We had a great time on our 30 minute carriage ride. Making reservations was very easy, the coach…read moreperson was informative and very friendly. We learned all about our horse Maggie and historical things around town on our ride. I would do it again next time I visit Victoria BC.

We had a fabulous 75-minute ride around town. Thank goodness they provided blankets, as it was a…read morecold, windy day. Samson, the handsome horse who brought us around town, was very mild tempered and up to the task. Elijah, our carriage driver was super informative about the history of Victoria and had a very friendly demeanor. We could tell he had a deep respect for Samson. We loved the ride and highly recommend it!

I was here for Upstairs Downstairs a production from a local improv theater company. It was lovely…read more A whole bunch of fun in a beautiful castle!! Wow! This place is cool! I recommend a visit here if you can swing it. So nice! Lots of history of course. When it was built, the tower was the highest place anyone could stand in Victoria.

Such a beautiful castle! We enjoyed every minute of our visit. The billiards room was my favorite…read morebut there's so much to see! I didn't expect to find a castle in Victoria, Canada but I'm so happy we did! You should definitely go!

Small museum. Not sure if it's totally worth it to go through as it could have been done in 15…read moreminutes. The volunteers were nice.

I made a visit to The Maritime Museum of British Columbia which is housed in an old building (1889)…read moreand showcases the rich maritime heritage of the Pacific Northwest on three levels. Each level is accessed by the center stairway (quite a climb!) or birdcage elevator, one of the oldest in North America. Exhibits illustrate exploration, pirates, whaling, fishing, shipwrecks, Royal Navy, BC Ferries, Coast Guard, and others. Displays include artwork, a great collection ship models, tools, equipment, engines, machinery, Naval uniforms, and other artifacts. On the third floor, there's a library and the Vice-Admiralty Court Room which also served as the Supreme Court of BC. Overall, the exhibits were informative and interesting and complemented my other visit to the larger Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.(http://www.yelp.ca/biz/maritime-museum-of-the-atlantic-halifax) Allow 1-2 hours. Admission $10 adults/$5 children, paid in the gift shop. Non-flash photography is allowed at the museum. WEBSITE: http://mmbc.bc.ca/ *3.5 STARS*

So it was my first time going to Malahat with family from out of town. The price of admission is…read morepretty steep, 50 bucks for adults, 46 for seniors, and 36 for children. We had a party of 12 people, and I was hoping for some incentives for larger groups or for BC locals, but there was none... Parking was free. Entering the facility was a nice nature walk. You could either walk on the wooden walkway they have constructed or follow the nature path. Either way, both were nice to experience. Arriving at the Malahat tower, it was a nice incline, nothing too overpowering, but the view was great, and seeing eagles flying above you was such a nice experience. When arriving at the top, the 360 view was incredible. You can either walk back down or take the slide down. I really recommend the slide. It's fast but really, really fun :) Oh, we arrived the day before Mother's Day and didn't find out the next day on their social media that there was a promotion. If you went to Malahat on the Mother's Day weekend, mothers were given free admission on another visit, but we weren't offered that. We had 3 mothers who went that day, too! My 2 cents: 1) Dress warm it can get windy up there or during the climb up 2) Washrooms both at the entrance and when u arrive at the tower 3) Wear proper shoes

Great place to go for a walk. The scene at the top is amazing. Must take a photo at the glass cube…read morearea. Walking on the net is a bit tricky. You might want to not look down. Sliding all the way down was the highlight. We grabbed coffee and soft serve afterwards. Take Luke's lane back to the entrance. I strongly recommend.

Great idea for a one day stop on any cruise! It was so easy. I made reservations ahead of time…read moreonline so all we have to do was pick it up. We had plenty of bikes to rent, even if we hadn't taken care of it ahead of time. Bikes are all in great condition and staff were really great! So glad we didn't take a long bus ride with all the tourists to Bouchard Gardens, the gardens and parks just a half a mile from the port are so beautiful and a lovely way to spend the afternoon! We downloaded a $10 audio cast and had a great tour of the area! With all the money we saved, we went to we must exquisite in the Fairmont Empress Hotel. This was the best day of our trip! Highly recommend!

We arrived on a cruise- had no idea what we were going to do because we did not purchase an…read moreexcursion. We wanted to just relax and see things. We stumbled upon Ryan in the port. Straight forward honest guy. We decided on the pedicab tour. The 4 of us loaded up and off we went. Ryan was AMAZING! We saw so much on our tour. We would have never seen all we did if we walked. Fisherman's wharf, Emily Carr home, China town, Empress Hotel, Beacon Hill Park, The Parliament buildings and so much more. He even stopped us along the way for water and a taste of the fish at the fish market. Downtown we stopped for a 15minute quick shopping adventure. Hands down the best day! Thank you Ryan for taking care of us and so much information about the area!

Used this service in mid-October and absolutely loved it!…read more What a fantastic way to see Boston (or any city!). With a 2-day pass, we rode with three different drivers, and each one made the experience memorable. We even used it as our go-to way to get around town. But the standout by far was Quince -- delivering history with humor and making the ride unforgettable. Highly recommend!

