Things to Do in Victoria: Tours, Tickets & Boat Trips

Ranked by traveller reviews: 1) the Butchart Gardens, 2) whale watching for orcas and humpbacks by zodiac or covered boat, 3) a pedicab tour of the Inner Harbour and James Bay, 4) the city highlights bike or e-bike tour, 5) the Royal BC Museum and IMAX, 6) the Parliament Buildings and Inner Harbour, 7) afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress, 8) a horse-drawn carriage through Beacon Hill Park, 9) Fisherman’s Wharf and a harbour kayak and 10) Craigdarroch Castle and Chinatown’s Fan Tan Alley.

Plan two to three days. Day one: the Inner Harbour, the free Parliament tour, the Royal BC Museum, lunch in Chinatown, a pedicab or bike tour and the Empress at tea time. Day two: the Butchart Gardens first thing (or in the evening for the summer fireworks on Saturdays), then a whale-watching trip from the harbour. Day three: cycle Dallas Road to Beacon Hill Park and Ogden Point, Fisherman’s Wharf for fish and chips with the seals, Craigdarroch Castle and Oak Bay Village. Day trips from Vancouver cover only the harbour and the gardens.

Tour the Parliament Buildings and return after dark for the lights, walk the Inner Harbour causeway and watch the buskers and float planes, see the peacocks and the world’s tallest free-standing totem pole in Beacon Hill Park, walk or cycle Dallas Road to Clover Point and the Ogden Point breakwater, feed nothing but photograph the seals at Fisherman’s Wharf, explore Chinatown’s Fan Tan Alley, climb Mount Tolmie or Mount Douglas for the view, and, in October, watch the salmon at Goldstream Park. The Royal BC Museum has free evenings some seasons.

The Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay (30 minutes; shuttle from about $46), whale watching in the Salish Sea (three hours on the water; $142 by zodiac), the Malahat SkyWalk (45 minutes), Sooke’s potholes and the Juan de Fuca coast (one hour), the Cowichan Valley wineries and Cowichan Bay (one hour), Sidney by the Sea and its bookshops (30 minutes), Duncan’s totem poles, Salt Spring Island by ferry and Port Renfrew’s Avatar Grove (two hours). Vancouver is 90 minutes by ferry plus the drive, or 35 minutes by seaplane.

The Parliament Buildings lit by 3,300 bulbs over the Inner Harbour, the Butchart Gardens’ summer evening illuminations and Saturday fireworks (July–August), a ghost walk — Victoria claims to be the most haunted city in the Pacific Northwest — cocktails at the Empress’s Q Bar, Chinatown’s bars and Fan Tan Alley, Phillips Brewing and the Swans brewpub, shows at the Royal and McPherson theatres and the Belfry, a sunset kayak on the harbour and, in winter, Butchart’s Magic of Christmas lights and skating rink.

Victoria has Canada’s mildest winter (highs around 45°F, little snow), so the gardens stay open: the Butchart Gardens’ Magic of Christmas lights and ice rink run from December to early January, and cherry blossoms and daffodils appear by late February. Afternoon tea at the Empress, the Royal BC Museum and IMAX, Craigdarroch Castle and storm-watching on Dallas Road fill wet days; whale watching runs on a limited schedule and hotels are at their cheapest.

Beacon Hill Park’s children’s farm and goat stampede, the Victoria Bug Zoo, Miniature World beside the Empress, the Royal BC Museum’s woolly mammoth and IMAX, the harbour ferries’ tiny boats, the seals at Fisherman’s Wharf, the Butchart Gardens’ Rose Carousel, a pedicab or carriage ride, the Malahat SkyWalk’s spiral slide, whale watching on a covered boat (zodiacs from age eight), the WildPlay zipline and the Galloping Goose trail by bike.

May to September — the gardens at their fullest, whales in the strait, buskers on the harbour and the Butchart fireworks in summer. April has tulips and cherry blossoms and fewer crowds; September is warm and quiet. October to March is mild, green and rainy, with the Butchart Christmas lights as the winter highlight.

Yes — the 55-acre gardens planted in an old limestone quarry are a National Historic Site and the most-reviewed attraction on Vancouver Island, spectacular from the spring tulips to the summer roses and the Christmas lights. Allow two to three hours; go at opening or after 5pm in summer to avoid the coach groups, and combine it with a whale-watching trip or the city tour to fill the day.