Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1215222
tourismvictoria.com | 19 FOR PEDESTRIANS ONLY You won't find a street like Fan Tan Alley anywhere else in Canada. It's the narrowest street in the country, less than a metre wide at its skinniest point, creating the sense you're in a red-brick canyon. In the city's early days, it was home to gambling houses and opium dens that served the Chinese population drawn by the gold rush. Today, the alley is home to small, independent and fascinating shops selling everything from conversation-starting umbrellas to gourmet ice cream. Another must-visit for pedestrian explorers is Trounce Alley, home to tapa bars and one-of-a-kind shops, still lit at night by original gaslights more than 125 years old. ART FOR THE AGES Master painter Emily Carr, many of whose works hang in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, was a Victoria native. MOSS Street To explore the quieter, residential side of historic Victoria, head to Moss Street. Start at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, just off Fort Street. The gallery's permanent collection includes works by Emily Carr, the trailblazing Victoria painter. Nearby Craigdarroch Castle, built for coal baron Robert Dunsmuir, offers a look at the opulence and splendour enjoyed by the very rich in the Gilded Age. Upper Moss is in Rockland, Victoria's Nob Hill in the late 19th Century. Stone mansions nestle alongside Tudor Revival coages, designed by Victorian- era starchitects like Francis Raenbury and Samuel Maclure. If Government is the Old Town's pulsing artery, Johnson Street is its more hidden heart. Start at Government Street and head toward the water and the fancy new li bridge. This was where, aer the 1858 gold rush saw the city's population jump from 500 to 5,000, hotels, saloons and dance halls sprang up. Those brick buildings line the street today, and on LoJo — Lower Johnson — they house quirky shops and restaurants with brightly painted storefronts. This is the place to come for affordable, one-of-a-kind fashion. Baggins Shoes, in a classic 1899 red-brick building (once home to a brothel), is a destination for shoe buffs, with an amazing selection of Converse, Vans and Dr. Martens. A few steps down the street, Market Square occupies a half a block and houses more than 35 eateries and shops — a tradition that started when Giacomi Bossi opened his liquor and grocery store here in 1883. Today, stores like Oscar and Libby's — "jam-packed with all that is weird, wacky, and a wee bit whimsical" — offer an eclectic shopping experience. Food choices are even more varied; you can prey much eat your way through the world's cuisines. Just across Johnson is Il Terrazzo Ristorante, a local favourite for Italian cuisine in a romantic courtyard seing. If you have room, follow dinner with dessert at Mosi Gelato; or make a special trip – it's worth it! Heading down Moss toward the Salish Sea, you enter Fairfield. Mansions share the street with smaller homes built in the early 1900s as the city grew. Take time at Moss and Richardson to admire Old Ben Mosser. This sequoia tree, apparently a gi from California 170 years ago, towers 50 metres over the neighbourhood. If it's a summer Saturday, be sure to stop at the Moss Street Market at the corner of Fairfield Road. There's local produce, arts and cras and fashion, food stands and live music. It's a great place to pick up supplies for a picnic. And if you continue down Moss to Dallas Road and Clover Point Park on the ocean, you'll have the perfect spot to enjoy it. JOHNSON Street