Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
gift shops, drool over the menus of the various restaurants, see what tours are available,
and exchange currency if you're desperate (banks give a better exchange rate). Get a feel-
ing for the hotel's history by joining a tour.
Crystal Garden
One of the architectural highlights of Victoria is
Crystal Garden,
located on the corner
of Douglas and Belleville Streets, directly behind the Fairmont Empress. Inspired by Lon-
don's famed Crystal Palace, Francis Rattenbury designed the glass and red brick building
tobethesocialepicenterofthecity.Whenitopenedin1925,itboastedanOlympic-length
swimming pool, Turkish baths, a ballroom, an arboretum, and a tea room. Crystal Garden
was operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway until 1965 and was closed in 1971. In 1980
it reopened for tourists as a conservatory filled with tropical plants. After closing again
in 2004, the historical building underwent extensive restoration and now operates as the
Victoria Convention Centre.
Its former grandeur is visible from the outside, but you can
also wander through the lobby, a bright, beautiful space filled with totem poles.
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Royal BC Museum
Canada's most-visited museum and easily one of North America's best, the
Royal British
Columbia Museum
(675 Belleville St., 250/356-7226,
http://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
,
10am-5pm daily, adult $22, senior and youth $16) is a must-see attraction for even the
most jaded museum-goer. Its fine
Natural History
galleries are extraordinarily true to life,
complete with appropriate sounds and smells. Come face-to-face with an Ice Age woolly
mammoth, stroll through a coastal forest full of deer and tweeting birds, meander along a
seashore or tidal marsh, and then descend into the
Open Ocean
exhibit via submarine—a
veryrealtripthat'snotrecommendedforclaustrophobics.The
First Peoples
gallerieshold
a fine collection of artifacts from the island's first human inhabitants, the Nuu-chah-nulth
(Nootka). Many of the pieces were collected by Charles Newcombe, who paid the Nuu-
chah-nulth for them on collection sorties in the early 1900s. More modern human history
isalsoexploredhereincreativeways.Takeatourthroughtimeviathetimecapsules;walk
alonganearly-1900sstreet;andexperiencehands-onexhibitsonindustrialization,thegold
rush, and the exploration of British Columbia by land and sea in the
Modern History
and
20th Century
galleries.
The Royal Museum Shop stocks an excellent collection of books on Canadiana, wild-
life, history, and First Nations art and culture, along with postcards and tourist
paraphernalia. The museum's
theater
(9am-8pm daily, additional charge) shows nature-
oriented IMAX films.
