Port guide: Victoria, Canada

What the capital of British Columbia lacks in size it makes up for in prettiness and wild surrounds. It’s also a living museum of Canadian history.

The Fairmont Empress hotel in Victoria.

Who goes there Alaska cruises are a the bread-and-butter of many cruise lines, and visits to Victoria increase at the beginning and end of the season, when ships are repositioning. In 2024 the city saw 316 ship visits. You can get there on all manner of big, mid-size and small luxury ships as well as on occasional expedition vessels.

Sail on in If your ship is coming from Vancouver or Seattle you’ll dodge through the beautiful, pine-topped San Juan Islands and enjoy fine views of snow-capped mountains beyond. On a good day, the early morning night is silvery. You might spot whales.

Berth rites Cruise ships can’t enter the inner harbour but dock at Victoria Cruise Ship Dock or adjacent Ogden Point Terminal, 2.5 kilometres from downtown. The hearty could walk, but paid shuttles and public buses also operate. The terminal has tourist information, currency exchange and an artisan market. Nearby James Bay is one of North America’s oldest neighbourhoods.

Going ashore Start at the beginning among the totem poles of the Kwakiutl people in Thunderbird Park and among their native art (and recreated longhouse) inside the excellent Royal British Columbia Museum, which takes you through the town’s whole history. Then move on to Helmcken House (1851), which showcases the life of a Victorian doctor. Next door is St Anne’s Pioneer Schoolhouse for a touch of Little House on the Prairie. Downtown has abundant colonial-era buildings, a vast provincial parliament building and attractive waterfront.

Don’t miss Victoria claims North America’s oldest Chinatown, founded in the 1850s by immigrant railway workers and gold-rush settlers. Fronted by the Gates of Harmonious Interest, which are supported by lacquered dragons and fronted by stone lions, Chinatown has modest size but plenty of character and blends interesting shops with everyday stores selling vegetables and Chinese products. The Silk Road Tea Store is delightful. Squeeze yourself down Fan Tan Alley, which at 1.2 metres across claims to be the world’s narrowest commercial street.

Get active Outdoorsy Canada always provides the restless with plenty to do, and Victoria is no exception. You can fish, boat, zip line and golf: the Vancouver Island Golf Trail links a 250-kilometre-long network of 14 courses. Perhaps the best option is to rent a kayak and paddle in the harbour, or a little further afield in Cowichan Bay, where geese honk and seals twitch their whiskers from the rocks.

Best bites This small provincial capital is cosmopolitan, so you can dine on anything from Thai prawns in green curry to Peking duck dipped in plum sauce. Restaurants take full advantage of quality local ingredients, including wild Pacific salmon and halibut, Cortes Island mussels, Cowichan Bay duck and fresh farm berries. Try Spinnakers, a brewpub on the Inner Harbour, for a taste of West Coast food at its best. Fort Street in town is a great foodie destination. For the ultimate afternoon tea, head to the Fairmont Empress, a castle-like hotel epitomising colonial style.

Further afield A visit to pseudo-Gothic Craigdarroch Castle, whale watching, and tastings at Macaloney’s Island Distillery and Twa Dogs Brewery are among the shore-excursion options. The most popular visit however – and rightly so – takes you to magnificent Butchart Gardens 22 kilometres out of town. The garden was started in 1904 on the site of an old limestone quarry and Japanese, rose and Italianate gardens later added. The magnificently manicured gardens now cover fifty acres and have 700 varieties of flowers and some million plants.

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