We have a lovely 100-year-old house (built 1913) on a quiet, tree-lined street in Victoria, B.C. Two storeys and two bedrooms, it features:

- Queen-sized bed in the master bedroom
- natural hardwood and bamboo flooring throughout, with heated tile in the bathroom
- fully-equipped kitchen with new appliances: fridge, stove, oven, microwave, toaster oven and dishwasher as well as coffee grinder and French press
- full bathtub in the bathroom
- desktop computers with high-speed Internet, cable TV and record player in living room
- washing machine and dryer
- a large grassy backyard where we grow herbs and vegetables
- a large back deck with patio furniture and BBQ for sunny summer evenings
- 10-minute walk to the eclectic neighbourhood of Fernwood
- 10-minute drive to the city centre, or take a city bus! We are near 3 major routes.
- 5-minute drive to popular Willows Beach

We love this house! It is a great hub from which to explore the beautiful city of Victoria and the rest of the Gulf Islands. If you're looking for an island getaway, it doesn't get any better than this.

Note: the Home Exchange map shows our house in the complete wrong location. If you use Google Maps, look up 'Jubilee North, Victoria BC' and that is our neighbourhood.

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia and the largest city on Vancouver Island. With the mildest climate in Canada, we are beautiful and green all year round but receive less rainfall than Vancouver or Seattle. In 2012 we celebrated the city's 150th birthday (which is even older than Canada itself!). Our city centre is prized for its old-world charm, restored heritage buildings and calm, narrow streets.

Our house is located in the Jubilee neighbourhood, a short 10-minute drive from downtown. We live on a quiet cul-de-sac street lined with small, old houses and tall trees. It is a very central location and easy to get to the city, popular beaches, hiking trails and of course the ocean.

Victoria is home to the University of Victoria and while it has all the restaurants, shopping and activities of a big city, it retains the charm, friendliness and laid-back feel of a small city. We have the second-highest amount of restaurants per capita in North America, after San Francisco. Downtown Victoria is compact and easy to get around, beautiful and bustling. You're bound to find an outdoor concert, market or festival any given day of the summer. Locals take great pride in our coffee and cycling cultures and get onto the water whenever possible - whether by kayak, canoe, sail boat or ferry. Islanders also love to eat breakfast out - we have a ton of breakfast/brunch-only restaurants which are always busy on weekends. You'll find locals to be relaxed, laid-back, and ready to give directions and friendly suggestions so you can make the most of your stay.

When exploring downtown, be sure to walk along the Inner Harbour and visit the causeway where buskers entertain, or catch a water taxi to popular Fisherman's Wharf for some fresh fish and chips. You can also wander through the historic Empress Hotel and Legislature Building, or sign up for whale watching, fishing charters, kayak rentals and sailing lessons, all in the harbour. A short walk from the harbour will take you to Beacon Hill Park. There you can feed the birds in the duck pond, visit the petting zoo or just enjoy a picnic and afternoon nap on the grass. Continue through the park to Dallas Road, a scenic ocean walkway that is popular with dog walkers and offers spectacular mountain views, fresh sea breeze, and several little beaches.

We don't own a car, as public transit is extremely reliable in Victoria. To get around the city, most people either walk or cycle and you're more than welcome to use our two bikes. If you'd like to get outside of the city, it's easy to catch a bus with excellent service to the surrounding communities. Another option is Harbour Air, which operates out of the harbour and offers regular seaplane flights to Vancouver, Whistler and many other BC destinations. It's also easy to catch a ferry to Seattle, Vancouver or one of dozens of nearby Gulf Islands. Salt Spring Island is one of our favourites, loved for its Saturday Farmer's Market, excellent hiking and kayaking opportunities, and great camping. There are plenty more to explore as well, and island-hopping makes for a nice day trip. Stay in Victoria and get to know all of the Pacific Northwest!

Victoria is also famous for:

- Canada's oldest Chinatown
- first double-decker city buses in Canada
- horse-drawn carriages that tour the city, the seawall and Beacon Hill Park
- called the City of Gardens for the pink cherry blossom trees and hundreds of hanging flower baskets which line the streets in spring and summer
- views of Washington State mountains across the ocean

In short, there is always something to do in this city. If you've never visited, you must!

Map showing Victoria's location in British Columbia:
http://www.canada-maps.org/british-columbia/thumbs/british-columbia-map.gif

Victoria named Canada's most romantic city by Amazon.ca:
http://www.canada.com/life/Victory+Victoria+capital+named+Canadas+most+romantic+city+Amazon/7926834/story.html

We feel very lucky to live in this part of Canada! This video is beautiful and features the ocean and forests of Vancouver Island:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0qPWSs75Y0&feature=channel_video_title

BBC article about travelling to Victoria:
http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20120309-british-columbias-capital-charms

Vancouver Island is named the top island to visit in Canada and the Continental US, and ranked 10th best in the world, behind the Philippine island of Boracay, and Bali:
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Island+cracks+magazine+list/6901175/story.html

Calgary Herald article about our early spring (late February!): http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Tired+winter+Spring+already+sprung+Victoria/8084133/story.html

Victoria BC Flickr photo pool:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/victoriabc/pool/

We can be quite flexible with dates. Please feel free to suggest the dates that work for you!

Surprise us! We have already done exchanges to Hamburg, Germany and Heemstede, Netherlands. We would absolutely love to return to Paris, but it's a big world and there is a lot to see!

We are a young couple looking to travel to new places! We both work at the University of Victoria, Brendan as a software developer and Amanda as a research assistant in a psychology lab. We are non-smokers and love books, coffee shops, going out to movies, camping and meeting new people.

We are looking to exchange in the spring or summer of 2013 for a week or two, so that we can have enough time to explore all that a new place has to offer. As for where, we're open to ideas - surprise us! We started doing home exchanges because we really don't want to travel as typical tourists, staying at hotels, eating familiar food, seeing only the tourist part of town. For us, travelling is about getting to know a new place and culture, and experiencing how locals there live.

In September 2012, we were lucky enough to experience two great home exchanges - one in Hamburg, Germany and the other in Heemstede, Netherlands. Both were fantastic, we met some incredibly nice people, and we loved having a real home base for our trip. It was great to have local contacts who knew the cities much better than any guidebook, and we only wish we could have stayed for longer. We're very much looking forward to our next home exchange!

On that trip, we also rented a private apartment in Paris through AirBnB. Paris was amazing and we would return there in a heartbeat.

Wherever you live, please don't hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you!

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