The city of Victoria looks as polite, pleasant and well behaved as a Sunday croquet match but under that sheepish exterior lies the heart of a wolf. Once a swashbuckling port, a gateway to the Klondike goldfields and a major staging post in the opium trade, Victoria's glorious setting at the southern end of Vancouver Island  gives it a stirring catalogue of adventures, including biking, kayaking and whale watching trips in the Salish Sea, and the orcas that live in these waters are the excitement machines of the whale family. The floating houses at Fisherman's Wharf, sighing over the greenery at Butchart Gardens, afternoon tea at the Fairmont Hotel Empress and the fabulous food scene along Fort Street are all essential experiences. If you like bookshops, Munro's Books is one of the world's finest.

In Seattle you've another palette of bracing adventure options plus Pike Place Market, and don't miss the Gum Wall, ferry rides around the islands and meandering strolls around funky Fremont on the shores of the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

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