Castles, haunted hotels, and goth mini putt?
Pretty Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is famous for whale watching tours and Victorian gardens. As someone who looks for more offbeat things on my travels, I once dismissed the city as sleepy and old fashioned. What a shame, because when I finally got there I was surprised and delighted to find that there are many unusual things to do in Victoria, too.
Victoria’s culture is a mix of Pacific Coast Indigenous, British colonial, Chinese immigrants and modern bohemians, with a fascinating, sometimes quirky, history. This post covers unique and unusual things to do in Victoria including free neighbourhood walks, fascinating museum exhibitions, Indigenous culture, things to eat and drink, and, yes, the haunted mini putt.
You can pack most of this list into a short visit — my trip was just one overnight. But if was going back I would definitely make it a more leisurely full weekend or long weekend. (I would not advise this as a day trip.) To get to Victoria you can take the ferry from BC or a plane. There are direct flights from most major cities in Canada as well as Las Vegas and Seattle in the USA. I was in Vancouver with a friend who has a car, so we chose the BC Ferry — read my detailed review of the ferry to Victoria from Vancouver here. If you don’t have a car, you can take a bus coach transfer from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria.
Whatever you do, don’t forget to appreciate the gorgeous coastal views, as you explore my list of unusual things to do in Victoria.
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My Top Things to Do in Victoria BC
Unique and Unusual Things to do in Victoria
Visit Craigdarroch Castle
This stunning castle in Victoria was built in the 1880s for Scottish coal baron Robert Dunmuir. A national Historic Site sitting on a hill overlooking the city, it’s famous for its stained-glass windows and intricate woodwork. You can take a guided tour of the four-stories of restored rooms, with samples of antique furnishing. Victoriana at its finest.
Open Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm. Closed on Mondays and Tuesday so if you’re into castles plan ahead.
Book an Pedicab tour of Victoria with a visit to Craigdarroch Castle
Confession: I do hesitate to call Indigenous exhibits “unusual” things to do in Victoria, because for so long Indigenous art was exoticized, and I don’t want to do that. But the city is still best known for its Britishness, and I want travellers with curious minds to find these and not miss out.
Visit Totem Poles at Thunderbird Park (Free)
Totem poles are awesome. Literally, whenever I visit British Columbia, I am in awe of these monuments carved from the trees of the Pacific Northwest. They can stand up to 18 metres tall, with masterful carvings of human, animal and supernatural creatures that tell stories of local families and history.
In downtown Victoria, right near the harbour and Legislative buildings is small but mighty Thunderbird Park, named for the mythological bird-spirit. Out front, you’ll find several impressive totem poles from different Nations. These are mostly replicas of originals held inside the nearby Royal BC Museum for preservation, with some originals—all in beautiful colours. A beautiful spot to start your day exploring Victoria. And it’s free.
Hear Endangered Languages at Royal BC Museum
One of Canada’s oldest museums, this is a place in transition, from colonial collections and mindset to working with the local Indigenous communities to more respectfully reflect the area’s history.
The exhibit that struck me the most is called Our Living Languages, a room where you can learn about the many different Indigenous languages of BC, with interactive displays to hear them spoken aloud. In some cases, these languages were or are still endangered, and the work here to document and revitalize them is fascinating.
The museum’s showstopper is a recreation of a Kwakwaka’wakw chief’s ceremonial house, with master carvings of two towering house posts (a type of totem pole). This is part of the First People’s Gallery, filled with magnificent regalia, masks, and many more poles representing the diverse and vibrant nations of the Pacific Coast. Open daily 10am to 5pm.
Try Bannock at an Indigenous Food Truck
Bannock is a type of fried bread, brought to Canada by Scottish settlers, which has become a staple of Indigenous cuisine. It’s not always easy to try Indigenous foods in Canada but right beside the Royal BC Museum is an outdoor food court where you’ll find Bannock Room food truck. They also served bannock tacos but I kept it simple, with cinnamon and sugar. Delicious!
Check out the Victoria Bug Zoo
Want to hold a Chinese Green praying mantis? Get up close with a tarantula? This small insect and arachnid attraction doesn’t just put the bugs behind glass but has staff take them out for visitors to examine. Pretty cool! They also sell live bugs and spiders but I don’t recommend trying to pack those in your luggage.
The Victoria Bug Zoo also offers a “accessibility hour” each Wednesday from 10am to 11am where masks are mandatory for all visitors age 5 and up. (Masks are provided free with admission.)
