Inner Harbour, Victoria

British Columbia's provincial museum is situated in Heritage Court, midway between the Parliament Building and the empress Court Hotel. It is by far the best museum of natural and cultural history in Canada.Three-dimensional displays offer a feast of sights, smells and sounds of British Columbia. Walk through a rainforest, view animals on West Coast beaches and in tidal wetlands. The Natural History Gallery includes "Ocean Station", where visitors can explore British Columbia's vibrant undersea world. Sit among aboriginal ceremonial poles and masks, walk through a big house, and learn of native people's struggles after European settlement. Sail through the HMS Discovery - the ship that brought Captain Vancouver to these shores, "slosh" through a fish canning factory and explore the worlds of miners and loggers. Window shop in Old Town, visit the Grand Hotel, and see what's playing at the cinema before catching the train home. The 20th Century Hall holds an array of artifacts, reading stations and computer displays on the past 100 years of BC history.

Built in 1908 for Canadian Pacific, the Empress Court Hotel on the Inner Harbour is one of Victoria's best-loved landmarks. Like the Château Frontenac in Québec, of which it might be said to be the West Coast counterpart, the Empress Court was designed by architect Francis M. Rattenbury. Entering the vast lobby of this luxurious hotel is like journeying back in the time to before the First World War. "Five o'clock tea", served with great style, is an experience for any visitor.

A myriad creatures native to the Pacific, including seals, salmon, sharks and - most fascinating of all - a really scary octopus, can be observed at close quarters through the large underwater viewing window of the Pacific Undersea Gardens.

Dominating the south side of the Inner Harbour is the imposing seat of British Columbia's provincial government, the Parliament Buildings, designed by the Yorkshire architect Francis M. Rattenbury and erected in 1897. Set in neat, orderly gardens, the complex of buildings, of heavy stone construction, is very attractive in appearance, and especially so in the evening when lit by festoons of lights. Perched high above the massive dome is a gilded statue of Captain George Vancouver (1757-98) who accomplished the first circumnavigation of Vancouver Island.Figures of famous personalities from the province embellish the façade. A large statue of Queen Victoria surveys the Inner Harbour from the terrace. Tours of the town center by horse-drawn carriage leave from near by.

THE WAX MUSEUM IS BEING RELOCATED AND IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.On the harborside north of the Parliament Buildings stands the grandiose former Canadian Pacific terminal, likewise designed by Rattenbury and built in 1924. It now houses the Royal London Wax Museum, a collection of more than 200 highly authentic wax models of famous people.