In my twenties, I lived in Vancouver while attending Vancouver Film School. Victoria was right there — just across the water — and somehow, I never went.
At the time, Vancouver had a very different energy, and so did I. I was young, immersed in school and, like most twenty-somethings, probably assumed there would always be time to explore later. I remember a lot of rain, a busy city and a life that revolved around what was directly in front of me. Fast-forward a couple of decades and I finally made it.
I spent a week in Victoria with family this summer and very quickly found myself asking the obvious question: What took me so long?
There are places you enjoy visiting, and then there are places that seem to invite you into their rhythm almost immediately. Victoria did that for me. It was greener and lusher than I expected, surrounded by ocean and spectacular wildlife, with a pace of life that felt noticeably gentler. Perhaps most surprising of all was how easy it was to experience — this is a city that invites you to walk, wander and simply take it all in.
We arrived in mid-July with almost a full week ahead of us. By the time it was over, I wasn’t remotely ready to go home.
The Best Way to See Victoria? Start Walking
Our home base was Chateau Victoria Hotel & Suites, and its location proved to be one of the best parts of the trip.
Our suite was large and comfortable, with a separate living room and eating area, a full kitchen, spacious bedroom and bathroom. The hotel is locally owned, the staff couldn’t have been lovelier, and we were perfectly positioned to explore downtown on foot. The itinerary had promised a walkable downtown; experiencing it firsthand was another matter entirely.
We walked. And walked.
And then walked some more.
My pedometer tells the story better than I can: 126,940 steps and 89.1 kilometres over seven days. On one day alone, we covered nearly 20 kilometres.
It never felt like exercise.
That, to me, is one of Victoria’s great pleasures. You leave the hotel intending to go somewhere and inevitably find several other things along the way.
We wandered through the Inner Harbour, across downtown, through Beacon Hill Park and eventually toward the ocean. We made our way to Ogden Point, Fisherman’s Wharf and the Mile 0 marker, stopping at the Terry Fox statue along the way. Once we reached the water and I saw how pedestrian-friendly everything was, I fell in love.
And somewhere between the park and the ocean, Victoria got me.
There is something wonderful about a city that doesn’t require you to constantly think about getting from Point A to Point B. You simply start walking.
Then Take the Bus — Seriously
I love a hop-on-hop-off bus.
In Victoria, I loved it so much that I took it two days in a row.
There is a lot to be said for spending an hour or two near the beginning of a trip simply getting your bearings. You see how the neighbourhoods connect, discover places you may want to return to and, in this case, listen to the drivers share local facts, stories and entertaining anecdotes along the way.
The bus also introduced me to Oak Bay, a lovely part of Greater Victoria that I might not have explored as easily on foot from downtown.
Walking let me experience Victoria intimately. The bus helped me understand its geography.
Both were worthwhile.
A City That Rewards Wandering
Downtown Victoria is made for people like me who can happily lose an afternoon poking through shops.
Government Street, Lower Johnson Street, Bastion Square and Fan Tan Alley became part of our daily wandering. The itinerary had pointed us toward these areas and several local independent shops, including Munro’s Books and Murchie’s Tea & Coffee.
At Munro’s, I picked up a newly released book by a friend, The Paris Thief, which made the stop even more special.
And then I found Sabayons.
Oh, Sabayons.
Every once in a while you walk into a store and think, Who has been reading my mind?
Opulent umbrellas. Cookware. Beautiful olive oils. Decorative pasta. Wonderful things you didn’t know you needed until the moment you spotted them.
And — perhaps the greatest retail innovation known to humanity — the tax is already included on the price tag.
My heart was full.
Another little Victoria detail I loved was spotting the colourful orcas scattered around the city. They reminded me of Toronto’s famous moose installations from years ago. Once you notice one, you start looking for the next.
Those small discoveries are part of what made Victoria so enjoyable. Not everything needs to be an attraction with an admission ticket.
Sometimes travel is simply about looking around.
Start With the Stories of the Land
One experience I would consider essential is the guided walking tour with Songhees Tours.
