Victoria Express

It's a new year, and you've decided you want to spend more time exploring the world with your family. The kids are older, and it's easier to travel now. In other words, it's the perfect time to visit Victoria as a family.

It's exciting to travel to beautiful Victoria BC, and yet it couldn't be easier when you let Victoria Express make all your Victoria travel arrangements. Your children will be thrilled. You'll feel like you had a real vacation. And best of all is the fact that there are many activities in Victoria geared towards families.

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria offers Family Sundays the third Sunday of each month through April, 2010. Between 2 and 4 pm, children and their parents will be guided through various hands-on art projects. Visiting artists, musicians and performers add to the fun. Please visit the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria for more information.

Children and adults alike will be astonished and delighted by the Victoria Bug Zoo, just a block away from the Empress Hotel in downtown Victoria. Glow in the dark scorpions and the alien-eyed praying mantids are just two of the fascinating creatures you'll be able to see there.

Discover the rich history of our regional maritime heritage and plan your family visit to The Maritime Museum of British Columbia located at 28 Bastion Square in downtown Victoria. On display are nautical artifacts spanning hundreds of years, from the original people to European explorers to present day shipping activity.

And of course, Butchart Gardens is always a destination for families. Their Children's Pavilion and Rose Carousel are now open year round, and starting January 15, families will be able to enjoy a taste of spring thanks to the indoor floral conservatory.

Victoria Express is currently offering many exciting travel packages to Victoria that include lodging. Call (360) 452-8088 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more details.

Travel between the United States and Canada now requires a passport or enhanced driver's license. Read our ID Requirements for more information.

Mid August has been a bit chillier than usual in the Pacific Northwest. While that is sure to change (it is already warmer), it reminds us that August is on the downward slope towards Labor Day, when we officially mourn the end of summer.

That said, it is still summer, and there is still much to do. Travelers aboard the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria should rush to see the World Upside Down exhibit at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria before it closes August 30. According to the AGGV website, “When power relations are suddenly turned on their head, we have the opportunity to recognize that some behaviours that we take to be natural and necessary are merely conventional. For this reason, contemporary artists using inversion tend to seek out existing hierarchy, often satirizing the most venerated works in the Western canon.”

Fun at the other end of the ferry

An entirely different form of entertainment can be found at the Free B Film Festival, which runs through August 29, 2009. Beautiful Beacon Hill Park is the venue for outdoor screenings of oft-neglected B Films. It can be downright hard to head indoors to watch a movie when the night is fine and the rains of autumn are not too far away – even if the film being screened is a much beloved old b-film.

Fear not! Grab a blanket or a lawn chair and and head to Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park. 1965 Nightmare Castle starring Barbara Steele will screen Saturday August 22; crowds will surely turn out for American Graffiti on August 28; and Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal will be shown on August 29. Movies start at 9pm, but arrive early.

There are overnight specials for passengers of our ferry between Port Angeles and Victoria. You’ll have time to explore the magnificent city of Victoria before enjoying dinner at one of the many fine restaurants. Then head over to Beacon Hill Park to watch the sun set and the screen light up with FREE B MOVIES (should B movies be anything but?).