Speaker 1 (00:00)
Victoria British Columbia is often described as Canada's most charming capital, a city where British heritage meets Pacific Northwest beauty. With just a day and a half before our next adventure, we set out to discover how much you can experience in a short stay. From world-famous gardens to soaring skywalks, a lively harbor filled with surprises and meals that locals swear by, our quick visit to Victoria proved
that it is a destination that delights at every turn. And the way that we departed? Well, let's just say it might be the most unforgettable commute in all of Canada.
Speaker 2 (00:43)
We're Scott and Melissa, The Sunshine Travelers.
Speaker 1 (00:46)
We're all about exploring the world and sharing the journey with you. Whether you're a seasoned traveler, dreaming of your next adventure, or just here for the stories.
Speaker 2 (00:54)
No matter where you are on your travel journey, we've got first-hand experiences, tips, and plenty of inspiration from some of the most amazing places on Earth.
Speaker 1 (01:03)
So buckle up and get ready to travel with us.
Speaker 1 (01:18)
So in today's episode, we're taking you with us to Victoria, British Columbia. It was a short stop, only about a day and a half, but we managed to fit in some incredible highlights.
Speaker 2 (01:29)
And so along the way, we're gonna answer some of the questions that people ask when they're planning a trip to Victoria. A lot of things that we were wondering and that we had to look up from how long should I stay, where should I eat, and how even do you get to Vancouver afterward?
Speaker 1 (01:43)
So Melissa, let's start out with why did we even choose Victoria? This wasn't something that was on our written bucket list of things that we needed to do, but Victoria had some special meaning.
Speaker 2 (01:56)
Yeah, so I had always seen, I don't, like my mom had always had like some kind of pamphlet. I had always seen pictures from Butchart Gardens. And so I had said when we were playing in this trip, cause this is on the front of our trip to Alaska, like you guys pick every excursion, you guys pick where we eat. Like I don't care. Like this is the one thing that I want to do. And so for us, it was, we knew instead of spending time in Vancouver.
which there's a ton of stuff to do that we were gonna spend our time in Victoria and specifically go to Butchart Gardens.
Speaker 1 (02:27)
Yeah, and I think that was the right pick because Victoria in and of itself was amazing. It's a cute little town. I would say probably more quaint than Vancouver. And so I would recommend that people think about Victoria and spending a little bit of time there either as a destination all in itself or on the front end of say one of these Alaska cruises like we did.
Speaker 2 (02:53)
Oh yeah, a hundred percent. So like you could spend a week or more here and explore that area. So Scott, let's start with how to get there from Vancouver. Cause most people, if they're flying in for a cruise or they're coming in, you're going to have a flight to Vancouver first. So you're going to have to get over to Victoria, which is on Vancouver Island.
So really three ways, fly direct so that you can either book that as part of your itinerary. That's what we did. We booked it through Delta, even though the last couple of legs weren't on Delta. Or you could book a flight to Vancouver and then buy, they have lots of smaller airlines that fly over to Victoria. Second of all, you could take the ferry. So just know that from the airport, you're gonna have to get to the ferry.
terminal and we had met some people at the airport who said you need to actually be there about an hour ahead of time. And then it's about a two, two and a half hour ferry ride. Now they say it's absolutely incredible. Our brother and sister-in-law actually have done it and they said it's fantastic. And then you'll need to get the transportation to Victoria. And so just because we had a long flight day, we were trying to look at like what's the fastest way to do that.
Finally, you can do a seaplane or a helicopter. It's probably the fastest, probably an absolutely fabulous way to do it. The easiest way to do it, I'm sure, but it's probably, it's gonna be the most expensive way as well.
Speaker 1 (04:13)
So on this journey that we're taking, we'd to talk and tell you about travel disruptions. And we did have one in Vancouver. Our flight got there. We changed planes. We had just a short amount of time before we were scheduled to leave to go to Victoria. We get over there and they're not boarding the plane, as described. It's still set on time.
on the little board. And finally the young lady came on and she said, we're trying to figure out the weight balance issues on the plane, so we need a little bit longer. And it was funny because everybody was like, I can probably do this on paper faster than whatever you're doing. Let me help. But come to find out that wasn't the problem at all. Finally the pilot bailed on that plane and...
