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Historic places in Victoria

6 historic buildings, sites and memorials in Victoria.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

Historic places in Victoria

  1. Eat

    Bent Mast Pub and Restaurant

    Burgers, sandwiches and pub fare in an old Victorian house. A great place to drink, eat, make friends, and have fun. Talk to the staff for a bit of the history of the house.

    Mon-Thu noon-midnight, Fri noon-2AM, Sat 10AM-2AM, Sun 10AM-midnightStarters $6-14, mains $10-20

  2. See

    Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum

    This castle was built in 1890 by a wealthy and powerful Scottish family who at that time owned a quarter of Vancouver Island. Great architecture. Its 39 rooms are still furnished with Victorian-era furniture and the building is noted for its stain-glassed windows and intricate woodwork. The castle had five different occupants before it was repurposed as a museum in 1979. Its exhibits and educational panels cover a vast range of Canadian history linked to those occupants, including Canada's equivalent of the Gilded Age, Canada's involvement in World War I, the development of Victoria's early suburbs, and the evolution of the educational system on Vancouver Island.

    Mid-June to early September: 9AM-7PM; other times of the year: 10AM-4:30PM$20.60 (adult), 19.60 (seniors) $14.80 (student), $10.00 (child 6-12)

  3. Do

    Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park

    Popular park with two lakes (actually it's one lake with different names, connected by a channel), a number of beaches that are popular swimming locations and a 10-km trail that circumnavigates the entire lake. Picnicing, rowing, wind surfing and fishing are also popular. A nature center near the main entrance on Beaver Lake Rd has displays on the park's natural and cultural history and staff on hand to answer any questions you may have.

    Park open daily year-round, Nature Center open June-Sept Sat-Sun noon-4PMFree

  4. See

    Hatley Park National Historic Site

    This site in the Colwood area of western Victoria is home to historic Hatley Castle, which many movie fans will recognize as Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in the X-Men and Deadpool films produced by 20th Century Fox. The castle's exterior gardens are open to the public from 10 AM to dusk. The castle interior is home to the offices of Royal Roads University. Only the first floor is available for public viewing, and it can be seen only during seasonal walking tours which must be booked in advance.

    10AM-dusk (gardens only)

  5. See

    Maritime Museum of BC

    Small museum with exhibits relating to Canada's or British Columbia's maritime history. There's also a gift shop with model ships, books, caps, prints and all things related to boats.

    Late May-early Sept: daily 10AM-5PM; other times: Tue-Sat 10AM-4PM$10 (adult), $8 (senior/student), $5 (youth 12-17)

  6. See

    Royal British Columbia Museum

    This tells BC story, especially from 1850 to 1920. It has amazing exhibits, and is easily worth half a day. There are three permanent galleries: Modern History, story of the European settlement; First Peoples, pre-contact and post-contact; and Natural History, mainly oceans, large animals, and climate. All are explained with phenomenal immersive exhibits.

    Daily 9AM–5PM (10AM-5PM in winter)$32 (adult), $22 (senior, youth 6-18), $19 (student 19+ with ID). Prices vary for special exhibitions

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Victoria (CC BY-SA 4.0).