Things to do in Victoria
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Victoria
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring, locals' favourite shoulder. Cherry blossoms peak late March to April, gardens ramp up and queues stay sane.
Peak summer, deservedly. Highs around 20 to 24 degrees, rare rain, daylight past 9 pm and everything open.
Fall. September is arguably the best month, October brings the Goldstream salmon run, and rain builds by November.
Winter is mild, grey, short and cheap, with Christmas lights, museums, tea, spas and pubs carrying the trip.
What's on
- Flower Count early March
A citywide count of blooms in the millions to billions.
- TD Victoria International JazzFest Usually late June
Eight stages and 200 plus musicians across downtown venues.
- Canada Day July 1
Inner Harbour fireworks and the city's biggest crowd day.
- Phillips Backyard Music Festival Usually a weekend in July
Held at the Phillips Brewing site, now over one weekend.
- Butchart Gardens Saturday fireworks Saturdays through July-August
Summer Saturday fireworks at the gardens through July and August.
- Symphony Splash early August
The Victoria Symphony plays on a harbour barge to crowds on the causeway lawns. Confirm the year's date and status.
- Victoria Dragon Boat Festival August
August dragon boat festival in the harbour.
- Victoria Fringe late August to early September
Fringe theatre festival running from late August into early September.
- Butchart Gardens Magic of Christmas December 1 to January 6
The gardens' Christmas light display, the winter version that rivals flower season.
- Dine Around & Stay in Town late January to early February
Dozens of restaurants run set menus, the best value eating week of the year.
Best things to do in Victoria
The Butchart Gardens
Fifty five acres of quarry gardens north of the city, with the Sunken, Japanese, Rose and Italian gardens as set pieces.
Royal BC Museum
One of Canada's best museums, covering natural history, BC human history, Old Town and First Peoples galleries.
Inner Harbour
Free harbour walk with seaplanes, buskers, the causeway and the Parliament Buildings lit up at night.
Tea at the Empress
Victoria's signature afternoon tea since 1908, in the Lobby Lounge of the Empress facing the harbour.
Fan Tan Alley
Canada's oldest Chinatown, centred on Fisgard Street, with the very narrow Fan Tan Alley and independent shops.
Craigdarroch Castle
A turreted 1890s mansion with stained glass and period rooms, reached by a pleasant walk through Rockland.
Beacon Hill Park
Free 200 acre park with gardens, ponds, a children's farm and peacocks, dropping to the Dallas Road waterfront.
Fisherman's Wharf
Colourful float homes, seafood stands and seals, best reached by a little harbour ferry across the water.
Where to stay in Victoria
Inner Harbour / Downtown
first trip, all-round base
Everything except Butchart is walkable, with whale boats, ferries, the museum and the best restaurants within 10 minutes.
James Bay
quiet base, families and longer stays
Residential heritage streets 5 to 12 minutes from the harbour, beside Beacon Hill Park and Fisherman's Wharf.
Fairfield & Rockland
local, value base
Leafy and residential, 20 to 25 minutes on foot from the centre, with Cook Street Village as its own small hub.
Oak Bay
splurge-quiet base
Villagey, upscale and beachfront, feeling like a small English seaside town, 10 minutes by car or bus east.
Vic West / Esquimalt
value base across the harbour
Newer condos and the Songhees walkway across the harbour, with a bridge walk to downtown and better value.
Langford / Bear Mountain
golf trips only
The stay and play base on the Bear Mountain courses, 25 minutes out, only worth it if golf is the trip.
Think twice about
- 900-block of Pandora Avenue and adjoining blocks east of Douglas Street
The centre of Victoria's street homelessness and drug crisis, with encampments, open drug use and disorder. Do not base there for a cheap downtown room.
Best restaurants in Victoria
Marilena Café & Raw Bar
Sleek seafood and raw bar flagship, known for its multi tier seafood tower, oysters, crudo and sablefish.
Brasserie L'École
An enduring French bistro in a Chinatown heritage building, known for steak frites, mussels and duck confit.
Il Terrazzo
Candlelit courtyard Italian serving since 1992, with handmade pastas, osso buco and a deep Italian wine list.
The Courtney Room
Pacific Northwest fine casual dining in the Magnolia Hotel, with local farms, seafood and strong cocktails.
Red Fish Blue Fish
A shipping container kitchen on the pier serving fish and chips, tuna tacones and seafood chowder outdoors.
Blue Fox Café
A funky Fort Street cafe serving huge inventive breakfasts for over 20 years, famous for its eggs Benedict wall.
Jam Café
The other famous brunch queue, known for chicken and waffles and s'mores pancakes on Herald Street.
John's Place
A beloved 41 year diner known for Belgian waffles with cream cheese syrup, best visited by day.
