Victoria

A 48-hour Victoria plan from the Inner Harbour to Brentwood Bay

First morning. Take the free tour of the Parliament Buildings, finished in 1897, then cross Belleville Street to the Royal BC Museum for its natural history galleries and the Old Town street recreation. Thunderbird Park, with its carved poles, sits between the two.

First afternoon. Eat lunch on the lower causeway and watch floatplanes come in below the Empress. Then walk south through James Bay to Beacon Hill Park, where peacocks roam and the children's farm keeps goats. Follow Dallas Road along the cliffs to Mile 0 of the Trans-Canada Highway, with the Olympic Mountains across the strait.

First evening. Head north to Chinatown, squeeze through Fan Tan Alley, and have dinner on nearby Fisgard or Johnson Street.

Second morning. Book a three-hour whale-watching trip from the harbour between April and October; outside that window, take a harbour ferry to Fisherman's Wharf and its floating homes, then climb to Craigdarroch Castle, a coal baron's Victorian mansion.

Second afternoon. Drive or take bus 75 north to Butchart Gardens at Brentwood Bay, a former limestone quarry turned into sunken gardens. Allow three hours, and stay into the evening in summer, when the gardens are lit.

Empress tea, Spinnakers ales and fish tacos on the wharf

Victoria eats English habits with Pacific ingredients. Book afternoon tea at the Empress and dress tidily, or take fish and chips in a James Bay pub such as the Bent Mast at Five Corners. Seafood is the real strength: takeaway windows fry halibut at Fisherman's Wharf, and Red Fish Blue Fish serves tacos on the Inner Harbour.

The city leans English in its habits and Pacific in its ingredients. Afternoon tea at the Empress is the classic treat, served with scones and finger sandwiches in the hotel's lobby lounge; book ahead and dress tidily. For something less formal, the pubs of James Bay, such as the Bent Mast in an old Victorian house at Five Corners, pour pints with fish and chips and shepherd's pie.

Seafood is the real strength. At Fisherman's Wharf, takeaway windows fry halibut and cod among the floating homes, and on the Inner Harbour boardwalk Red Fish Blue Fish serves fish tacos from a converted shipping container. In May and June, menus fill with BC spot prawns, and wild salmon is on offer much of the summer.

Craft beer has deep roots here. Spinnakers, on the harbour's west side, opened as Canada's first brewpub in 1984, and a cluster of small breweries now sits in the old industrial streets north of downtown. Chinatown and the streets around it have dumpling houses and noodle shops, plus some of the more creative West Coast kitchens. Leave room for a Nanaimo bar, the no-bake chocolate, custard and coconut square named after the island city up the highway.

March flower count, Symphony Splash and the dry island summer

This has the mildest climate in Canada, and the numbers show it. January averages about 8C by day and 4C at night; snow is rare and seldom lasts. The catch is rain: November (about 129 mm) and January (about 111 mm) are the wettest months, with grey skies for days at a time. Museums, Craigdarroch Castle and a long afternoon tea carry winter visits.

Spring comes early. By late February, cherry and plum blossom line the residential streets, and in early March the region holds its annual flower count to boast about it to the rest of the country. April and May are lovely and quiet, highs of 14C to 17C, and whale-watching season opens.

Summer is the reason the crowds come. June to August is almost dry, July bringing only about 13 mm of rain, with highs near 21C; it rarely gets hot. On the BC Day long weekend in early August, the Victoria Symphony plays from a barge in the Inner Harbour for Symphony Splash, drawing huge crowds to the causeway. The Fringe Festival runs from late August into September. September, still warm and with the cruise ships thinning out, is arguably the best month. Rain returns in mid-October.