The Xʷsəyq̓əm — Place of Mud walking tour introduces visitors to lək̓ʷəŋən territory and the Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations through language, history, cultural landmarks, artwork and stories connected to the land.
Songhees Tours is owned by the Songhees Nation and is the only Indigenous-owned and operated tourism experience in Victoria’s Inner Harbour. Led by Indigenous cultural guides, the walking tour follows the 7 Signs of Lək̓ʷəŋən through downtown Victoria, sharing stories of land, resistance, identity and ceremony along the way. What makes the experience so meaningful is that you are not simply learning about Victoria’s past; you are seeing the city through the perspective of the people whose relationship with this land and water continues today.
For me, this is the best way to begin a visit to Victoria. It gives you an understanding of the land beneath your feet and the history that existed long before the city around it. From there, I would visit the Royal BC Museum to learn more, and then take the hop-on-hop-off bus to get your bearings and understand the geography. Together, the experiences give you a much richer sense of where you are — not just what you are looking at.
History first.
Then deeper context.
Then geography.
If I were planning my first few days again, that is how I would do it.
From the Ocean to the Treetops
Victoria’s relationship with nature is impossible to ignore. Here, the ocean, forest and wildlife aren’t somewhere in the distance; they are very much part of the experience.
We headed out with Orca Spirit Adventures, a Victoria-based whale and wildlife operator that has been taking guests onto the waters of the Salish Sea for more than 30 years. Their tours are led by certified marine naturalists and local captains, with a strong emphasis on responsible wildlife viewing, conservation and education. The company operates carbon-neutral tours and supports marine research and conservation through a wildlife conservation fee included with each tour.
But I think there is something important to remember before embarking on any whale-watching experience: seeing a whale or an orca is never owed to us. Simply being out on the Salish Sea, surrounded by that vast expanse of water, fresh air and extraordinary landscape, is a gift in itself. We are visitors in the animals’ world. They are living, feeding, travelling and raising their young in their natural habitat; they are not there to entertain us. If a whale or orca is comfortable enough to present itself while we are there, I consider that a blessing.
We were fortunate. A beautiful humpback whale surfaced during our trip, and seeing an animal of that scale moving freely through its own environment is one of those moments that immediately quiets everyone on the boat. Orca Spirit’s approach reflects that same respect: vessels follow responsible viewing practices that include keeping minimum distances from whales, reducing speed in their vicinity and limiting the amount of time spent with any particular group. For me, that matters just as much as the sighting itself.
Then we traded the ocean for the treetops at Malahat SkyWalk, about a 35-minute drive from downtown Victoria on the traditional and ancestral territory of the Malahat Nation. The ride to and from is free! The experience is designed to connect visitors with Vancouver Island’s coastal forest, beginning with an elevated TreeWalk among Douglas fir and arbutus before gradually winding upward along the Spiral Tower. The pathways were designed with accessibility in mind, making the experience approachable for different ages and abilities while still giving you that wonderful feeling of climbing from the forest floor toward the sky.
At the top, the reward is a spectacular panorama of forest, ocean and mountains. Malahat’s purpose goes beyond creating a beautiful lookout; the organization describes its work as connecting people more deeply with the landscape while encouraging stewardship of the coastal forest. Its sustainability initiatives include restoring native trees on the property — more than 3,000 have been planted — and making the natural environment accessible to more visitors.
There is plenty of playfulness mixed in with all that nature. Interactive questions and activities make the return journey fun, and for those who would rather not walk all the way back down, there is the 20-metre Sizzler Slide.
And yes, I took the slide.
It will make you dizzy.
Consider yourself warned.
Come Hungry
We ate very well in Victoria.
Every place seemed to knock it out of the park.