Best bars in Victoria
Clive's Classic Lounge
Cocktail lounge in the Chateau Victoria, picked as the city's nightcap spot.
Citrus & Cane
Tropical drinks bar recommended by a former resident guide for Victoria cocktails.
Bard & Banker
A grand room pub on Government Street, part of the city's central pub strip.
Irish Times Pub
A grand room pub on Government Street, paired with Bard and Banker as a central pub pick.
Phillips Brewing & Malting Co.
heart of Victoria's craft beer scene, with its own Backyard music festival in summer.
Vancouver Island Brewing
A second heart of the local craft beer scene that guides treat as a headline, not a footnote.
Outdoor things to do in Victoria
Eagle Wing Tours
Longer, roam further Salish Sea whale tours for orcas, humpbacks and sea lions from Fisherman's Wharf.
Galloping Goose Regional Trail
A 55 km former railway trail from downtown through forest and farmland toward Sooke and the Sooke Potholes.
Ocean River Sports
Guided harbour and Gorge sea kayak paddles on sheltered water, with seals, herons and float homes at water level.
Bear Mountain Golf Club
Canada's only 36 holes of Nicklaus Design golf, with the dramatic Mountain Course and the friendlier Valley Course.
Cordova Bay Golf Course
A walkable, friendly championship layout on Haro Strait with Mount Baker views and a 9 hole Ridge course.
Olympic View Golf Club
Forest and lakes golf in Colwood, known for its signature hole under a 40 foot waterfall.
Malahat SkyWalk
A treetop walkway to a 10 storey spiral tower 250 m above sea level, fully ramped, with a long slide back down.
Goldstream Provincial Park
Old growth forest and a waterfall near the city, best in late October and November for the salmon run and eagles.
Best hotels in Victoria
Fairmont Empress
The 1908 castle hotel on the harbour, with spa, gardens and tea, the occasion stay in Victoria.
Magnolia Hotel & Spa
A boutique hotel a block from the harbour, the downtown pick locals name for visiting family who can pay.
Hotel Grand Pacific
Harbour hotel by Parliament with balconied rooms and a big athletic club with a 25 m pool, good with kids.
Chateau Victoria Hotel & Suites
Locally owned hotel a block up from the harbour with spacious suites and a rooftop restaurant with the view.
Hotel Rialto
Stylish downtown boutique hotel in a heritage bank building, good value for its central location.
The Strathcona Hotel
The honest budget downtown option, a big old pub and nightlife hotel with simple rooms on Douglas Street.
Abigail's Hotel
A romantic Tudor style small hotel with breakfast included, with a luxury bed and breakfast feel at mid range prices.
Inn at Laurel Point
A quiet garden set harbour hotel where every room has a balcony, a calm alternative to the Empress.
Is Victoria expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CA$150 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CA$278 a person |
| Splurge | CA$550 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- The Butchart Gardens: a few days ahead
- Tea at the Empress: weeks ahead
- HAVN Saunas: a few days ahead
- Eagle Wing Tours: weeks ahead
- Ocean River Sports: a few days ahead
- Bear Mountain Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Harbour Air Seaplanes: a few days ahead
- Fairmont Empress: weeks ahead
- Book Marilena, Il Terrazzo and Courtney Room dinners days to weeks ahead in summer.
- Tea at the Empress requires reservations and sells out in summer.
- Book whale watching in July and August, Butchart timed tickets in peak season and for Christmas, and vehicle ferry space in summer.
- Book HAVN sauna sessions ahead on weekends.
Is Victoria safe?
- Avoid basing on the Pandora Avenue corridor and avoid walking it at night.
- Car break-ins are the main visitor crime. Leave nothing visible in a car, ever.
- The sea is 8 to 11 degrees year round. Swim at lakes such as Thetis, Elk and Beaver, or Sooke Potholes in summer.
- Keep distance from seals and sea lions at the wharf and do not feed them.
Victoria travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Government Street's first two blocks are tourist retail at harbour prices. Shop LoJo, Market Square and Oak Bay Avenue instead.
- Generic hop on buses and legacy harbour attractions are poor value in a core this small.
- Butchart at noon in August is crowded and its gift shop carries a markup. Go late afternoon.
- No whale operator can guarantee a specific resident orca pod.
Getting around Victoria: public transport and more
- Walk the downtown, Inner Harbour and James Bay core, a 20 minute walking city.
- Use BC Transit buses, with a day pass around C$6, including route 75 for Butchart and 70 or 72 for the airport and ferry.
- Use the harbour ferries, the little pickle boats, linking the Inner Harbour, Fisherman's Wharf, Songhees and the Gorge.
- Rent a car only for Sooke, Port Renfrew, the Malahat and Cowichan, or a golf and peninsula loop.
Who Victoria suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Victoria your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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