Canada Guide
Vancouver Island
Arrival
Victoria International Airport ( 
250/953-7500, 
www.Victoriaairport.com ) is 26km north of downtown on Hwy 17 near the Sidney ferry terminal. Hwy 17 runs south and takes you to the city outskirts where it becomes Douglas Street, which runs to the heart of downtown. The Airporter shuttle bus heads downtown (where it stops at major hotels) every half-hour between about 4.30am and 1am; a single fare for the 45-minute journey is $14 ( 250/386-2525 or 1-877/386-2525, www.victoriaairporter.travel.bc.ca ). They can also arrange pick-ups to the airport.
The bus terminal is downtown at 700 Douglas St and Belleville St, close to the Royal British Columbia Museum. Pacific Coach Lines' buses ( 250/385-4411, www.pacificcoach.com ) from Vancouver or Vancouver airport drop you here, and it is the base for Greyhound ( 250/388-5248 or 1-800/663-8390, www.greyhound.com ) as well as onward connections on Vancouver Island provided by Laidlaw Coach Lines ( 250/385-4411 or 1-800/318-0818, www.grayline.ca/victoria ). Victoria's train station, at the northern end of Wharf Street, is useful only if you are taking the one daily service on Via Rail ( 1-888/842-7245, www.viarail.ca ) to or from Nanaimo and points north (journey time to Nanaimo is 2hr 25min).