Filed under: history, museum, sightseeing, top-feature
A Rainy Day Visit to the Royal BC Museum in Victoria B.C.
Royal BC Museum, Victory BC
It was raining when I arrive in Victoria for a day of sightseeing. What to do? It’s the wrong season to visit Butchart Gardens and too wet to wander around Beacon Hill Park or stroll around the historic Ross Bay Cemetery. Definitely too wet to go whale watching. I’ve brought an umbrella and could walk through the downtown shopping area of the city to Chinatown, or explore some of the boutiques and souvenir shops, but somewhere warm and dry appeals to me more.
Victoria has lots of indoor entertainment to choose from. I’ve spent many interesting hours touring Victoria’s legendary Craigdarroch Castle. Miniature World is fun if you have your kids along, and so is and the Maritime Museum and the Royal London Wax Museum. I had planned to visit the Emily Carr House, former home of one of B.C.’s most beloved artist/writers, but was disappointed to learn it is closed for the season. The Royal B.C. Museum happens to be right across the street from where the bus from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal has dropped me off, and it’s been a couple of years since I last toured it, so I opt to spend the afternoon there.
The feature exhibit until October 2011 is “Behind the Scenes” celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity. The exhibit reveals the hidden world of the museum’s natural history staff through an interactive exhibition that include family-friendly activities and lots of interesting specimens. You learn how the researchers dig, dredge, dive and document discoveries and you’ll see lots of new specimens on display, some for the very first time.
Woolly Mammoth
My favourite gallery is on the second floor in the Natural History Gallery where a gigantic life-like Ice-Age woolly Mammoth looms on the tundra displaying it’s massive tusks. I’m always amazed, when I visit this gallery, how realistic the displays are, right down to the accompanying sound affects. Those great sea lions you see basking on the rocks actually bellow, the sea birds mewl, the sound of waves is heard crashing on the beach. I walk through the Coastal Forest and view the deer standing still under giant Douglas Firs. And at the Fraser River Delta there are snow geese and other water fowl standing in the reeds on the shore. In the Seashore Gallery a docent shows me a collection of different crabs and star fishes.
Up on the third floor, the First People’s Gallery has everything from a Pit House to a Kwakwak’wakw Big House and many displays of First Nation’s artifacts. There’s a History Gallery too, and an Old Town where I feel as if I’ve stepped back into a pioneer settlement in the Caribou. You can even hear the chickens clucking in the barn!
Besides the many rich exhibits in the Museum there is also the IMAX Theatre, an extraordinary experience where you’ll be surrounded by sound as IMAX takes you on a journey to places you never dreamed existed.
I spent a pleasant afternoon, dry and warm, browsing the exhibits in the Royal B.C.Museum, and then later walked across the street to the grand old Fairmont Empress Hotel just in time for tea and cakes.
A great way to spend a rainy afternoon in Victoria, B.C.
- Royal B.C. Museum (travel guide) 675 Belleville Street, Open daily 9 am – 5 pm
- Fairmont Empress Hotel (travel guide) 721 Government Street. Afternoon tea commences at noon daily. Afternoon tea menu and pricing.
- Craigdarroch Castle, (travel guide) 1050 Joan Crescent Open daily 10 am – 4:30 pm with extended hours June – Labor Day.
Other Places to See in Victoria on a Rainy Day:
- Emily Carr House, (travel guide) 207 Government Street, Open mid-May to mid-October daily from 10 am to 5 pm. Special Victorian traditions are presented during Christmas.
- Helmcken House (the oldest house in B.C.) 10 Elliott St. Square. (next to the Royal BC Museum) Open from May to October, 10 am – 5 pm, reduced hours from October to April.
- Point Ellice House, (enjoy high tea in this beautiful Victorian house) (travel guide) 2016 Pleasant Street. Open daily mid-May to mid-September, 10 am to 5 pm (last tea served at 4 pm)
- Craigflower Manor and the Craigflower Schoolhouse (B.C.’s oldest) (travel guide) Admirals Road, off Highway 1A and Craigflower Rd.
- *find out more about these Heritage Houses
- Miniature World (travel guide) 80 miniature dioramas. Fun for children!649 Humboldt Street Open May to September 9 am to 9 pm; September – April 10 am – 5 pm Adults $12; Seniors $11.; Youth $10.; Child $8 (plus H.S.T.)
- Pacific Undersea Gardens (travel guide) 490 Belleville Street Open daily. Continuous shows.
How to Get there:
- Ferry schedules from Tsawassen to Swartz Bay
- Pacific Coach schedules from Vancouver to Victoria
- Translink Trip Planner (Vancouver to Tsawassen Ferry Terminal)
- Local Victoria Transit Buses run from Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal to downtown Victoria. Fares: $2.50 adult; $1.65 Senior and Youth; Children under 5 free.
Photo credits: W. Ruth Kozak (woolly mammoth); Royal BC Museum, Paul Schultz courtesy flickr Creative Commons
1 Comment