Skyline Stroll on the Songhees Walkway

Seventy-six acres of rare Garry oak meadow in Oak Bay, with unsigned paths, April camas and flat rocks at the water.

Pale sand, shallow water, Mount Baker across the strait, and a volunteer-run 1950s soft-serve hut nearby for when you've earned it.

A flat paved shoreline path from the West Bay marina toward downtown, with float planes overhead and otters on the rocks.

The Galloping Goose Trail, a long wooden trestle over the Gorge Waterway, and golden hour doing exactly what it should.

A free 6.5-acre rhododendron garden on the UVic campus, where the most expensive thing is a couple of dollars for parking.

A sheltered sandy bay with a climbable concrete sea monster, a zip line, and views to the Olympics. Free and childproof.

A secret spiral staircase, a rocky cove almost nobody else shows up to, and all the driftwood logs you need.

The Parliament Buildings light up, a unicyclist might be there, and it costs nothing to watch Victoria show off.

A sheltered crescent cove, views to the Olympic Mountains, and the smug pleasure of a beach most visitors never find. Free.

Victoria's Parliament Buildings flip on 3,000-plus light bulbs at dusk, and you get to just stand there with ice cream.

Free-roaming peacocks, ornamental ponds, stone bridges and a hilltop view of the Olympics, five minutes from downtown Victoria.

Two completely different waterscapes on one thin strip of sand, swans on one side, Olympics on the other, and it's free.

Victoria's Saturday farmers' market in Fairfield, with a busker, a market dog, and the constant internal debate about the jam.

Ross Bay Cemetery holds 20,000 stories, Emily Carr, a herd of resident deer, and the ocean glinting over the wall.