//
Vancouver Island, Canada
Photo: Shaundd, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
South Vancouver Island is the southernmost and the most populous region of Vancouver Island. It contains BC's provincial capital, Victoria.
By boat
Operates ferry routes in Southern Vancouver Island — two to the Southern Gulf Islands and one to Metro Vancouver.
By car
The main highways into South Vancouver Island are Highways 1 and 17.
By bus
By plane
BC Transit operates bus systems including Victoria Regional Transit System (serving Langford, Sidney, Sooke, and Victoria) and Cowichan Regional Valley Transit system (serving Chemainus, Crofton, Duncan, and Ladysmith).
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Victoria · International · YYJ
Loading places around the airport…
the capital city of British Columbia that markets itself as a piece of England.
the hub of "Westshore", a group of municipalities to the west of Victoria.
a 2-hour scenic drive from Victoria on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, Port Renfrew is a small west coast community that was built by logging and fishing. It sits along 250 km of rugged uninhabited coastline.
a relaxing city 20 minutes from downtown Victoria, 5 minutes from the Victoria International Airport, quiet, on the Waterfront with quaint little shops. A tourist vacation and retirement location with waterfront walkways and bicycle paths.
a good base for visiting Whiffen Spit, where you can watch the seals eat salmon and fish as they are washed out of the basin, and hike the trails of East Sooke Park.
Agricultural town between Victoria and Nanaimo, home of the world's largest hockey stick. Cowichan Bay, a pretty little seaside village, is nearby.
10 minutes north of Duncan; known for its tourist-attracting murals, plenty of tourist shops and a world-class playhouse.
20 minutes south of Nanaimo, tourist town, many shops down main street. Heritage town with restored buildings and beautiful Transfer Beach. Known for its annual Festival of Lights during the third week in November. Also voted one of the top ten towns in Canada as published by Harrowsmith Magazine.
the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail follows 47 km of wilderness stretching along the western shoreline of the southern island.
rugged coasts and lush temperate rainforests spread out across Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands, and the West Coast Trail.
Articles and travel topics about South Vancouver Island and Canada.
Travel tipsDiscover how to use AI to find cheap flights. Learn prompt strategies, smart fare engines, open-jaw routings, and error-fare booking techniques.
6 min read
Nature & adventureThe National Parks of Canada, and some of the National Historic Sites of Canada, are managed by Parks Canada, an agency of the Government of Canada.
Wikivoyage
Travel tipsAlthough trains are not nearly as ubiquitous and convenient a mode of travel in Canada as in Europe or East Asia, they remain popular with some travelers because of the spacious design of the cars, the scenic routes,…
Wikivoyage
Nature & adventureMany books have been written about hiking in the Canadian Rockies, particularly in Alberta and eastern British Columbia (the "Rocky Mountains" don't actually extend that far).
Wikivoyage
Every section of the guide. Open one to read it in full.