When we belatedly realized that our travelogues covered significant areas of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico -- but not our own "back yard" in the San Juan Islands, we wrote some tips for RVers wanting to know the best way to visit our Islands. But there's one more fabulous destination for RVers who have the good fortune to find their way to Anacortes, WA -- it's the charming and very British town of Victoria, British Columbia. So with this piece we'll do our best to share some of the "local" information we think RVers will find helpful if they'd enjoy taking this trip.
As with our article on visiting the San Juan Islands, we'll assume that visiting RVers will have found their way to one of our favorite parks, the Fidalgo Bay RV Resort in Anacortes. Besides being a friendly and comfortable park for rigs of every size, it claims the perfect geopgraphy for launching an excursion to Victoria. And because it's almost impossible to make the trip to Victoria without spending at least one night on Vancouver Island, it's extremely helpful to be in a park that can accommodate short term on-site storage while you're away.
Travel books are full of descriptions of Victoria. Situated near the southern tip of Vancouver Island off the west coast of British Columbia, it is as close to a true "British" town as anything you'll find outside of England itself. The regal Empress Hotel on the Inner Harbor is a charming old world experience in its own right; and many visitors that choose to stay in one of the many smaller hotels or B&Bs will nevertheless go there in the afternoon for "high tea". A very short walk from there leads to the Royal British Columbia Museum -- one of the finest permanent collections found anywhere -- and almost always with a spectacular traveling exhibit as well. Our biggest problem with it is that it offers so much to see -- and we never seem to allocate enough time to do it justice. Just about everything you'll want to see in Victoria can be done on foot in and around the Inner Harbor. Speciality shops abound -- and here it's not just tee shirts and tourist trinkets. This place is a Mecca for the serious shopper. And with the favorable Canadian exchange rate, many items will look like bargains.
As with a visit to the San Juans, the key is "how to get there". And key difference is you'll need to figure out where to spend at least one night on Vancouver Island -- either in Victoria or in Sydney -- the latter being a smaller village some 20 minutes north of Victoria, where the Washington State ferry from Anacortes docks.
Since we live on San Juan Island, it's a breeze for us to make the pilgrimage to Victoria. Once daily there's a ferry sailing from Friday Harbor to Sydney, BC. We usually leave the car at home, and do the trip as walk on passengers. Armed with one small suitcase -- and usually a laptop -- we pay the passenger only fares, disembark at Sydney, and usually walk the 3 blocks or so to the Waterfront Hotel in Sydney. There are several other motels nearby as well. Typically we check in, and head for the public transit stop -- the bus to Victoria -- only a couple of blocks away. In a half hour we're right downtown Victoria on the Inner Harbor, and don't even have to think about finding a parking spot. Usually we find one of the very authentic local pubs for lunch, do a bit of shopping in the afternoon, and catch the bus back to Syndey to our hotel. We've found several small but very fun restuarants in the Syndey area -- almost all within walking distance. The next morning we'll have breakfast in one of the several local coffee shops, check out a few of the village shops, and catch the midday ferry back to Friday Harbor.
While this describes an option when traveling from our Island home, it's quite relevant to taking this trip from Anacortes as well. The first decision an RVer needs to make is whether and which vehicle(s) to take. If you take an RV, bring lots of cash! Oversize units will pay a premium rate, usually well over a hundred dollars for the round trip. Our rig would pay closer to $200. And when you get to Vancouver Island, there will be the further challenge of finding an RV space that can accommodate you. Most of the RV accommodations on Vancover Island are further north on the Island, well away from the Victoria area. If you take a car, the fare is significantly less expensive, and of course you'll have your own wheels to tour the Victoria area. It also makes it easier to visit the famous Butchart Gardens, about a 15 minute drive from Sydney (though it too is served by public transportation). The downside is in peak season you'll probably need a reservation (both ways), or risk missing the boat because it's already filled. For more information on the ferry trip, check out the Washington State Ferries Website.
If you want the true "walk on adventure", you can do a version of what we do departing from Friday Harbor. From Anacortes you'll have two sailings daily to choose from during the summer months. And you'll not need to worry about missing the boat. While the ferry boats often can't take all the vehicle traffic that's waiting to board, there's always room for walk on passengers. When you get to Sydney you can either choose to stay in one of the Sydney hotel or motel accommodations, or hop on the bus for downtown Victoria and stay in one of the many hotels, motels, and B&Bs located within walking distance from the Inner Harbor -- where the bus will drop you. Suffice it to say there are endless dining options in Victoria -- many only a short walk away.
What we've described above might be considered the "standard" way of visiting Victoria. There are other options -- some of which may require at least two night away from your RV.
One is to take your car (or towing vehicle) and drive north towards Vancouver, British Columbia. About 15 miles south of Vancouver is the BC ferry port of Tsawwassen ("Swah-sun"). Here you can board a much larger BC ferry bound for Schwartz Bay -- which is just at the north end of Sydney on Vancouver Island. This trip will take you through the fabulous "Gulf Islands", the Canadian chain of islands just north of the San Juan Islands. The ferry trip will take you through narrow channels with some of the most energetic tide rips you'll find anywhere. And the scenery is nothing short of spectacular. The BC ferries are considerably larger, accommodate more vehicles, are not as likely to be "overloaded", have more frequent sailings, and discounted for Canadian currency are relatively less expensive for American visitors. If you arrive in Sydney using the BC ferries, you'll have the option to stay either in Sydney or in Victoria; and a chance for a side trip to the Butchart Gardens as well. For information about schedules and fares for the Tsawwassen route, check their website. For the return trip to Anacortes, you'll of course have the option of taking the Sydney to Anacortes ferry run, with two sailing times during summer months, and one (usually midday) sailing in the off-season.
If you take a car to Victoria, either through Anacortes or Tsawwassen, there's still one more option for designing your own special mini-adventure to Canada. You can make the return trip on the M.V. Coho, a car and passenger ferry that sails between Victoria's Inner Harbor and Port Angeles, WA, on Washington's famed Olympic Peninsula. This trip crosses the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the wide and sometimes wild stretch of waterway that leads from Seattle's Puget sound to the Pacific Ocean. As you approach Port Angeles, you'll have fabulous views of the Olympic Mountain range, with jagged snow-capped peaks. And when you arrive, your adventure is by no means complete because the trip back to Anacortes will take you through some wonderful Northwest country as well.
Heading east from Port Angeles, in about twenty minutes you'll find yourself in Sequim ("Skwim"), the driest spot in Western Washington. Because it is in the "rainshadow" of the Olympic mountains, it's known for its "blue hole": When the rest of western Washington is overcast, frequently it's still sunny in Sequim. There's even an unusual species of cactus that grows only in that dry area (less than 16" of rain per year). As you continue east you'll have vistas of Sequim Bay, then Discovery Bay, and finally on to historic Port Townsend. The stores and shops here will tempt you as well. But you still have one more short water crossing to make before you can complete your circle back to Anacortes. This will be done on a 30 minute ferry ride between Port Townsend, on the Olympic Peninsula, and the Keystone ferry dock on the west side of Whidby Island. The cost of a car and driver on this run leaves you significant change from a $10 bill. Once you've made the crossing, you'll have about a 30 minute drive north on Whidbey Island, cross the water one last time -- this time on the Deception Pass Bridge -- and you'll be only a few miles back to where your RV will be waiting for you.
The bottom line here is that here's not only lots to do on this trip, there are a whole lot of different ways to make it. Mix and match from the options we've described, and create your own adventure itinerary. Whichever way you go, your visit to Sydney and Victoria will surely by among the highlights of your RV travels in the Pacific Northwest.
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