Victoria Inner Harbour

Victoria's Inner Harbour is a working basin in the middle of the city: float planes take off and land on the water between whale-watching boats and the ferry from Seattle, and the causeway around it fills with buskers and vendors through the summer. The British Columbia legislature stands on the south side, a stone pile of 1897 outlined at night by about three thousand three hundred light bulbs, and the Empress Hotel of 1908 sits on the east, its brick front under Virginia creeper. Free tours run through the legislature when the house is not sitting. The Royal BC Museum next door holds a strong First Nations collection.

What you actually see

• The float plane traffic - aircraft landing on the harbour through the day.
• The lit legislature - a stone parliament outlined in thousands of bulbs at night.
• The Empress - a 1908 hotel front covered in creeper.
• The causeway performers - buskers and stalls around the water in summer.

When to go

May to September for the causeway life and boat traffic; the legislature lights are on year-round and better in winter dark. Cruise ship days crowd the waterfront heavily.

Honest expectations

Summer causeway crowds are dense and the area is heavily geared to cruise passengers. Afternoon tea at the Empress is expensive and books far ahead. Legislature tours pause when the house sits.

Nearby

Fisgard Lighthouse lies west; Butchart Gardens is north of the city.