They moved us across to another terminal, put us on a different plane. As we were trying to get on that plane, they were like, we think we added too much fuel. We got to take some fuel off. So then they sent us back into the terminal. So yes, we did have a few travel disruptions, but in this case, it turned out to our benefit because we actually met the owner of the St. Augustine distillery, which is really near to where we live.
We talked a lot about travel and about St. Augustine specifically. And so I think that's going to be a future episode where we hone in on St. Augustine.
Speaker 2 (05:37)
Yeah, even though we've been, we haven't done an episode on that, so that'd be fun and hopefully we can sit down with them and share a little bit more about that. So that was a neat, in a way, I guess, to put a positive spin, you know, on you just never know what happens or what might happen when you have a travel disruption as well.
Speaker 1 (05:52)
Well, we say that because it's important when you're thinking about maybe booking a tour or something is don't book anything for the day or the afternoon when you're arriving in because you never know what that travel disruption is going to do and how it's going to affect your schedule.
Speaker 2 (06:09)
Yeah, that's 100 % true. And I think for us, it actually ended up cutting like maybe our time to just explore the town a little bit shorter than what we would have liked. We did get there in time for dinner, but we didn't have as much time to explore the town as we would have liked. So where should...
I stay in Victoria. That's a big question that people often ask. And so we actually chose to stay at the Delta Hotel by Marriott, which had a beautiful view of one side of the harbor. It's probably tucked away more than a lot of the other hotels, but you have a beautiful view at night of the Fairmont Empress and the government building where it has the beautiful flowers in front of it and really the whole harbor.
Speaker 1 (06:52)
Yeah, and that's also the busy terminal coming in for those float planes The ferry comes in there and lets people on and off throughout the day. So it's a bustling little harbor But it's I would say it's also very quiet and charming harbor as well And I don't know how those two things come together how it can be so bustling but yet so quiet and peaceful
Somehow or another, it's capable of doing that.
Speaker 2 (07:19)
Yeah, and we liked this one. We enjoyed it because of the view that you had. It was kind of tucked away. But they do have a restaurant that has a waterfront view. And then we would have breakfast at the club level, which actually had an outdoor patio. And the weather was beautiful. And you could look out over the harbor and just kind of watch everything going on. But yet it's kind of tucked away. So we definitely enjoyed that hotel and think that's a good option. I would say that...
Even though it's a Marriott, even if you have the benefits to maybe get upgraded, if you want to be guaranteed a Harborview, I think at this hotel I would book it. They had a wedding going on. I think they had some conferences going on. So they had a lot going on. So if you kind of want that as a guarantee.
Speaker 1 (07:58)
a little path that you can walk along the harbor. Matter of fact, it goes for a long way. It's a great walking path in the mornings to get your steps in. But it goes around. You can walk from the hotel to the downtown in less than about 10 minutes.
Speaker 2 (08:14)
Yeah,
and that walking path even goes all the way around, even further down over to Fisherman's Wharf where there's like a lot of houseboats and floating restaurants. So you could really do a nice circuit and back and just have some beautiful views. As far as where else to stay, there's another Marriott property. There's the Fairmont Empress that we have talked about that's really kind of in the heart of that. There are six or seven hotels that actually have the harbor views.
And so we're gonna just put a link to some of those in the show notes so that you can look at those. But I would definitely stay in that inner harbor to where at least the hotel has that harbor view and you're really close by.
Speaker 1 (08:47)
Do you need to rent a car in Victoria?
Speaker 2 (08:49)
So we originally had not planned to rent a car. We thought, okay, we'll just get transportation into the inner Harbor. We'll take something. We read that there was a bus and some other transport up to Butchart gardens. But once we decided to go to Malahat skywalk, which we're going to talk about in a second, we decided that at that point, probably a car was going to be our best option.
for six people and then once we looked at it's pretty expensive to hire a taxi or an Uber even from the airport it's about 30 or 40 minutes. So we would say to rent a car. It just gave us the freedom and the flexibility to do that and kind of of town. We of course did have the cost of know parking at the hotel but I think it far outweighed especially with six people where we would have had to have more than one.
