Opinion on Victoria,BC from Texas:

Wonderful place

Good place to take an afternoon stroll around town. Cool architecture.

Beautiful. Can't afford a trip to Europe? Try Victoria.

horrible place, the people are extremely nieve. travel out to the non protected part of the city n see what this horrible city has to really offer, urban sprawl to the max with a little bit of purposeful traffic congestion. pitiful attempt to be something its not makes this city unbearable for anyone trying to make a living. I'm extremely sad to say this is my home city. City of the newly wed and nearly dead

An interesting town with an English accent. Stay at the Empress if you can--one of the greatest historic hotels in Canada. I will say that if you approach Victoria by ferry from the US, you'll catch a glimpse of some of the best coastal scenery on the West Coast. Do try to see some of Vancouver Island. The strongest memory I have of the area is seeing virgin rain forests with the largest trees you'll ever see.

I was disappointed by the trash in the streets. The last few years, Canadian cities in general have become NOTICEABLY dirtier. Also an extremely large hotel has been constructed adjacent to the old Parliment Building. This new hotel is so intrusive on the ascetics around the Parliament Building, carefully taken pictures are now required - unless you are willing to accept an image that is quite unappealing. Despite these drawbacks, the place is beautiful. I'm not sure it is fair to rate Victoria as a city it is more of a big town. Also a side note: sales tax in most places around Canada now exceeds 14%- be prepared.

Best place to call home (and I've lived all around North America). Half the rain of Vancouver and Seattle. Arbutus trees and garry oaks, rather than dreary evergreens of everywhere else nearby. Great selection of restaurants for a city of it's size, beautiful neighbourhoods where people care for their homes and gardens. No real commuting. World class university. A symphony. Genuinely friendly people, not a lot of pretence.

I live in Nanaimo on Vancouver and Victoria is only an hour away. Victoria has very mild weather compared to the rest of Canada.

Victoria is very pretty (how many times has this been said?). I like the archetecture of the Parliament buildings and Empress hotel and it's tourist theme is almost more British than Britain itself. I think the best attraction here is the Royal British Columbia Museaum. I spent a whole afternoon wondering around the place, it has fascinating exhibits that really replicate BC's history and natural beauty quite well. It actually exceeded my expectations. As noted by Kyll below the remainder of Vancouver Island has much to reccommend it. Tofino is very peaceful and has a lot of inspiring scenery where thickly forested terrain meets the open Pacific Ocean and incredibly green! Indeed Tofino is a great place to unwind and has a lot of nice beachfront hotels.

A small navel-gazing company town (the company is the government) filled with insular people who believe they're the only folks in the world. It's pretty though.

Victoria put her name on the right city :)

Victoria is not near as good as Vancouver, but almost ! I especially love the people here, especially my family. A great place to call home...

Close to the most beautiful city in the world, I love this place. Even the rain doesn't bother me, better than the snow. I hope to live there when I retire some day.

Far better than Victoria proper are locales further up the island. Try Tofino or Ucluelet on the islands west side-incredible beauty without the price or crowds of Victoria.

Victoria is a beautiful city. I went there for an annual conference, the kind that usually take everything out of you. Well, I came back from this place refreshed. I will definately visit again. It is relaxing and yet there is a lot to do and see. It's fun and romantic. The perfect place for a getaway.