Victoria, British Columbia

Canadian Neveau in a British Carapace

The tired and banal British facade is beginning to peel back and reveal a more colorful local canvas. Once singularly idolizing its faux-Britishness, Victoria has since embraced a more contemporary Canadian palette which has painted a vibrant cultural landscape, dotted with boutique coffee, art galleries and boho wine bars. The demographic too is changed with younger people, artists and renowned chefs relocating to Victoria’s picturesque shores. With its new cool-kid adaptations, colorful Edwardian  buildings, and a surrounding wilderness playground, Victoria is almost too good to be true.

EAT

This list is hand-picked, locally owned and curated from a combination of rigorous investigation and hard won recommendations from the locals. All experienced first hand, so if it's a pricey spot it's worth the dough and if it's not, it's worth the walk. But always remember, "good food and good eating are about risk" - A. Bourdain. 

DRINK

SUPPORT

EXPLORE

Whether your objective is to lose yourself amongst towering conifers or to gawk upwards at the Edwardian and Neo-baroque architecture you will find plenty to occupy yourself here. Avoid the summer crowds between mid May - August and you will find an idyllic miniature city perched on the rocky intersection between the forest and the sea.

Dallas Waterfront Trail

Tracing the shoreline of the Straits of Juan de Fuca the waterfront footpath leads you through forested parks and past rocky coves where seals bob and spin beneath the towering Olympic Mountains. Past the breakwater the busy harbor sends ships gliding into the Straits. In its entirety the route stretches 3.7 miles from Hollywood Crescent street to Fisherman’s wharf but you can jump in at any point. Below are a few of the highlights…

Beacon Hill Park

A huge, half wild park fringed by wind swept beaches and crowned with roses and statuary commands a full 200 acres just south of the city center. The meandering pathways and hidden gardens hint at an almost natural formation when, in fact it was created, under the storm cloud of controversy, by Henry A. Cresswell/John Blair (and it gets dramatic) over 130 years ago. All an easy walk from downtown Victoria. Pack a lunch and frisbee and make the day out of it, or stroll through with a morning cup of coffee, this park is your oyster, enjoy it as you please.

Of Note: For thousands of years, Beacon Hill has been a place of historical, cultural and sacred significance to the Lekwungen People (now known as Esquimalt Nation and Songhees Nation). The native cultivation of camas and other plants for food helped to shape the landscape of this area. With the guidance and support of the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations, an existing ancient First Nations burial ground on the southeast slope of Beacon Hill Park has been identified as special place to re-bury First Nations remains.

The Parliament building

The architectural crown jewel of Victoria is British Columbia’s Parliament Buildings, home to the Legislative Assembly and the Capital of the district. You can walk the gardens or join one of the free guided tours (9-5 most days) and by all means, you should. If it's the right time of year you can even get in on the action by watching a live season of the legislator. More information and specific times can be found here.

The Royal BC Museum

Yes, the Royal BC Museum holds the largest collection of the First Nations archaeological materials in the world. What makes this museums grave robbing and straight up thieving different than that of its peers is the progressive program the museum has established with local tribal leaders:

“The BC Archives recognizes that a complex new palette of sovereignty and status now colours the relationship between First Nations communities and the Royal BC Museum & Archives. Many First Nations communities understand the value of safeguarding their own community memory while recognizing the mutual benefits of sharing the records of Indigenous culture and identity with the people of BC through the museum and archives.”

Aside from being ahead of the pack in the reparations program the Royal Museum has a beautiful and heart wrenching exhibit of First Nations masks and ceremonial artifacts that we are all so lucky to have the honor of viewing. The Natural History department houses some of the most detailed and beautiful dioramas we have seen, and we fucking love dioramas. If you’re not hip to exhibition lingo, dioramas are freeze-framed vignettes of animals and people in their habitats, each one is carefully laid out, with such precision, that it becomes a time capsule for that environment, it tells a story in three dimensional space. A few of our favorites are the full-size mammoth (extra points for the sound effects), the snow geese in flight and the coastal wetlands, each a work of high art in its own right. Hats off to the curators of the past and present.

Chinatown and Fan-Tan alley

The first Chinese immigrants, who established the original settlement now know as Chinatown, came to Victoria like so many others did in 1858 to search for gold. Many became miners, influential in the Fraser River gold rush, and others stayed behind selling goods and providing services to those headed into the wild north. Gradually Huabu (meaning Chinese port) spread northward to what are now Cormorant and Fisgard streets. As it expanded it began to operate separately as its own city building into its infrastructure a network of winding alleyways and courtyards hidden behind the street fronts. This brings us to Fan-Tan alley, which famously housed gambling dens that featured elaborate escape routes in case of police raids. These days you’ll mostly find sweet shops and even a record store tucked in the brick passageways but you can still imagine the echoes of a long gone world, you can even search for its ghosts after dark.

SLEEP

We picked a AirBnB just outside of the hustle and bustle of downtown Victoria. Still walking distance to everything it allowed us to feel as if we lived in a sleepy neighborhood and found hidden gems on our walks/stumbles to and from our adventures. This was our short list of places to stay.

KNOW