Romantic date ideas

A 120-year-old garden in an old limestone quarry, where Jennie Butchart invented romance out of an industrial problem.

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.

A 35-minute ferry to Salt Spring's 140-vendor Saturday market, lavender fields, cheese farms, and a fireplace waiting at the end.

Tofino in winter: 20-foot swells and a fireplace. In summer: surf lessons. Ucluelet is the quieter locals' version of both.

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

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

A Douglas-fir ravine behind UVic with a creek, footbridges and, if local legend holds, actual magic in the spring water.

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

A 360-degree summit view ranked among Canada's most beautiful, and the whole trick is you drove here.

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

A flat tidal-inlet path lined with century-old umbrella pines, rose gardens, and the ghost of a 1907 floating tearoom.

Two islands stitched by a wooden bridge, an Airstream in the woods, and a hot tub pointed at the stars.

Twenty-five oceanfront cabins one hour west of Victoria, each with a private hot tub and the Olympic Mountains across the water.

A cliff-edge gravel loop in Esquimalt with wind-shaped firs, a sneaky gravel cove and the Olympic Mountains straight ahead.

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.

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

Dinner inside the Butchart family's own house, conservatory glass onto the gardens, served only through high summer.

Victoria's most over-delivering sunset walk, from driftwood logs on the bluff to Clover Point's kite-filled sky.

A floating boardwalk into a city wetland ten minutes from downtown, where the turtles are sunning and the eagles are showing off.

Nine acres of themed gardens in Saanich, a Takata Japanese garden, and Canada's largest outdoor bonsai collection for a few dollars.

Butchart Gardens goes full holiday mode with thousands of lights, a lit Twelve Days display, carollers, and an outdoor ice rink.

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

Victoria's Lieutenant Governor opens 36 acres of roses, Garry oak meadows and an Olympic Mountains view to the public. Free.

The sunset Victorians quietly beg you not to put on a list, from a 1914 observatory perch only locals know.

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.

The gnarliest tree in Canada and a tide-pool beach crawling with purple sea stars, two hours from Victoria.

Three heated adults-only mineral pools at the Boathouse Spa, a eucalyptus steam room, a stargazing sauna, and Mount Baker filling the horizon across the strait.

A wobbly candy-coloured village of floating homes, harbour seals, and fish and chips on the dock.

A brand-new marina room in Sidney where nearly every table looks out over the boats, wild BC seafood and an award-list of wine.

Soft sand facing Discovery Island and Mount Baker, a promenade for strolling and paddleboards for falling off together.

Brentwood Bay's one table actually on the dock, open to 8pm Friday and Saturday, with kayaks tied up a few metres away.

An easy, gorgeous walk beside Butchart Gardens: a shaded descent through big cedars to the calm shore of Tod Inlet.

Beacon Avenue runs out at the water and Riva is what is there: seafood tagliatelle, a sweeping ocean patio and local jazz from 6pm Thursday to Saturday.

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

Sidney's flat seaside walk past bronze sculptures and loafing seals, with the Gulf Islands and Mount Baker for a backdrop.

A flat, shaded 2.6 km through big cedar to a sheltered saltwater lagoon with benches right at the water, behind Butchart Gardens.

The Parliament Buildings lit up and reflected in the harbour: Victoria going all out at the holidays for free.

Hike 20 minutes through old Garry oaks, or drive up after noon, for a 360-degree view over Victoria and Mount Baker.

Established 1855, a heritage roadhouse with a deck over the Gorge, scratch-baked bread and 22 local taps.

The breakwater dares you to walk 800 metres straight into the ocean, and there is absolutely nothing stopping you.

An easy lakeside walk on the Ed Nixon Trail, with a floating boardwalk out over Langford Lake and benches for the view.

A warm little swimming lake with a sand beach 200 metres from the car, wrapped in a 3.9 km forest loop with water views most of the way.

The cove locals quietly prefer you not to find, with tide pools, a tree swing, and the Olympic Mountains across the water.

A 5.3 km loop through 300-year-old Douglas fir and a Garry oak meadow to Pickles Bluff, looking over farmland to Haro Strait.

A 1.2 km mossy stroll to a 30-metre waterfall and a sandy beach with the Olympic Mountains thrown in.

Victoria is famously mild in winter, except when it isn't. Dallas Road in a storm is something else entirely.

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

A wide Central Saanich beach where low tide uncovers enormous sand flats, with James Island offshore and Mount Baker on the horizon.

An 1860s Gorge-side mansion frozen mid-century, open May through September, with heritage gardens, lawn croquet, and a reputedly friendly ghost.

A tiny seaside village wharf, the glassy calm of Saanich Inlet, and a 25-minute ferry you do nothing but watch. Free.