Floyd’s Diner is wonderfully kitschy and quirky, with portions that could comfortably feed two people — possibly a small village, depending on your appetite. A Victoria fixture since 2004, Floyd’s has built its reputation around big breakfasts, a fun, family-friendly atmosphere and not taking itself too seriously. Its most famous creation, The Mahoney, sums up that personality perfectly: you simply tell your server whether you want breakfast or lunch and leave the rest to the kitchen, which creates a surprise meal for you. Feeling particularly adventurous? You can flip a coin at the end — win and Floyd’s pays for your Mahoney; lose and you pay double. We didn’t tempt fate, but I loved the spirit of it. Floyd’s feels wonderfully local, colourful and just eccentric enough to make breakfast an experience rather than simply the first meal of the day.
We had dinner at Ithaka Greek Restaurant on our first night and our last night, which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about how much we enjoyed it. And, as a Greek, I will admit that my standards for Greek food are fairly high. Ithaka immediately felt familiar in the best possible way. It is a family-run restaurant whose recipes and traditions have been shaped by generations, including dishes inspired by the cooking of the family’s yiayia and mother. Their family’s restaurant story began in Kenora, Ontario, in 1969, when the Greek food being prepared for the family eventually became so popular with customers that it found its way onto the restaurant menu.
What I especially appreciated at Ithaka was that the experience wasn’t just about what was on the plate. The restaurant embraces philoxenia, the deeply Greek idea of welcoming a stranger as a friend, and that warmth comes through in the hospitality. The menu includes the dishes you hope to find — souvlaki, spanakopita, grilled octopus, saganaki, moussaka and lamb — along with an impressive collection of Greek wines. Ithaka says it carries more than 30 award-winning Greek labels and the largest selection of Greek wines in Western Canada. It felt generous, warm and genuinely Greek rather than simply Greek-themed. Perhaps that’s why returning there for our final dinner felt like such a fitting way to end the week.
Another standout was Eva Schnitzelhaus, a lively spot on the edge of Chinatown that puts a West Coast spin on German and Austrian comfort food. The room itself is warm and inviting, with exposed brick, soaring arched windows and an easygoing atmosphere. The food is hearty without feeling heavy, and the restaurant’s use of fresh, local ingredients gives familiar dishes a distinctly Pacific Northwest feel. It is the kind of place that manages to be both fun and seriously good — and definitely worth adding to your Victoria dining list.
We also had breakfast at Vista 18, at the top of Chateau Victoria, and this is one restaurant I would recommend even if you aren’t staying at the hotel. The views are stunning, the service is warm and welcoming, and there’s something particularly lovely about beginning the day looking out across Victoria before heading down to explore it.
And of course, there was afternoon tea — because when in Victoria…
A Very Proper — and Very Filling — Afternoon Tea
And of course, there was afternoon tea. This is Victoria, after all.
We experienced ours at the Pendray Inn & Tea House, a beautiful Victorian mansion overlooking Victoria’s Inner Harbour. Even before the tea arrives, the setting transports you. Rich woodwork, original stained-glass windows, antique furnishings and period details give the rooms an intimacy that feels worlds away from the activity along the harbour just outside. It is elegant without feeling stuffy, and there is something wonderfully indulgent about settling in and realizing that, for the next little while, there is absolutely nowhere else you need to be.
The house itself has quite a story. William Joseph Pendray, originally from Cornwall, England, eventually settled in Victoria after making his way west through California and British Columbia’s Cariboo region. William and his wife Amelia purchased the Belleville Street property overlooking the Inner Harbour in 1890 and built their Queen Anne-style family home there, moving into the completed mansion with their four sons in 1897. After leaving the Pendray family, the house later became Loretto Hall, a boarding house operated by the Missionary Sisters of Notre Dame des Anges, before eventually becoming part of the hospitality property visitors know today.
Knowing some of that history makes the ritual of afternoon tea here feel particularly fitting. By the late Victorian era, afternoon tea had evolved into a social occasion of its own, and Pendray has embraced that tradition with tiered stands laden with savouries, freshly baked scones and beautifully presented pastries. Tea selections come from British Columbia producers Silk Road and Westholme, adding a decidedly local element to this very British tradition.
And don’t be fooled by the words afternoon tea into thinking you should have lunch first.
This is a meal.