So I think that was the right choice. I do want to add that it might be beneficial to you. Like if you're kind of like us, we always rent from Enterprise and National. We had to do some searching. They didn't have anything available. We even laughed because the guy said, you can change your dates and get the six seater car. It's like, no, we can't change our dates. We had to do some searching. ended up renting through budget, but through Expedia. So you may have to kind of do some looking, but I think it was definitely worth
that. We did read that if you go to the Malahat skywalk and have the ticket they do have some shuttles from downtown. We never saw any but so you could look into some of those things that just gave us a lot more freedom and flexibility for us.
Speaker 1 (10:12)
Well, remember when we were leaving Malahat there was that really long line of people that were queued up and you couldn't tell what they're queued up for in the parking lot. I guarantee you that was probably that shuttle
Speaker 2 (10:23)
Okay, so they do have a shuttle. So if you don't want to have the expense or whatever of driving, you could do it. I just think for us, it was the right option.
Speaker 1 (10:31)
Yeah, it was great because we had six people and we could just easily go where we wanted to. We got to see a little bit more, I think, of Victoria because of that. We didn't have time to go and walk around downtown, so we did a quick just kind of drive-through tour and saw a little bit more of downtown Victoria. And so I think that was the right call for us. But like Melissa said, just determine what's best for you. You will have to pay for parking.
Scott Barronton (11:03)
Are you looking to plan your next unforgettable adventure? At Sunshine Travelers Experiences, we specialize in helping you create tailor-made travel journeys that turn your vacation dreams into reality. Whether you're craving a relaxing beach escape, an awe-inspiring cultural journey, or a thrilling outdoor adventure, we can help. Why choose Sunshine Travelers Experiences? Personalized itineraries designed just for you, expert travel advice and insider tips.
seamless booking from start to finish, exclusive access to top destinations and hidden gems. We also booked cruises, all-inclusives, groups, tours, and so much more. If you're unsure where to even start planning that bucket list trip, start by asking us. Then let Sunshine Travelers experiences handle the planning so you can focus on making the memories. Explore now, sunxtravel.com If you have any questions, email us.
info at sunshine travelers.com
Speaker 1 (12:04)
So just know that it's going to be an additional cost on top of your rental car. And in downtown, there's not a lot of just free parking. It's not super expensive, but you will have to pay for parking in downtown.
How many days do you think that people should plan on spending inside of Victoria when they're planning their travels?
Speaker 2 (12:26)
That's a great question because sometimes we go places and we have a couple of days and we're like, okay, we really saw everything that we wanted to see. think that we could have used at least one more day. you could spend a week or two weeks exploring the area, especially if you had a car. so like Scott mentioned, we only had about a day and a half. It really did give us time to see the highlights, right? So we, we did the Malahat, we, did Butchart gardens. We really got to see the inner Harbor. I think if we had another whole day, we could have done some of the water taxis. We could have gone into the town.
and maybe look through the shops a little bit more, maybe gone further along the walkway as well. So I would say two days minimum if you can do that, but if you only have one day, I would say definitely like get in and have an evening and have a whole day and don't leave till the next morning. Make sure you have a whole day.
Speaker 1 (13:12)
Yeah, and we talked about this in terms of if you're on a cruise In Victoria is a stop on your cruise if you only have like four hours in port It's gonna be really hard for you to get out to Butchart Gardens and really enjoy that you can do it It's doable, but you're gonna only have like an hour to walk around the garden. So, you know walk quick don't stop
Snap a few pictures as you're walking that type of tour of Butchart Gardens. Get back on the bus and then back to the cruise.
Speaker 2 (13:45)
The good thing is the gardens are open late in the summer. But I would say at bare minimum, we've heard a lot of people say, it's not worth getting off. You don't have a lot of time. It's definitely worth getting off and at least going into that inner harbor. Like we said, you can walk around right there. You could see that government building, especially in the evening. We've heard that a lot of those cruise ships stop over.
kind of late in the evening and see all that lit up, go into the Fairmont Empress in their famous Q bar and get one of their famous gin and tonics. So I definitely think it's worth at least getting off and seeing that inner harbor, even if you only have a couple hours.
