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Welcome to Victoria, the city abound with wondrous attractions. Always in season, it is the city that boasts the most amount of sunshine in Canada, allowing visitors to enjoy a wide variety of activities year round. Situated on southern tip of Vancouver Island, Victoria (the Capital of British Columbia) offers sightseeing and adventures for both the relaxed and atheletic traveller.
Visitor Information:
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| ART GALLERY OF GREATER VICTORIA |
Attached to an 1889 mansion, this modern building houses one of the largest collections of Chinese and Japanese artifacts in Canada. The Japanese garden between the buildings is home to the only authentic Shinto shrine in North America. The gallery, which is a few blocks west of Craigdarroch Castle, off Fort Street, displays a permanent exhibition of works by well-known Canadian artist Emily Carr and regularly changing exhibits of Asian and historical and contemporary Western art. The gallery also hosts major touring exhibitions. The Art Gallery is a 10-20 minute walk from Abigail's Hotel.
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| MARITIME MUSEUM OF BRITISH COLUMBIA |
The model ships, Royal Navy charts, photographs, uniforms, and ship bells at this museum, in Victoria's original courthouse, chronicle the province's seafaring history. Among the hand-built boats on display is the Tilikum, a dugout canoe that sailed from Victoria to England between 1901 and 1904. An 1899 hand-operated cage elevator, believed to be the oldest continuously operating lift in North America, ascends to the third floor, where the original 1888 vice-admiralty courtroom looks ready for a court-martial.
The Martime Museum is a 10 minute walk from the hotel.
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| ROYAL BRITISH COLUMBIA MUSEUM |
This excellent museum, one of Victoria's leading attractions, traces several thousand years of British Columbian history. Exhibits include a genuine Kwakwaka'wakw longhouse (the builders retain rights to its ceremonial use) and an extensive collection of First Nations masks and other artifacts. The Natural History Gallery re-creates the sights and sounds of a rain forest, tidal wetlands, and other B.C. natural habitats, and the Open Ocean exhibit mimics a submarine journey. A replica of Captain Vancouver's ship, the HMCS Discovery, creaks convincingly, and a re-created frontier town comes complete with cobbled streets, silent movies, and the smells of home baking. Century Hall reviews British Columbia's 20th-century history, and an on-site IMAX theater shows National Geographic films on a six-story-high screen. The Museum is an easy 10 minute walk from Abigail's.
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| ROYAL LONDON WAX MUSEUM |
A collection of life-size wax figures resides in this elegant colonnaded building, once Victoria's steamship terminal. The 300-plus characters include members of the British royal family, famous Canadians, Hollywood stars, and some unfortunate souls in a Chamber of Horrors. The Museum is an easy 10 minute walk from Abigail's Hotel.
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| BEACON HILL PARK |
The southern lawns and ocean side path of this spacious park have great views of the Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Also here are ponds, jogging and walking paths, abundant flowers and gardens, a children's farmyard, and a cricket pitch.
The park is also home to Mile Zero of the Trans-Canada Highway and the world's largest free-standing totem pole. The park is located east of Douglas Street, south of Southgate Street. Beacon Hill Park is an easy 5 minute walk from our property.
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| BUTCHART GARDENS |
The Butchart Gardens - Fifty acres of floral finery offering spectacular views as you stroll along meandering paths and expansive lawns. From the exquisite Sunken Garden to the charming Rose Garden, this 50-acre show-place still maintains the gracious traditions of the past, in one of the loveliest corners in the world.
Butchart Gardens are a 30 minute drive from Abigail's Hotel. Transporation is available via taxi, limo or bus. Contact the Innkeeper for details.
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| VICTORIA BUTTERFLY GARDENS |
Stroll amidst hundreds of exotic butterflies flying free in an indoor tropical rainforest. Witness the entire life cycle of these amazing insects. Our spectacular flowering plants and foliage, fascinating birds, waterfalls and stream all contribute to make this a photographer's paradise and a truly memorable experience for the entire family. The Butterfly Gardens are a 30 minute drive from Abigail's Hotel. To arrange for Transportation, contact the Innkeeper at the Front Desk.
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| PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS |
These massive stone structures, designed by Francis Rattenbury and completed in 1898, dominate the Inner Harbour. Two statues flank the main entrance: one of Sir James Douglas, who chose the site where Victoria was built, and the other of Sir Matthew Baille Begbie, the man in charge of law and order during the gold-rush era.
Atop the central dome is a gilded statue of Captain George Vancouver, the first European to sail around Vancouver Island.
A statue of Queen Victoria reigns over the front of the complex. |
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More than 3,000 lights outline the buildings at night. The interior is lavishly done with stained-glass windows and murals depicting scenes from the province's history.
When the legislature is in session, you can sit in the public gallery and watch British Columbia's democracy at work (custom has the opposing parties sitting 2½ sword lengths apart). Free, informative half-hour tours are obligatory on summer weekends (mid-May until Labor Day) and optional the rest of the time. The Parliament Buildings are an easy 10 minute walk from Abigail's Hotel. |
| CHINATOWN |
Chinese immigrants built much of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 19th century, and their influence still marks the region. Victoria's Chinatown, founded in 1858, is the oldest and most intact such district in Canada. If you enter Chinatown from Government Street, you'll pass under the elaborate Gate of Harmonious Interest, made of Taiwanese ceramic tiles and decorative panels. Along Fisgard Street, merchants display paper lanterns, wicker baskets, and exotic produce. Mah-jongg, fan-tan, and dominoes were among the games of chance played on narrow Fan Tan Alley. Once the gambling and opium center of Chinatown, it's now lined with offbeat shops. Look for the alley on the south side of Fisgard Street between Nos. 545½ and 549½.
Chinatown is a 10-15 minute walk from the hotel.
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| CRAIGDARROCH CASTLE |
This resplendent mansion was built as the home of one of British Columbia's wealthiest men, coal baron Robert Dunsmuir, who died in 1889, just a few months before the castle's completion. Converted into a museum depicting life in the late 1800s, the castle has ornate Victorian furnishings, stained-glass windows, carved woodwork (precut in Chicago for Dunsmuir and sent by rail), and a beautifully restored painted ceiling in the drawing room. A winding staircase climbs four floors to a ballroom and a tower overlooking Victoria. Craigdarroch Castle is a 15-20 minute walk from Abigail's.
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| HATLEY PARK |
Next door to Fort Rodd is Hatley Castle, the former estate of coal and railway baron James Dunsmuir and now part of the Royal Roads University campus. The 1908 castle is on 650 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds (including Italian, Japanese, and English rose gardens) that are open daily until dusk all year. Castle tours are given daily in summer (call for times). A small museum in the castle is open daily 1-4 PM. Hatley Castle is a 20 minute drive from Abigail's Hotel.
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| POINT ELLICE HOUSE |
The O'Reilly family home, an 1860s Italianate villa overlooking the Upper Harbour, has been restored to its original splendor, with the largest collection of Victorian furnishings in western Canada. Tea and baked goods are served on the lawn (noon-4). You can also take an audio tour of the house, stroll in the gardens, or try your hand at croquet. Point Ellice House is a few minutes' drive north of downtown, but it's much more fun to come by sea. Point Ellice House is a 10 minute drive from Abigail's Hotel.
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