Explore Victoria at night on a Ghost Walking Tour
When the sun goes down, and the moon comes up, why not join a local storyteller for a walking tour of the streets of Victoria —and its ghosts. If you’ve taken ghost walking tours before you know it’s not creepy, more for history buffs and horror fans with good imaginations. You will pass some of Victoria’s most historic landmarks and hear macabre stories. Recommended for unusual things to do in Victoria at night. Special Halloween season tours too.
Book a Ghost Walking Tour in Victoria
Take afternoon tea at haunted hotel
The Fairmont Empress is a National Historic Site built in 1908 that looks like a castle, a crown (pun!) jewel of the Victoria harbour. Many also say it’s haunted. Does the ghost of chambermaid Lizzie McGrath, who plunged to death from a shoddy fire escape on the 6th floor in 1909, still walk the halls? I can’t say. But I can tell you that it’s a most wonderful place to stop for afternoon tea.
The British-style afternoon tea tradition is a hallmark of the Fairmont hotels in Canada, and if you enjoy delectable small bites of joy, you should book yourself a sitting. Here, they are served on “exquisite china gifted to the hotel by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1939” and may feature lavender grown right on the roof and honey from their in-house bees. Décor is elegant and there is a dress code. Served 11am to 2pm Monday to Friday, or til 4pm on weekends. $109 per person — gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan available by advance request.
Alternately, a more affordable yet still quaint afternoon tea option is available at Pendray Tea House.
Stroll Fan Tan Alley (Free)
This is apparently the narrowest commercial street in North America at just 3-feet wide. It’s named for a card game that was popular here in the 1940s when illegal gambling and opium dens were the main reason to visit. Today, it’s a quirky place for a photo and an excuse to check out Victoria’s historic Chinatown area – the second oldest in North America.
Visit Christ Church Gothic Cathedral (Free)
Built in in the early 1900s but in a 13th century Gothic style, Christ Church cathedral in Victoria is one of Canada’s largest churches. An Anglican congregation that welcomes visitors during church opening hours; guided tours in the summer.
Walk the Ogden Point Murals (Free)
A breakwater wall near the Victoria cruise terminal has the largest mural in Canada. Take a walk along the 1km “Unity Wall” and see artwork honoring traditions of the local Salish nations. A nice place for a sunset picnic. Note this is near the cruise ship ports.
Visit Hatley Castle
You might recognize this other castle in Victoria — it’s been used as a location for movies and TV like Deadpool, X-Men, Smallville and many others.
Hatley Castle was built in 1908 and is now part of Royal Roads University — you can only visit inside by guided tours in the summer when classes are not in session. But put this on your list if you’re a history buff or fan of architecture from the early 1900s. A bit further out of the city core but you get lovely gardens, turrets and possibly a superhero sighting.
Wander a seaside cemetery
Two historic cemeteries in Victoria offer peaceful walks with ocean views.
Ross Bay Cemetery is a 10-minute drive from the harbour. It dates to 1872 and is home to graves of many prominent British Columbians, including artist Emily Carr. But again, it’s the views over Ross Bay that make this special. Guided tours of Ross Bay Cemetery on Sunday afternoons are operated by the Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria.
A bit further east at Harling Point is the Chinese Cemetery of Victoria. More than 400 simple headstones and 13 mass graves mark the final resting place of Chinese immigrants who came here to build the railways, work in mines, and face plenty of cruel discrimination—they have their own cemetery because governments in the late 1800s would not allow these immigrants to be buried in municipal cemeteries. Beautiful setting, sobering story.
Play Mini-Putt in a Haunted House
When I researched unusual things to do in Victoria this one jumped out at me straight away: mini-putt golf in a gothic haunted theme? Sign me up!
Thankfully I wasn’t travelling solo on this day and my friend was into it. We had the place to ourselves in the afternoon, but I can imagine it gets quite crowded with dates and groups at night. Because it’s super fun to putt your way through spooky hallways with scary music and sound effects, and a few puzzles to solve along the way. Admission here is $24.95 per person which is a bit steep imo, but scoring a hole-in-one in a Plinko-board style coffin game was a highlight of my trip!
Where To Stay in Victoria
As I said in my full review of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel and Spa, I actually came to Victoria to stay in a specific hotel. Because hot pools with ocean views is worth travelling for. What I also really enjoyed was the scenic drive out there. So while we didn’t get a chance to check out Victoria’s nightlife, we did get a very relaxing overnight stay in a luxury hotel by the sea. If it’s your budget, I highly recommend.
Looking for more unusual things to do in Canada – in Quebec City perhaps?
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