiny Fan Tan Alley. Only one person wide at the start, this is a great way for kids to "sneak" into Chinatown from Johnson Street, about a block up from Wharf Street. You'll have to look for it - even with a street sign, blink and you'll miss it.