Speaker 1 (14:20)
Well, let's talk about what we actually did. We've mentioned it briefly. We talked about the Malahat skywalk that we did. Now this was something that my stepmom, we all call her sassy. This was something that she had found and she wanted to do. And I think at first, like some of the group was like, I'm not sure about this thing. My brother's afraid of heights. You know, my dad's older.
and it's got like this slide that goes down the middle of it and so I think you know everybody's like okay well we'll go do this I am so glad that we did I mean you go up and it's you walk around this ramp that kind of does a corkscrew up to the very top of the skywalk and I'd say I don't know it's like 10 stories high
Speaker 2 (15:06)
10 stories high.
Speaker 1 (15:07)
And you get these magnificent views down over the, I don't know if it's like an intercoastal. it's a fjord. Yeah, it's actually a fjord. So there's this beautiful fjord down there. And one of the employees told us that at certain times of the year, you can actually see orcas down in that fjord.
Speaker 2 (15:14)
It's actually a fjord.
Yeah, and we think there was actually a lot of whale watching boats. You can take whale watching tours out of that Victoria Harbor. So if you have more time, that would be something that you could definitely do. And we saw some boats out there. So you might spot some whales from
Speaker 1 (15:41)
Yeah, she said just a few days earlier that they had seen those orcas down there.
Speaker 2 (15:46)
For me, mean, even though the structure was cool and you can walk up, so it's 100 % accessible. You don't have to do the slide. You don't have to do the net. It walks you through like a boardwalk. I loved it because it gave us a chance to be more in nature and to see the islands outside of the city. So that's why I enjoyed it and just fabulous views.
Speaker 1 (16:07)
Yeah. But don't forget the slide. I mean, that was one of those things where I looked at it because it's a corkscrew slide that goes down and I was like, is that childish? Well, yeah, it is. But boy, was it fun because you really get going pretty fast down that slide. It's an enclosed slide and you've got little portholes for, giving light down. But I don't know. It takes...
15-20 seconds to get from the top to the bottom. And you could just hear people hollering and laughing and just having a good time the whole way down. But we all enjoyed that. Even my near 80-year-old dad did the slide and had a ball. He loved it.
Speaker 2 (16:48)
Yeah, and just know they have like a coffee truck and you can get drinks and snacks and they had another like food truck, they had music going on. Of course in the summer, this was a weekend in the summer, definitely, I mean you could spend half a day at least here.
Speaker 1 (18:11)
Well, we left from there and that's when we went to Butchart Gardens. And Melissa talked about how, she has been seeing her entire life the pictures of these gardens. so when that became a possibility, she said, this is the one thing that we're going to do. you have to drive back, I guess, back to Victoria and then.
up to Butchart Gardens the way that maybe there's a I think there's a ferry that you could have taken from where we were at at the Malahat across to the Butchart Gardens area but we didn't have time for that and we didn't know if the ferry would work out so we drove back down to Victoria and then up to Butchart.
Speaker 2 (18:51)
Yeah, so like I mentioned before, it is open late in the summer, which is nice because it stays light so late on the weekends. They have different concerts and fireworks and stuff like that. I think for some of the concerts, you might need tickets ahead of time. Some of them, when they have their fireworks, it's just music out there playing. You don't have to get tickets ahead of time either. So we just bought them once we got there. I would say give yourself at least two or three hours.
to just walk and explore. They do have accessible ramps as well. So if you don't want to take stairs different places and stuff like that. But just absolutely fantastic to explore the different gardens there. It's over 100 years old. I think it's actually over 125 years old or close to it now.
They haven't changed their logo and it just almost like feels like you're, it's like frozen in time. It was just phenomenal and the way that they pair the different flowers and summer is not the only time you could go. They have beautiful things for the spring. They have beautiful things for the fall as well. So don't just think
There's not other times where it's beautiful as well. so just that I don't think that's the one thing not to be missed over a million people visit Butchart Gardens every year.
Speaker 1 (20:06)
Yeah, I mean these gardens are absolutely amazing. The flowers, it's just, it's unfathomable how they actually get these flowers to this level of peak producing and floral, the colors that they get, all the different varieties. I mean, this was an old mining quarry that this family bought and turned in eventually into these gardens.