The Traditional Afternoon Tea includes an assortment of savouries — currently ranging from cucumber with lemon-dill cream cheese and chicken salad crostini to smoked salmon and a miniature Yorkshire pudding with prime rib — followed by freshly baked scones served with seasonal berry jam and Devon-style cream. Then comes the final tier of sweets: macarons, cheesecake, fruit tarts and chocolate. There is also a West Coast version that incorporates ingredients such as Dungeness crab, shrimp, smoked salmon and BC rockfish.
It is decadent, beautifully presented and wonderfully filling. There is that lovely moment when the tiered stand arrives at the table and you wonder how you could possibly eat everything in front of you. Then you begin with a savoury, pour another cup of tea, move on to a warm scone with cream and jam, decide you should probably stop — and somehow find room for one more tiny pastry.
Afternoon tea is meant to be leisurely, and that may be what I enjoyed most about the experience at Pendray. In a week when we walked nearly 90 kilometres around Victoria, it gave us permission to sit for a while, enjoy the surroundings, talk, eat far more than we intended and simply appreciate the pleasure of an old tradition in a house that has been overlooking the harbour for more than a century.
If you’re visiting Victoria, I would make time for it — and arrive hungry.
A Kitchen Is a Traveller’s Friend
As much as I enjoy restaurants, eating out three times a day for a week becomes expensive.
Having a kitchen in our suite at the Chateau Victoria was a gift.
One morning I walked about 15 minutes to Market on Yates, loaded my backpack with groceries and carried everything home. The original itinerary had actually suggested doing a little “grocery store tourism,” noting several walkable local markets near the hotel.
Breakfast or a light meal in the room means you can splurge on the experiences and restaurants that really matter to you — and nobody needs another $30 breakfast simply because there isn’t an alternative.
A Place for Almost Every Kind of Traveller
We travelled as a family, all adults, and Victoria worked beautifully for us. But I wouldn’t categorize it only as a family destination. I could just as easily imagine returning on my own, as a couple, with friends or as part of a multigenerational trip. There is enough to see and do that everyone can find their own rhythm, yet Victoria never feels frantic or demanding. You do not feel as though you have to race from one attraction to the next to make the trip worthwhile. Its pace gives you permission to linger, to walk a little farther, sit a little longer and simply enjoy where you are.
We were also lucky to reconnect with old friends who now call Victoria home, which added another layer to the experience. Travel changes when you spend time with people who actually live somewhere. You begin to see a destination not only as a place to visit, but as a place where people have chosen to build their lives. After a week in Victoria, I understood the appeal.
What I Would Do Differently Next Time
Very little.
We managed to see and do an extraordinary amount, so next time I wouldn’t necessarily add more to the itinerary; I would simply give myself more time. More time wandering through Beacon Hill Park and Fan Tan Alley, exploring downtown, walking along the ocean and, perhaps most importantly, sitting somewhere beautiful and simply enjoying where I was rather than thinking about where we were going next. Perhaps that’s the biggest compliment I can give Victoria.
After nearly 90 kilometres of walking, whale watching, museums, meals, parks, shops, forests, ocean views and countless hours exploring, I still didn’t feel finished.
Canada is enormous, and it is easy to forget just how different one part of our country can feel from another. Victoria gave me a completely different perspective — warmer, greener, lush with flora and fauna, surrounded by extraordinary wildlife and infused with an easygoing West Coast rhythm all its own.
In my twenties, I lived just across the water and somehow never made it here.
This time, I finally did.
And when it was time to leave, I was genuinely sad to go.
Apparently I have a few decades of missed Victoria time to make up for….
Disclosure: Portions of this trip were hosted with the support of Destination Greater Victoria and its tourism partners. I paid for our flights and the majority of our hotel stay. A sincere thank you to Destination Greater Victoria and the partners who generously hosted some of the experiences featured in this story. As always, all opinions and impressions are entirely my own.
Photo Credit Disclosure: All photographs featured in this article were taken by Helen Hatzis. Some images have been cropped and/or resized to meet the formatting and technical requirements of Trip Jaunt’s syndication partners.