Sidney Booktown & Waterfront Wander

A full Nordic circuit on a restored 1943 barge at Ship Point, three saunas, cold plunges and hot tubs with the Inner Harbour lapping beside you.

A 1909 bank vault of a bookshop on Government Street, on every world's-best-bookshop list, and it costs nothing to wander.

Seven galleries, an 1889 mansion, twenty thousand works, and a Japanese garden with a real Shinto shrine waiting out back.

A genuine 1908 castle with free Italian, Japanese and rose gardens, peacocks, and a film resume that includes Professor X's mansion.

A deaf owned cafe on the West Bay Marina boardwalk, serving waffles, smoked salmon toast and an ocean view from 7am.

Tasting flights of award-winning organic cider on a ten-acre Saanich Peninsula orchard above the water, reservations required on weekends.

A tiny from-scratch bake shop and ice cream counter at the top of Beacon Avenue, with outdoor seats a few minutes from the pier.

Greater Victoria's only aquarium packs 3,500 local sea creatures and a touch pool into one low-key Sidney afternoon, closed Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Sidney's teal boothed diner on Beacon Avenue, turning out stuffed Belgian waffles and five different hashes three blocks from the sea.

Belly up to Chinatown's tea tasting bar, argue over blends, then disappear into a spa for two.

A one-acre jewel-box garden built by a prince and princess after decades of war and internment and love against the odds.

Air Canada Best New Restaurants longlisted Kerala cooking with a patio pointing straight at Victoria Harbour.

A tiny room at the far end of Sidney's pier where the halibut is worth the money and the Mount Baker view is free.

A women-run Fort Street bakery of French pastries and tarts, where the last croissant always causes a diplomatic incident.