And so you have like a sunken garden area, have a Japanese garden, you have a rose garden. They just have all these beautiful...
paths that are set up and meander through the gardens and so it's well worth the visit and your camera roll is going to be absolutely full when you leave there from all the pictures that you'll take.
Speaker 2 (20:52)
Yeah, and just logistically know that they have some cafes and little stops where you can eat. I think if you want to eat the restaurant, you probably should make reservations. And then of course you can bring picnics and stuff like that for the fireworks. They just don't have no alcohol. You can't bring alcohol in and they don't sell it either. But there were so many people coming in who probably live there and have season tickets to the gardens who were just coming to enjoy that evening at the garden.
Speaker 1 (21:19)
I would also say it's very accessible. So if you have someone who can't do stairs, they have ramps that will take you everywhere. If you need to have a wheelchair or something like that, I think you can even rent them there. The gardens are fully accessible.
Speaker 2 (21:37)
Yeah, and if you are just absolutely love gardens and have a lot of time, I mean, you can easily spend a half a day or more here as well.
Speaker 1 (21:43)
Well, let's wrap up Victoria with a little discussion about the harbor. We've talked about it at a high level, but there were some great restaurants that we ate at inside the harbor that I think we want to call out and recommend to people as well.
Speaker 2 (21:58)
Yeah, for sure. So the first one is Finn's that we ate at the night that we arrived. think seafood is a must when you're coming to Victoria. That was absolutely phenomenal. I we didn't have reservations. We were able to get a table, but that was very, very good. I had mussels, which I think may have usurped my other spot and landed in the top spot. But I think everything everybody had was just phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (22:24)
That's
huge if she's telling you that the mussels there were better than anywhere she's ever had because She points everybody to Cashcais to eat at Muls and gin.
just for the mussels. Like forget Portugal and how beautiful the rest of it is. She's like, you gotta go there and have these mussels So now, I think she's saying you gotta go to Finn's
Speaker 2 (22:48)
Yeah, was phenomenal. I would also recommend that you try some of their local wine as well. That's probably a little known fact that they do have the some vineyards as well. And they had one that was like a house white that was phenomenal. So definitely try that when you're there. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:04)
They do have some outdoor patio seating, so when weather permits you can sit out and have a nice view of the harbor. it was really busy, so we got a table on the inside, but it's a nice atmosphere on the inside as well. Several different bars in the restaurant, and then the service was just absolutely phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (23:23)
Yes, it was top-notch. The other place we want to point out, which is super casual, it's basically you stand in line down at the ferry level or the marina level and just wait and then you just eat right there on the docks
And that is red fish, blue fish. I had read about this and the lady at the hotel actually recommended it to you. But she said the day we got in, she was like, well, you might want a place, you know, where you can go sit and have a table. So we actually did this for lunch, a late lunch between Malahat and Butchart Gardens. I think the absolute best fish and chips.
I have ever had. They was just perfectly cooked, phenomenal, not greasy. They do have some other options, some fish tacos options, but it's basically weight and line and you know it's good because the line was very long.
Speaker 1 (24:06)
Yeah, it's a very long line. But I think they're really known for their fish and chips. Like that is the one thing that they sell the most of. And you can choose between either halibut or cod. And so we chose the, or at least I chose the halibut. And very flaky, like Melissa said, not greasy.
It's a really good option there and don't let that line intimidate you. Stand in line. Just don't go when you're famished and you'll be like, I can't wait in the line. No, go a little bit before you're to that point. Stand in line, order your fish and you will not regret it.
Speaker 2 (24:44)
And they have some like bar stool things that you can sit out on. And I think that people, turns over fast enough as people eat and then, because they can only serve and take orders and all that so fast. So don't let that, intimidate you because it was absolutely phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (24:58)
Well, there was another little surprise that we kind of hinted to in the harbor that we discovered. We talked about these ferry boats and they're the cutest little, they look like little miniature tugboats or something. Like a tugboat and a taxi had a baby. And so, and they're scooting along and they, I mean, they move really fast throughout the harbor and get you from place to place.
but they're not just taxis.
Speaker 2 (25:26)
So on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer at 1030 in the morning, they put on a ferry boat ballet and there are five or six of them. And they pipe the music to where you can hear it. Famous like ballet music, flight of the bumblebee, stuff like that. And these guys drive these little ferry boats in just the most spectacular little 15 minute show.
