CJS2766 Posted March 25, 2022 Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 Hello all, We are excited for our first ever Alaska cruise coming up this May. We are excited and ready for our adventure. While we did pick some amazing excursions in Alaska, we decided to just explore Victoria BC on our own. My questions are: 1) How far is the walk from the cruise port to the Inner Harbor area? We are thinking about exploring the Market Square area. Not sure if we should look for some type of transportation or if downtown is less than a mile walk?? 2) This will be our first time in Canada. Do we need to have Canadian currency or are US dollars accepted? 3) Is there any "must see" places besides the gardens? Wife and I are not really interested in that. Thanks all!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted March 25, 2022 Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 Google maps is your friend, or Apple maps on iOS devices. It is walkable but so many "it depends" associated with that. How is the weather? Are you okay with long walks? Kids in tow? Victoria is much like any Canadian city. They'll gladly accept US money but the exchange rate will not likely be favorable. You are better using a US credit card especially one that doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee. CJS2766 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJS2766 Posted March 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 15 minutes ago, twangster said: Google maps is your friend, or Apple maps on iOS devices. It is walkable but so many "it depends" associated with that. How is the weather? Are you okay with long walks? Kids in tow? Victoria is much like any Canadian city. They'll gladly accept US money but the exchange rate will not likely be favorable. You are better using a US credit card especially one that doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee. No kids! Guess I will use my AMEX that doesn't charge me foreign fees. As for the walk? Assuming weather is decent, we would rather do the majority of our walking around town vs 1 to 1.5 miles there and back. I'd be ok with it, just not sure about the Mrs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riley Posted March 25, 2022 Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 5 hours ago, CJS2766 said: Hello all, We are excited for our first ever Alaska cruise coming up this May. We are excited and ready for our adventure. While we did pick some amazing excursions in Alaska, we decided to just explore Victoria BC on our own. My questions are: 1) How far is the walk from the cruise port to the Inner Harbor area? We are thinking about exploring the Market Square area. Not sure if we should look for some type of transportation or if downtown is less than a mile walk?? 2) This will be our first time in Canada. Do we need to have Canadian currency or are US dollars accepted? 3) Is there any "must see" places besides the gardens? Wife and I are not really interested in that. Thanks all!! There is a great museum in the area, some nice walking paths, the Fairmont Empress hotel (terrific High Tea) and whale watching tours, depending on what you want to do. HOWEVER the inner harbor where all this sits is not near the cruise port. It's probably a mile and a half walk each way to the museum and the city is hillier than you might think. I think they have a hop on/hop off bus tour though - maybe check into that. CJS2766 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fa-li Posted March 25, 2022 Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 We did a food & beer walking tour that was fantastic. Learned a lot about the town& history and got signature snacks and brews at many local landmarks. Can’t remember the guide, plus this was 2013 so probably new people anyway. Definitely worth a browse on trip advisor for something similar. CJS2766 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 I grew up in Victoria and love going back every year! 1. My suggestion to alleviate the walk to the Inner Harbour is to do the shorter walk to Fisherman's Wharf. It's a really fun spot with restaurants on the docks and houseboats. Barb's Place Fish and Chips is the original and there are lots of others now too. From there you can get the Harbour Ferry, I don't remember the cost but it's a fun boat trip to the Inner Harbour and then you are right in the action. https://victoriaharbourferry.com/water-taxi/ That being said, the walk is not bad if you choose just to go for it. 2. Victoria relies on tourism so anywhere downtown will accept US cash. 3. Butchart Garden is spectacular but if you are not interested in it, it is not close to the port and would be a long bus ride so for sure stick with your original idea and pass. If you do end up having bad weather, as another suggested, the Museum is world class, Royal BC Museum. Let me know if you have any other Victoria questions. Vancity Cruiser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moby Dick Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 34 minutes ago, Trevor said: I grew up in Victoria and love going back every year! 1. My suggestion to alleviate the walk to the Inner Harbour is to do the shorter walk to Fisherman's Wharf. It's a really fun spot with restaurants on the docks and houseboats. Barb's Place Fish and Chips is the original and there are lots of others now too. From there you can get the Harbour Ferry, I don't remember the cost but it's a fun boat trip to the Inner Harbour and then you are right in the action. https://victoriaharbourferry.com/water-taxi/ That being said, the walk is not bad if you choose just to go for it. 2. Victoria relies on tourism so anywhere downtown will accept US cash. 3. Butchart Garden is spectacular but if you are not interested in it, it is not close to the port and would be a long bus ride so for sure stick with your original idea and pass. If you do end up having bad weather, as another suggested, the Museum is world class, Royal BC Museum. Let me know if you have any other Victoria questions. I am originally from Canada, born in Montreal. I used to go back every year and spend the entire summer there. My dad was a golf pro (teaching) there. We would spend the winters in S. Florida and the summers in Canada. In the 70's when I was old enough to understand what the difference in U.S. and Canadian dollars was, one of the first things that I learned was that Canada had a law that Canadian business could only convert U.S. dollars at the official rate of exchange. Do you know if that is still true. Can local merchants alter what they charge to exchange U.S. to Canadian and vice versa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyaK Posted September 21, 2023 Report Share Posted September 21, 2023 Anyone know if the fishing excursion with Royal Caribbean is any good or should I wait until ship docks to find another charter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.