Swim and Sit at Glen Lake

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

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

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

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

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

The two-lake, sandy-beach, Garry-oak-trail date fifteen minutes from downtown Victoria that somehow costs nothing except May-to-September parking.

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

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

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.

Victoria's best postcard view of downtown, from the wrong side of the harbour, at the exact right time of day.

Canada's oldest Chinatown, a freshly restored 12-metre dragon gate glowing at dusk, and stone lions from Suzhou. Worth every cent of zero.

Old-growth firs, a waterfall, a trestle, and in late autumn the river runs red with salmon while eagles watch from above.