Speaker 1 (25:49)
Yeah, I mean it's really a fairy boat ballet that they're putting on and it's just neat to sit there and watch this. I would say if you go down near the harbor air place where the float planes come in and dock, there's a dock right there. You're gonna get the best view from right there. But make sure to catch that. It's only on the weekends.
and at certain times of the day. So, Melissa, let's talk about how we departed Victoria because I think that was one of the most spectacular parts of the journey was leaving.
Speaker 2 (26:23)
Yeah, so I think just logistically, and so I have to say we have to give a shout out to your brother Robert for kind of like thinking about these two logistic things. He was the one who said, let's fly all the way to Victoria. Let's like book our tickets and already just fly all the way there. And then what's the easiest way to get to Vancouver Harbor to where we're going to depart for that cruise ship. And so we decided to splurge a little bit and book a float plane simply because it was going to be.
just right there in the harbor. We would get on that and Scott mentioned Harbor Air. that is who we took and it was phenomenal like the whole process of making the reservations and communicating with them and everything was phenomenal. But it's just right there in the harbor and then it basically takes you to the harbor.
right there in Vancouver. Now I will say they go other places, you can also do flight seeing with them. And then it was probably what a 15 minute walk from there where they dropped us off to the cruise ships. it's probably one of the closest places that you can get. I mean, literally we landed right where this cruise.
Speaker 1 (27:26)
Yeah, I'm not even sure that a taxi could have got you much closer than where it put you at. so I'll just talk a little bit about the process. I'd never been on a float plane before, and it is a really neat way to travel. You're on a plane that has these skis on the bottom.
And so you taxi out through the harbor and then they have what I guess you would call their taxiway. However, it was full of other boats and stuff like that. These float plane pilots, they are phenomenal.
the way that they take off and they land in this really busy harbor with lots of traffic. But they get you into the air really quick. you're like, no, is it gonna be able to take off? And all of a sudden before you know it, boom, you're right in the air.
You don't go really high. think 3,000 feet was the upper limit that we went. So you had these wonderful views along the way. And so it was just a really great way to end our trip to Victoria and then put us right there.
at the cruise ship where we're going to head off now into the next part of our journey.
Speaker 2 (28:34)
Yeah, it was like 35-40 minutes and the check-in process was so easy. We went a little bit early, we checked in, left our bags, she was like come back in 20 minutes. We basically had to be there about 15 minutes before it left. I do want to add one more quick thing about the rental car, which I think is why we ended up choosing budget. We actually picked up at the airport, but they have a drop-off location at the Fairmont Empress. so logistically that worked out perfect for the rental car. So I think that's actually a great suggestion if you're going to rent a car and then fly out.
from the harbor.
Speaker 1 (29:04)
That is a budget rental, Yeah. budget rental.
Speaker 2 (29:07)
Budget rental. It
made that super easy. Just to say it was a couple hundred dollars a piece. You are limited as far as you can bring 50 pounds of gear total with you. So that is the one limitation without having to pay extra and it may be getting on a different flight. So just some logistic things there.
Speaker 1 (29:25)
But just know, it's not just transportation. It truly is an experience in and of itself.
Well, our whirlwind tour in Victoria showed us that even a short stay can be packed with beauty, adventure, and flavor. From gardens and skywalks to surprise harbor performances and unforgettable meals Victoria feels both timeless and alive. And sometimes the way you leave a place, like lifting off from the harbor on a float plane, becomes just as memorable as the time you spent there.
The world is full of sunshine and surprises. Make 2025 the year that you explore beyond the familiar.
Speaker 1 (30:16)
That's a wrap on this episode. We hope it gave you some inspiration for your next adventure.
Speaker 2 (30:22)
If you enjoyed the show, we'd love for you to leave us a five star review on your favorite podcast platform. It helps others find us and keeps the travel conversations going.
Speaker 1 (30:31)
Don't forget to follow or subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
Speaker 2 (30:35)
and come hang out with us on Instagram or Facebook at Sunshine Travelers Podcast, that's Travelers with 1L.
Speaker 1 (30:41)
Most importantly, share this episode with a friend. You never know, they just might become your next great travel companion.
