3 Days in Victoria, BC: Museums, Pubs and the Harbour

Three days in Victoria cover the province's big museum, the oldest Chinatown in Canada, a coal baron's castle, the brewery taprooms north of downtown, a morning with whales and an afternoon in The Butchart Gardens. Days one and two stay in the city, mostly on foot. Day three goes out on the water and up the Saanich Peninsula. It is built for two people who like museums, pubs and a good dinner.

Start on Fort Street at Blue Fox Cafe, where blueberry pancakes and huevos rancheros lead the breakfast menu.

Walk down to the harbour and give the morning to the Royal BC Museum. Three floors hold the Natural History Gallery, the human history galleries with their replica of HMS Discovery, the Jonathan Hunt House and Our Living Languages, and there is an IMAX theatre in the building. Buy tickets online and skip the line. Outside, the totem poles of Thunderbird Park stand beside the museum on Douglas Street.

Lunch is on the dock below Wharf Street at Red Fish Blue Fish, an outdoor counter serving Ocean Wise fish and chips, hand-rolled tacones and chowder.

On Humboldt Street, inside the Fairmont Empress building, Miniature World holds more than 85 dioramas and displays. Look for the two dollhouses from around 1880, with over 50 rooms, and a working sawmill that took 11 years to build.

Then head north through Old Town to Victoria's Chinatown, the oldest surviving Chinatown in Canada, established in 1858. Fan Tan Alley runs through it, and the Victoria Chinatown Museum sits in the alley itself, with artifacts and stories of the neighbourhood's Chinese Canadian pioneers.

To eat your way through the same streets, A Taste of Victoria Food Tours leads a two-hour walk through Chinatown, Old Town and the Inner Harbour with six tastings. Groups stop at 12 guests, so book ahead.

Late afternoon belongs to Whistle Buoy Brewing Company, a small-batch brewery in the lower courtyard of Market Square, pouring experimental beers alongside non-alcoholic ones.

Dinner is across Johnson Street at Il Terrazzo: wood-fired pizza, handmade pasta and osso buco, with a patio off the street.

Finish at Swans Pub at Store and Pandora, a proper pub with local beer and pub food in a 1913 grain warehouse.

Find a place to stay in Victoria

Take the morning in Rockland at Craigdarroch Castle, the mansion coal baron Robert Dunsmuir built in Queen Victoria's reign and now a National Historic Site. You tour it at your own pace, past the stained glass and the family's belongings. Tickets sell online or at the door.

A short walk away on Moss Street, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria shows Canadian and Indigenous art, Emily Carr's work included.

Spend the afternoon outdoors. Beacon Hill Park is roughly 74 hectares of flower beds, natural areas and footpaths running down to the sea. A 38.9-metre story pole raised in 1956 stands in the park, and Mile 0 of the Trans-Canada Highway is at its corner, where Douglas Street meets Dallas Road.

Follow Dallas Road west along the water to the Breakwater Lighthouse. The breakwater runs 762 metres out to sea, barrier-free all the way, and carries Na'Tsa'Maht, the Unity Wall mural of local First Nations art.

From there, carry on to Fisherman's Wharf, where float homes, food kiosks and shops share the docks with the fishing boats. The Inner Harbour is a 15-minute walk from here.

The evening is for beer. Phillips Brewing & Malting on Government Street malts its own barley and pours the results in its taproom, where Roast carves porchetta, beef and meatball sandwiches at the counter. Nearby, Herald Street Brew Works serves tank-fresh beer from ten bright tanks. Then cross the Johnson Street Bridge to Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub on Catherine Street, brewing since 1984, for dinner. See what's on this weekend if you want a show afterwards.

Day three starts at Fisherman's Wharf with Eagle Wing Whale & Wildlife Tours. Tours run year-round and last three and a half to four hours, looking for killer whales and humpbacks along with sea lions, harbour seals and bald eagles. If no whale shows, you sail again free until one does.

Spend the afternoon at The Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay, on the Saanich Peninsula north of the city. Jennie Butchart's 55 acres are a National Historic Site: the Sunken Garden, then the Rose, Japanese, Italian and Mediterranean gardens, planted for every season, from autumn colour to the Magic of Christmas displays. Tickets sell online.

If you would rather stay on land, trade the boat for afternoon tea at the Pendray Inn and Tea House, the 1897 mansion of William and Amelia Pendray on Belleville Street, minutes from the Inner Harbour.

For the last dinner, Wind Cries Mary on Bastion Square builds its seafood around local, sustainably sourced ingredients and pairs it with a wine and cocktail list.

• The Royal BC Museum, Craigdarroch Castle and The Butchart Gardens all sell tickets online. The whale tour and the food tour take bookings on their own sites.
• Day 1 is all on foot from a downtown hotel.
• BC Ferries from Vancouver lands at Swartz Bay, at the north end of the same peninsula as The Butchart Gardens, so the gardens also fit an arrival or departure day.

With a fourth day, take one of six day trips from Victoria, or head west for three days in Tofino. Two more weekends are close by: Salt Spring Island and Duncan and the Cowichan Valley. With a week, drive the whole island in seven days.

Start from this plan, set your dates and swap any stop you like.

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