Things to do in Vancouver Island
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Fan Tan Alley
Small but perfectly formed, Fisgard St is the center of Victoria's compact Chinatown. One of Canada's oldest Asian districts, it's fronted by a towering red gate that looms over sprawling fruit and vegetable stores and the po-faced ancients meditating outside family-run restaurants. Twinkling neon signs add a dash of nighttime excitement, while Fan Tan Alley - a narrow passageway between Fisgard St and Pandora Ave - draws daytime explorers.
Once the best spot in town to pick up your opium supplies, the slender thoroughfare is a miniwarren of traditional and trendy stores hawking cheap and cheerful trinkets, cool used records and funky mod fashions.
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Dutch Bakery
A charming downtown institution that's been packing them in for decades with its Formica counter tops, old-lady ambience and simple light meals and cream-packed cakes. Chat up the regulars and they'll recommend a beef pie with potato salad followed by a fruit-pie chaser. Peruse the handmade candies near the entrance and pick up some marzipan teeth or sprinkle-topped chocolate coins for the road.
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Victoria Bug Zoo
The city's best attraction for kids, the Bug Zoo houses creepy-crawlies such as glow-in-the-dark scorpions and ultra-industrious leaf-cutter ants. Informative 'bug guides' wander around explaining how the insects eat, mate and give birth. Those who can't restrain themselves can handle a few critters, including an alarmingly large 400-leg millipede. Hit the gift shop on your way out to pick up a souvenir tarantula for your best friend back home.
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Thunderbird Park
On your way out from the Royal British Columbia Museum, visit Thunderbird Park, the museum's oft-photographed clutch of brightly painted totem poles, then duck into the adjacent pioneer buildings, including Helmcken House. One of BC's oldest structures, this tidy 1852 doctor's residence is lined with the minutiae of everyday family life. Refreshingly little is roped off and wandering guides provide the stories behind the displays.
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Temple
A soothingly trendy interior might indicate style over substance at this compact downtown restaurant but the opposite turns out to be the case. With a focus on Pacific Northwest cuisine, the menu is a taste-tripper's dream, with seafood particularly well represented: sample the Quadra Island mussels and you won't be disappointed. A Belgian beer focus at the bar means that you can try pairing food with an array of unusual ales.
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Smoking Lilly
LoJo's signature shop is an almost-too-tiny boutique stuffed with eclectic garments and accessories that define art-school chic. Tops and skirts with insect prints are hot items, but there are also lots of cute handbags, socks and brooches to tempt your credit card.
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Floyd's Diner
A funky eatery with an ultrafriendly vibe, Floyd's combines a sun-drenched patio, warming blood-red interior and a menu of serious comfort food - it's the spot to recover from a throbbing hangover. Along with the all-day breakfast menu (try the 'Elton', a heaping bowl of fruit, yogurt and honey), there are some bulging burgers and sandwiches and a great lunch deal: an around C$6 bottomless bowl of soup.
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Demitasse
This art school-style hang-out is where local grunge geeks come to sup endless cups of coffee and compare their latest Value Village purchases. It's very laid-back, with high-ceilings and old wooden tables. The food is chunky, fresh and satisfying but never gets much further than great soups, wraps and sandwiches - simple, satisfying food done well: check out the banana bread French toast breakfast.
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Blue Carrot Café
An ideal hang-out in the shadows of Bastion Sq, this wood-floored family-run nook serves local favorite Salt Spring Island coffee along with a host of chunky, mostly organic cakes and muffins. It's also a good lunch spot - regulars enjoy the ever-changing roster of made-from-scratch soups (carrot and ginger is frequently requested), and the hearty burgers are as far from fast food as it gets.
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Mrs Riches Dinner Club Café
Like stepping into a comic book about a carnival, Mrs Riches is a family-oriented place lined with an eclectic array of memorabilia (life-sized stuffed toys and car fenders are the norm here) but the food is not just for looks. The heaping burger platters are second to none (tackle the Mountain Burger, if you're starving) but the pasta dishes and old-school milkshakes are great, too.
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Dinghy Dock Floating Pub
The name is no lie; this popular pub and restaurant combo floats offshore from Protection Island. See Nanaimo from the outside (especially pretty at night), rub shoulders with some salty locals and knock back a few malty brews. The menu doesn't stretch far beyond standard pub fare but there's live music on weekends. To access the pub, take a 10-minute ferry ride from the harbor.
