Victoria International
Airport is 20km north of
downtown on Hwy 17. The Akal
Airporter shuttle bus heads
downtown (where it stops at
major hotels) every half-hour
between about 4.30am and 1am; a
single fare for the 45-minute
journey is $13 (tel 386-2525,
386-2526 or 1-877/386-2525,
www.akalairporter.travel.bc.ca
). Leaving the city for flights,
you should call to arrange
pick-ups
. Otherwise contact Harbour Air
(384-2215 or 1-800/665-0212,
www.harbour-air.com
) or West Coast Air (tel
388-4521 or 1-800/347-2222,
www.westcoastair.com
), who operate efficient and
quick float planes between
Vancouver's port and Victoria's
downtown Inner Harbour: both
companies share terminals in
both cities ($89; planes leave
roughly hourly; crossing time is
30 minutes). The
bus terminal
is downtown at 700 Douglas and
Belleville, close to the Royal
British Columbia Museum; the
central VIA
Rail station
is at 450 Pandora St (tel
1-800/561-8630), about seven
blocks north of the
Empress
Hotel , but you'll only
arrive there if you've managed
to get a seat on the lone daily
train from Courtenay and Nanaimo.
Victoria's busy infocentre
is at 812 Wharf St, in front of
the Empress Hotel on the
harbour (daily: May-Sept
8.30am-8pm; Oct-April 9am-5pm;
tel 953-2033, for accommodation
reservations tel 1-800/663-3883,
www.tourismvictoria.com
). It offers help finding
accommodation and can book you
onto whale-watching and other
tours
, while its huge range of
information - on both Victoria
and Vancouver Island as a whole
- makes as good a reason as any
for starting a tour of the
island from the city. There's
also a separate desk for
concert, theatre and other
tickets. Independent travellers
will want to check out the
notice board at the HI youth
hostel
, which has lots of current
practical information.
The best in-town means of
transport are the tiny Inner
Harbour ferries , worth
taking just for the ride: try a
$10 evening
"mini-cruise" around
the harbour (tickets on Inner
Harbour or book at the
infocentre). You're unlikely to
need to take a local bus
anywhere, but if you do, most
services run from the corner of
Douglas and Yates. The fare
within the large central zone is
$1.75 - tickets and the DayPass
($5.50) are sold at the
infocentre, 7-Eleven stores and
other marked outlets, or you can
pay on board if you have the
exact fare. For 24-hour recorded
information on city transport,
call the Busline (tel 382-6161, www.bctransit.com
). Other potentially useful
private bus lines for onward
travel from Victoria include
Laidlaw (tel 385-4411 or
1-800/318-0818, www.victoriatours.com
) at the bus terminal,
responsible for scheduled
services across the island to
Duncan ($10 one-way), Chemainus
($12.50), Nanaimo ($17.50), Port
Alberni ($30), Tofino ($47.50),
Ucluelet ($47.50), Courtney
($35), Campbell River ($40),
Port Hardy ($84.10) and points
in between (no reservations are
necessary or taken for Laidlaw
services). Also useful are Gray
Lines of Seattle for a
once-daily service to Seattle
inclusive of ferry (leaves 10am;
$40; tel 206/626-5208 or
1-800/544-0739). The West Coast
Trail Express, 3954 Bow Rd (tel
477-8700 or 1-888/999-2288, www.trailbus.com
), is a high season-only shuttle
service (March-Sept) for
connections to Port Renfrew and
Gordon River (both $30) via
French Beach, Jordan River,
China Beach and Sooke for the
southern trailhead of the West
Coast Trail and the newer Juan
de Fuca Trail
, as well as links to Bamfield
and Pachena Bay (both $50): it
also runs between these and
other destinations, notably
between Bamfield and Port
Alberni ($22). Book seats in
advance during office hours
(March-April Mon-Fri 8am-noon;
May-Sept 6.30am-1.30pm &
5.30-8pm).
