Our number one travel motto is "we'll be back." We've learned from our past mistakes, we never treat a visit to a place like it will be our last. Sure it's great exercise to hike all over a city to try and catch every site, attraction, and cuisine. But sometimes we like to savor the flavor and do a bit of exploration, all while avoiding every tourist attaction at all costs. A recent trip to Victoria, BC proved to be one of these types of trips.
The scenario, we had our parents in town for a week and we wanted to take them to Canada and out on a boat. The Victoria Clipper satisfied both criteria. So we caught the morning boat and enjoyed our 3 hour tour of the Puget Sound. We had heard things like, oh it's like England and there are beautiful gardens there. We didn't hop on the guided tour bus to the Butchart Gardens, we decided to save that for another trip and savour the flavour of downtown Victoria.
Saying Victoria is like England is the equivalent of saying Boston is like England. It's simply not, unless you count the guys dressed up in period clothing for the "Dickens Tour." (I still cannot come up for a reason for a Dickens Tour in Canada...they must think Americans will go on any tour that has a dressed-up guide.) We did find a reputable pub with good beer, fish and chips, and poutine. And there are a lot of such pubs with outdoor decks, a pub crawl would be a great return trip idea.
It's a bit more difficult to kill time when you avoid every tourist attraction. No pedicab tours, no horse and buggies, no overpriced High Tea at the Empress Hotel for us. We did have a lovely afternoon in the garden of the Empress Hotel, where we got in some good people watching. And sitting in the harbor with a fresh squeezed lemonade on a bright, sunny day, we caught the trainer of yet another overpriced tourist attraction out in the water with a seal. Free show!
We left that day feeling a bit down on ourselves for not seeing "everything." But honestly, we had everything one would want from a day trip. A nice day with the family, a good lunch, some fun shopping, and a nice walking tour of the sites. Plus a boat ride with seal sightings, an eagle's nest (we missed it), and lots of beautiful water views.
So avoid the temptation to empty your wallets and let someone else guide you through a city. Open your mind and creativity instead. If it's a place that speaks to you, it won't be your last trip there. And if you find it's not at all what you imagined, you didn't waste your money being led through the city on a tour that you wouldn't have liked anyways.
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