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Ocean Explorers Diving
For scuba fans, Nanaimo and its nearby islands offer some great dives. Sunk to order in 1997, the HMCS Saskatchewan is BC's most popular dive site. It was joined in 2001 by the 134m Cape Breton, the world's second-largest diver-prepared reef. For information on regional sites, and for guides, lessons or equipment, contact Ocean Explorers Diving.
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Glo
Victoria's best mod lounge bar, Glo has waterfront views, cozy oversized booths and a warming red-hued ambience. A great spot for nighttime cocktails, this is where the city's beautiful young people come to ogle each other. The food is also worth an ogle: the flatbread pizzas are great and the dessert menu covers all the bases. DJs spin a few tracks on weekends.
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Wild Play Element Parks
This former bungee-jumping site has reinvented itself with five obstacle courses strung between the trees. Once you're harnessed, you can hit zip lines, rope bridges, tunnels and Tarzan swings, each aimed at different ability levels.
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Butchart Gardens Tour from Victoria
by Viator
Don't miss the opportunity to visit the magnificent Butchart Gardens, Victoria's most famous attraction. This 55-acre garden of colorful and aromatic flowers is…Not LP reviewed
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Craigdarroch Castle
If you're in this part of town checking out the gallery, don't miss this elegant turreted mansion a few minutes' walk away. A handsome, 39-room landmark built by a 19th-century coal baron with money to burn, it's dripping with period architecture and antique-packed rooms. Climb the tower's 87 steps (check out the stained-glass windows en route) for views of the snowcapped Olympic Mountains.
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Parliament Buildings
Across from the museum, this surprisingly handsome (despite its glorious confection of turrets, domes and stained glass) building is the province's working legislature but it's also open to history-loving visitors. Peek behind the facade on a colorful 30-minute tour led by costumed Victorians, then stop for lunch at the 'secret' politicians' restaurant. Come back in the evening when the building's handsome exterior is lit up like a Christmas tree.
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Logan's Pub
A 10-minute walk from downtown, in Cook St Village, this sports pub looks like nothing special from the outside, but its roster of shows is a fixture of the local indie scene. Fridays and Saturdays are your best bet for performances but other nights are frequently also booked – check the online calendar to see what's coming up.
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Black Olive
This sophisticated but convivial downtown restaurant fuses a foundation of Mediterranean dishes with West Coast and international flourishes, offering meals that range from tiger prawn linguine to olive-topped wild salmon. While the starched white tablecloths suggest formality, the staff are bend-over-backwards friendly.
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Modern Café'
This reinvented old coffee shop has cool loungey interiors combining exposed brick and comfy booths or, if it's sunny, a sun-warmed outdoor patio. The menu has wraps, burgers and sandwiches that are a cut above standard diner fare and there are some small-plate options for those who just want to snack. It also recently opened a nightclub upstairs.
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Victoria Whale Watch Tour
3 hours (Departs Victoria, Canada)
by Viator
lt;pgt;Take a whale-watching tour from Victoria to spot orcas (killer whales), humpback whales, gray whales and minke whales. You'll also spot Dall's porpoise…Not LP reviewed
from USD$109.68 -
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Bastion Square
On the old Fort Victoria site between Government and Wharf Sts, Bastion Square once held a jail, gallows and a brothel. Many of the scrubbed stone buildings are now restaurants and boutiques. You can purchase quirky handicrafts at the all-day Bastion Square Festival of the Arts, a small but colorful summer market.
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Petroglyph Provincial Park
Petroglyph Provincial Park is seldom visited, despite some neat old First Nations sandstone carvings that depict everything from mystical wolf-like creatures to fish and human figures. Sadly, the petroglyphs are fading fast and most are barely visible, but kids like making rubbings from the re-created castings.
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Artisan Wine Shop
Reflecting BC's wine-producing provenance, this swanky store showcases the tipples of Mission Hill, one of the Okanagan's most celebrated producers. A minitheatre walks you through the process, a tasting bar serves those who like to try before buying and an impressive selection of vintages is offered for sale.
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Old City Station Pub
A convivial recent addition to Nanaimo's nightlife options (it used to be the Press Room nightclub), this pub has plenty of finger-licking food options available. The equally healthy beer selection includes a significant proportion of Canadian tipples, including Alexander Keith's and Granville Island brews.
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