Victoria Attractions, Museums and Tours

Victoria attractions abound - enough for several days of sightseeing. This BC visitors guide will help you plan for a memorable visit.  

Downtown Victoria attractions

Start at Victoria downtown, in the Inner Harbour. Walk around its causeway among old and new moored boats and admire the B.C. Parliament Buildings, seat of the provincial government. Join a tour and see it in all of its restored late 19th century glory.

Nearby is the Royal London Wax Museum with over 300 life size wax figures and Miniature World with tiny treasures and miniature pleasures. Walk beneath the Inner Harbour at the Pacific Undersea Gardens for a convenient way to view the marine life of the Vancouver Island coastal region. Now, if the kids are bugging you, head to the Victoria Bug Zoo home to over 30 live species of the world's most fascinating insects and spiders.

Cross the Inner Harbour on the charming little Harbour Ferries to Fishermen’s Wharf or to pretty Point Ellice House.

Victoria Museums

Across the street from the Parliament Buildings is the impressive Royal British Columbia Museum, one of North America’s best. It is packed with realistic, fascinating displays centred on the Pacific West Coast and has a large selection of Pacific Northwest aboriginal art. The Museum is also home to the National Geographic IMAX Theatre. For more First Nations' art, including magnificent totem poles, walk next door to Thunderbird Park.

Bastion Square is the original heart of Victoria when it was a fur-trading fort, built in the 1840's. Here is the Maritime Museum of BC with theme galleries related to the seafaring life. Gold Rush fever in the later 1800’s changed Victoria irrevocably. The Hudson's Bay Co. fort disappeared to be replaced by neighbourhoods such as Chinatown, a living museum in itself. Don't be afraid to trace the small mysterious alleys leading to tiny shops tucked into late 19th century brick buildings. Victoria's has a compact downtown: within a 10 minute walk of Chinatown for example is Antique Row, otherwise known as Fort Street.

Victoria heritage homes

Victoria, Western Canada's oldest city, has preserved some homes that date from the mid to late 1800’s. A few examples open to the public are the home of Emily Carr, an "English Gingerbread" house built in 1864 that also provides insight into Canada's first, and best known, independent artist and writer. Helmcken House beside the Royal BC Museum is the oldest historic house in British Columbia, built in 1852. A beautifully preserved modest family Victorian home can be seen at Point Ellice House, with high tea service daily.

The most magnificent home of all perches on a hill overlooking the city. Craigdarroch Castle, furnished lavishly in the period of the 1890’s, is a stunning example of what money can buy. You may visit in the comfort of an open coach from Royal Blue Line Motor Tours, which leaves from the Inner Harbour. Another carefully restored historic treasure located near the Inner Harbour is St. Ann’s Academy was once home to French-Canadian nuns and dates from 1858.

Victoria Galleries

Do visit the many downtown galleries that sell the work of local artists. If you're interested in the art world take time to visit the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, one of Canada's finest art museums with a permanent collection of 15,000 objets d'art with a primary emphasis on Canada and Japan. Also of note is the University of Victoria's Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery, with a large and varied collection ranging from ancient Chinese artifacts to works by well known contemporary artists.

Victoria walking tours

If you prefer, you can take a guided Victoria walking tour through different historical areas such as the Old Town, Chinatown or even through an old cemetery. See some of these tours.

Greater Victoria attractions

BC visitors should explore this beautiful area further afield. Driving north from downtown Victoria, be entranced at Butterfly Gardens on the Saanich Peninsula where hundreds of butterflies flutter in freedom. If you need more space, consider the Centre of the Universe, the interpretive centre of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory with spectacular views of both Victoria and the Cosmos. If flight is your fancy, drop into the BC Aviation Museum by Victoria International Airport. It contains restored aircraft and artifacts related to the history of aviation in B.C. For a different look at our rural past, see the Saanich Historical Artifacts Society where 29 pastoral acres contain everything from a blacksmith shop to an early sawmill. Then drive a little further to the pleasant town of Sidney with its bookshops and marina.

To the West you can glimpse life as it has been lived for thousands of years at Sooke Region Museum.  En route you will pass Fisgard Lighthouse the first lighthouse on Canada's West Coast which was built by the British in 1860. Exhibits tell of shipwrecks, storms and the everyday working equipment of a lightkeeper a century ago. The lighthouse and adjacent Fort Rodd Hill are national parks. Fort Rodd Hill was constructed at the beginning of the 20th century to protect the Esquimalt naval docks. Here you can experience the history of the Navy on Canada's West Coast at the Naval & Military Museum.

We hope this BC visitors guide has been a helpful introduction to some of the many things to do here. Please do not hesitate to ask your B&B hosts for more information about Victoria attractions, museums and tours. 

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