This review is for the hop-on hop-off bus that leaves from the Inner Harbour in front of the…read moreEmpress Hotel. We got there around 11:45 am on a weekday and bought tickets for the bus. We paid $173 total ($60 per adult, $39 for our teen, and the rest for our tween), and they gave us brochures outlining the route and stops, plus one timetable as they were almost out. That's when we realized the bus frequency is every hour, and not every 15 minutes. The last bus was at 5:30 pm. Fortunately, they had a bus scheduled to run at the half hour mark during summers (10, noon and 2), so we would not need to wait for an hour every time we disembarked. The long gap between busses meant we had to restrict the number of places we hopped off - we chose to see the Songhees lookout on the other side of the water, and take a lunch stop in Oak Bay Village. Of the places we'd originally planned to see, we ended up skipping Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, and Beacon Hill Park (with its 150+ feet-tall totem pole). Many of the other places on the "itinerary" were either closed or obvious tourist traps. The busses are double-deckers and are fairly comfortable - some have open roofs, others don't. They tend to run about 5-10 minutes behind schedule. Service level was mixed. We got one nice tour guide, and a rude one who chastised us for all the things we MAY do on the journey (like throw trash everywhere instead of in the bin!), even before the bus had departed the starting point. Verdict - overpriced and not worth wasting a day of precious vacation time on. Wish we had taken a cab or water taxi instead and visited just the places we wanted to see.

Jason was our guide. Very knowledgeable about the area and his stories were very entertaining. The…read morehour walking tour is easy for all ages. We enjoyed our time together.

Exceptional! Chinatown tour - Chris Adams brought insight as a local & historian to create a…read moredynamic look into Canadian history & world events. Should be a requisite to all Canadians & visitor to Victoria. Thanks CHRIS!

Had a wonderful time with Erik last week doing the Modern Chinatown Tour. Exploring the history of…read moreold Victoria while enjoying a variety of fresh, delicious and locally produced treats was an amazing experience! A great gift idea or enjoy for yourself!

Learned about this food tour after attending a hospitality trade show. We're so glad we booked the…read moreVictoria, BC's Hip & Hidden Chinatown & Old Town Tour. It was the highlight of our quick two day getaway trip. Meeting our guide Erik and having him tell us all about the history of Chinatown and taking us to a few of it's hidden culinary delights, made it a very memerable experience. Probably one of the best quides we've ever experienced. He makes for a very fun tour with his very humorous wit to go with his expert knowledge of the area. He would also do very well if he ever decided to perform in comedy clubs. We enjoyed so many bites on the tour, that we had to take our onigiri "to go" since we didn't have anymore room. We'll be back for sure!

Very dissatisfied. We used to come to tea here and it was served on the lawn. The staff dressed up…read moreand took you back to tye 1800's. Today it was so different. Served in a run down room. Uncomfortable. Not tea at all. Owners changed and its going down hill :( sad

My family and I had tea here yesterday and it was wonderful! Living in Seattle, we have been to…read moreVictoria numerous times and were looking for something different. The Point Ellice House is not a well advertised tea, but we decided to give it a shot since we read a few good reviews online. We walked the 1.5 miles from downtown to the house, but the water taxi that came right to the property's yard looked like it would have been fun. As other reviewers mentioned, it is located just outside of town in an industrial area. This is really no fault of the museum, and we found that that the gardens blocked much of the noise and any sight of machinery. The grounds are beautifully maintained and the museum collection was extensive and interesting. The tea service itself is really a great value compared to other teas we've had in Victoria (and Seattle). We made an email reservation and their customer service was very responsive and had a set table ready for us. Our group was impressed with the variety of food and tea, and the fact that it all was house made. Our favorite was probably the butternut squash soup. The service was attentive and we had 3 ladies waiting on us (we only had a group of 6 so I am wondering if this is because we had a reservation?). They were able to accommodate dietary restrictions. I would highly recommend this tea and museum. Weather note: The tea is served outdoors in the back lawn. We were blessed with a dry, sunny day and loved sitting outside. While they did have tents with side flaps, it probably would not have been as enjoyable if it was cold and rainy. I would suggest planning accordingly based on the weather.

This was a perfect way to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon…read more One of the primary reasons we visited Victoria was to sample various types of BC wine. With this in mind, we sought out a Cowichan Valley half or full day wine tour. During our research we learned most companies offering full day tours leave at 10:45a but only visit four wineries. Those tours include a buy it yourself lunch stop and shopping. On the other hand, Vancouver Island Tours offers a half day tour which begins at 12:30p and includes visits to three wineries. This tour was a perfect fit better for our need to maximize our travels each day. Leslie, the owner and our guide was simply amazing. Her passion is evident in everything that she does. She provided us with a wealth of information about the various regions (including Okanagan), geography, the varietals, climate, communities and other historical tidbits along the way. We even stopped at a viewpoint which was absolutely breathtaking. BC wineries are relatively new in that they have been around less than 30 years. White grapes typically grow best here but Leslie brought us to a few wineries which also offered a few hybrid grapes made specifically for this climate. We purchased both reds and whites which we enjoyed too much to leave behind. Given the options available to us in early April, we were pleased with every aspect of our tour. If you are interested in a tour of 5 people or less, this is a professional, personable and enjoyable wine tour option. It is also competitively priced and includes pick up at your hotel.