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VANCOUVER ISLAND 's proximity to Vancouver makes it one of western Canada's premier tourist destinations, though its popularity is slightly out of proportion to what is, in most cases, a pale shadow of the scenery on offer on the region's mainland. The largest of North America's west-coast islands, it stretches almost 500km from north to south, but has a population of around only 500,000, mostly concentrated around Victoria , whose small-town feel belies its role as British Columbia's second metropolis and provincial capital. It is also the most British of Canadian cities in feel and appearance, something it shamelessly plays up to attract its two million - largely American - visitors annually. While Victoria makes a convenient base for touring the island - and, thanks to a superlative museum, merits a couple of days in its own right - little else here, or (for that matter) in any of the island's other sizeable towns, is enough to justify an overnight stop. For most visitors Vancouver Island's main attraction is the great outdoors and - increasingly - whale-watching , an activity which can be pursued from Victoria, Tofino, Ucluelet and several other places up and down the island. The scenery is a mosaic of landscapes, principally defined by a central spine of snowcapped mountains which divide it decisively between the rugged and sparsely populated wilderness of the west coast and the more sheltered lowlands of the east. Rippling hills characterize the northern and southern tips, and few areas are free of the lush forest mantle that supports one of BC's most lucrative logging industries. Apart from three minor east-west roads (and some rough logging and gravel roads), all the urban centres are linked by a good highway running along almost the entire length of the east coast. Once beyond the main towns of Duncan and Nanaimo , the northern two-thirds of the island is distinctly underpopulated. Locals and tourists alike are lured by the beaches at Parksville and Qualicum , while the stunning seascapes of the unmissable Pacific Rim National Park , protecting the central portion of the island's west coast, and Strathcona Provincial Park , which embraces the heart of the island's mountain fastness, are the main destinations for most visitors. Both of these parks offer the usual panoply of outdoor activities, with hikers being particularly well served by the national park's West Coast Trail , which is a tough and increasingly popular long-distance path. A newer, but less dramatic (and less busy) trail, the Juan de Fuca Trail runs to the south of the park. Shuttle buses and once-daily scheduled bus services from Victoria to points in the park, together with a wonderful approach by boat from Port Alberni, offer a choice of beguiling alternative itineraries for exploring the region. Another boat trip on a smaller working vessel from the tiny settlements of Tahsis and Gold River to the north is also becoming deservedly popular. For a large number of travellers, however, the island is little more than a necessary pilgrimage on a longer journey north. Thousands annually make the trip to Port Hardy , linked by bus to Victoria, at the northern tip, to pick up the ferry that follows the so-called Inside Passage , a breathtaking trip up the British Columbia coast to Prince Rupert. More are likely to pick up on the newer scenic ferry service, the Discovery Coast Passage , from Port Hardy to Bella Coola, south of Prince Rupert. You'll probably meet more backpackers plying these routes than anywhere else in the region, many of them en route to the far north, taking the ferries that continue on from Prince Rupert to Skagway and Alaska.
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