10 Things to Do in Victoria, BC with Kids

Oak Bay Marina is a popular waterfront dining spot with a wonderful view, but is also known for its cute inhabitants – harbour seals that occasionally greet visitors around the docks. Great dining spots here include the alfresco tables at the Marina Dockside Eatery and the more upscale Marina Restaurant. Young kids will get a thrill from seeing 5 to 10 wild seals around the marina, let alone feeding them. You can buy their feed from the marina’s gift shop.

This mini zoo in downtown Victoria inspires kids’ awe with its rich collection of live creepy-crawlies and winged insects from around the world. Victoria Bug Zoo offers an interesting view into an unusual part of the animal kingdom. Among the amazing species that you can see (if you look closely enough) are giant walking stick and leaf insects, with their outstanding camouflage. Other remarkable residents are hairy tarantulas and blue bioluminescent scorpions. Guides are ready to show you around and introduce you to each amazing specimen. Tickets are around $12 for adults and $8 for kids.

No trip to Victoria is complete without sightseeing around Victoria Harbour. You can walk the promenade along Inner Harbour for one of the most iconic views of the city, with the Parliament Building and the Empress Hotel serving as backdrop. For families with kids though, a ferry ride is a lot more fun (and a lot less walking). Harbour ferries connect you to various points in the city, such as Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf. On summer weekends, you can watch 5 ferry boats dance in their 12-minute synchronised water ballet spectacle, in sync with symphonies.

Have you ever seen baby goats go into an adorable stampede? Or, come face-to-face with a smiling, fluffy-faced llama? You can at this farm inside Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park. It offers a great family escape, where you can learn more about farm animals raised in British Columbia. There are donkeys, pigs and their piglets, rabbits, and guinea pigs that most kids will find hard not to pet. The running of the goats is always fun to watch, and usually takes place in the late spring and summer. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged and appreciated.

Victoria’s Fisherman’s Wharf Park is a green urban space overlooking the namesake pier and is a great recreational spot for families. Neat pathways wind through manicured lawns and natural gardens, and which lead you to playgrounds and benches that face the waterfront, with its sailboats, trawlers, parked seaplanes, and sometimes harbour seals. When the little ones feel peckish, you can take them to the great dining spots around the wharf, such as Barb’s Fish and Chips, The Fish Store, and Blue Crab Seafood House.

After enjoying your walks through the Royal BC Museum’s galleries and exploring the history of British Columbia and cultural treasures of the First Nations, you can enjoy the latest blockbusters at IMAX Victoria in the same building. It’s home to the largest IMAX screen in all British Columbia, which is also one among a few in the world to feature the latest 4K laser projection system. This means you’ll be able to watch documentaries and your favourite family movies in highly detailed cinematic glory.

The Salish Sea bioregion comprises coastal waterways spanning British Columbia all the way down to the northwest coast of the United States. You can view the biodiversity of the region at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea in Sidney, next door to Victoria International Airport. You and your kids can spend hours viewing over 150 marine species in their aquariums and petting starfish and anemones in the touch pool. Shaw Centre is about a half-hour drive north from downtown Victoria. Tickets are around $17.50 for adults and $8 for kids aged 12 and under.

This lush indoor jungle in Brentwood Bay features intricately designed gardens that are home to thousands of freely fluttering tropical butterflies from around 70 different species. However, despite the name, there’s more to Victoria Butterfly Gardens than just butterflies. There are also water features and pools with flamingos and ducks, as well as colourful koi. In the gardens themselves, you’ll come across some carnivorous plants from around the world and, in the insectarium, you can observe the social behaviour in an ant colony. The butterfly gardens are around 20 minutes’ drive north from downtown Victoria. Tickets cost from $16.50 for adults and $6 for kids aged 12 years and under.

You and your kids will likely spend hours admiring the highly detailed trains and railways, crafted foliage of mountain forests, and amazingly recreated landmarks from around the globe in tiny scale at Miniature World. It’s one of the unique indoor attractions in Victoria that can inspire all ages through countless dioramas that depict historical moments and scenes, as well as re-enactments of well-known fairy tales and pop culture fantasies. To add to the realism, each diorama features special lighting and sound effects.

By the eastern end of Holland Point Park is the Harrison Yacht Pond, which is a popular site for remote-controlled model yacht hobbyists to launch their prefab or custom-built craft. They come in a variety of beautiful designs, from military-style battleships to elegant tall-masted schooners. As a spectator, watching the small boats cruising along the calm surface of the pond against the lush forested background can be truly inspiring. If you want to get involved, there are one or two RC model shops around Victoria.