The Downtown Area contains Victoria's "old town" and Victoria's "China town". Accommodations include these areas as well as James Bay and many parts of the City of Victoria.  Beside the Inner Harbour is the B.C. Government Legislative Buildings, the Provincial Museum and the world famous Empress Hotel. As well as being the shopping hub of Greater Victoria, downtown also is rich in hotels, motels and bed and breakfast accommodations, restaurants and activities. The majority of the attractions are in the downtown area.  Crystal Pool and the YW/YMCA are recreation facilities in the downtown area.  Market Square and the Bays Centre are two of the shopping areas in downtown Victoria.  Government Street is the major shopping street in the downtown area with hundreds of shops on the side streets, squares and alleys.  Check around you never know what you will uncover.  Walking tours are also available in the downtown area. Greater Victoria has a population of approximately 350,000 with about 80,000 residing in the City of Victoria. The rest are dispursed throughout the 12 other municipalities. Most often you can travel for 20 minutes by car and be just about anywhere you want to go in Greater Victoria. The downtown area is small with very few tall buildings. You can walk across the downtown area in about 15 minutes. The Victoria Inner Harbour is the centre for most tourist activities in the area. Enjoy Victoria's downtown. It is what Victoria is all about.