Points of interest in Greater Victoria

Historical...

Royal British Columbia Museum features Captain Vancouver's ship, a turn-of-the-20th century town, the natural history gallery, and the First Peoples Gallery. Outside the Museum, Thunderbird Park’s ancient totems stand among the trees and aboriginal carvers demonstrate their craft in a big house. The museum complex also features a giant-screened IMAX theatre and Helmcken House, the oldest house in British Columbia that stands on its original site. The doctor that lived there helped BC become a province.

Emily Carr House is where one of Canada's best known artists was born in 1871. Point Ellice House, a restored house and gardens, takes you back to the long-ago goldrush days of the 1860s; tea and tours are on offer. Craigflower Manor and Schoolhouse, established in 1853 along Victoria's Gorge Waterway, was located in one of Vancouver Island's first European farming communities, then just outside Victoria.

Maritime Museum of British Columbia, in the historic 1889 Provincial Law Courts building on Bastion Square, presents artifacts of Victoria’s seafaring past.

The Sisters of St. Ann arrived in 1858 to begin their mission of teaching and health care and by 1871, they’d built St. Ann's Academy. It’s been carefully restored and is mostly used now for government offices, but a Chapel and a number of attached rooms admit the public as testament to the sisters’ story.

Craigdarroch Castle, a beautiful historic Victorian-era mansion built in the 1890s by wealthy BC coal baron Robert Dunsmuir, has been his family home but later a hospital, a conservatory of music and, finally, is now restored to its old glory as a museum.

The first lighthouse on Canada's west coast, Fisgard Lighthouse, is still in operation! But you can tour two floors of exhibits about shipwrecks, storms, far-flung lights and the everyday working equipment of the light keeper a century ago. Nearby Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site was built in 1878 to defend Victoria and the naval base at Esquimalt harbour and used up to 1956. The grounds of this well-preserved coastal artillery site are open to the public: historic re-enactments are presented in summer months. At CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum on Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in the city of Victoria, the impact of military activities on the west coast is presented in exhibits and archives.

Modern times...

Victoria's Parliament Buildings at Victoria’s Inner Harbour, while finished in 1898 under designer Francis Rattenbury’s watchful eye, are still very much in use as British Columbia’s legislative epicentre, where elected representatives debate issues and maintain offices. Free tours through the building last about 45 minutes.

At the Empress Hotel – another piece of Victoria history at the Inner Harbour and a landmark of the city – royalty, Rudyard Kipling and modern celebrities have walked the elegant halls of a bygone era. But don’t be misled; hotel amenities are the very latest.

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria has a permanent collection of 15,000 art objects. Art from Asia, Europe and North America with primary emphasis placed on Canada and Japan.

Just plain fun...

On a simple stroll around the Inner Harbour, you’ll see artists paint or draw portraits of tourists, buskers perform their tricks, mimes surprise you with their acts, and musicians play their songs. The backdrop to this very lively waterfront area is beautiful yachts and sailboats. A floating display moored in the Inner Harbour, Pacific Undersea Gardens, presents a Live Dive Show about the different species that live in our waters.

Tour the Inner Harbour on a fun little 12-passenger Inner Harbour ferry. And you can disembark at Fishermen's Wharf, where a few pieces of fish at the fishmonger's stand can be fed to the harbour seals, and fish and chips at Barb's will feed yourself. At the Wharf, you can also set out to see the whales that frequent our waters.

At the Victoria Bug Zoo, crawling, flying or wriggling creatures, all live and exotic, fascinate kids and their parents in a world of insects and spiders. And at Miniature World, kids will feel like Gulliver while walking among miniature villages. A good way to expend excess energy is at All Fun Recreation Park with mini-golf, batting cages and two go-kart tracks.

Parks and recreation, anyone?

Beacon Hill Park, Victoria's signature park, is 200 acres of natural landscape and wildflowers on the shore of Juan de Fuca Strait, plus a petting zoo that’s a hit with small children.

Government House Gardens cover 36 acres of the grounds of Government House, the official residence of the Queen’s representative in BC. Fourteen acres in front feature formal gardens open to the public.

Abkhazi Garden is internationally famous for its splendid collection of rhododendrons and its romantic past.

Hatley Park Gardens, built in the early 1900s on 650 acres at Hatley Park Estates next to Hatley Castle, is open to the public. Buildings on the estate once housed Royal Roads military college, have served as movie sets, and now serve as administrative centre of Royal Roads University.

Other parks in Greater Victoria include: Playfair, East Sooke, Thetis Lake, Witty’s Lagoon and Sooke Potholes. The Galloping Goose / Lochside regional trail, a former railbed, is now a 55-kilometre bike and hiking trail through urban, rural and wilderness scenery from Victoria to Sooke and Sidney. Provincial parks in the Greater Victoria area are easy to access and close at hand. They include Goldstream, French Beach, China Beach and Juan de Fuca provincial parks, as well as the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail which extends west to Port Renfrew and Botanical Beach.

Tours, tours, and more tours...

Walking tours – Many interesting Victoria neighbourhoods are fun to walk through. There are organized history tours, cemetery and ghost walks, but if you prefer to explore on your own, there are walking tour maps at tourist information centres.

Cycling tours – It’s a bike-friendly city – small, easy to navigate and with many bike lanes and the dedicated trails of the Galloping Goose. A mountain bike trail at Hartland Avenue attracts the hard-core riders. Rental places will furnish the equipment.

Bus tours – Several companies offer guided city tours by bus (often double-deckers) that catch the highlights of Victoria attractions, with guide commentary to fill you in.

Horse-drawn carriage or cycle-cab tours – ply the streets of the inner city at a leisurely horse’s pace. Or flag down a Kabuki cab to get a taste of the city that’s sure to be fun and educational.

Airplane tours – For a totally different look at Victoria and surrounding area, a float plane from the inner harbour gives you a bird’s eye view of the city, the ocean, surrounding forest lands and gulf islands.

Sea kayak, canoe and sailing tours – See the island from the water and experience being in a kayak, canoe, sailboat or motor boat. Many companies offer daytrips or longer excursions, around Victoria's Inner Harbour or tours through the Gulf Islands.