Exploring the BEAUTIFUL Victoria, BC (Vancouver Island) | Downtown, FOOD + tea, & MORE!

Welcome to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia! We have visited Victoria once before and have always loved its beautiful architecture, water views, and delicious local spots. In this video, we spend a jam packed day exploring the city!

🔗Links

⌚Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:35 “Afternoon” tea at Murchie’s
03:17 Exploring Chinatown
04:31 Coffee at Hey Happy
05:00 Lunch at Red Fish Blue Fish
07:24 Walking around Beacon Hill Park
09:27 Delicious ice cream at Parachute Ice Cream
10:41 Niagara Falls at Goldstream Provincial Park

📍Locations in this vlog
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🌎 See everywhere we have been + view our blogs and travel guides:
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👋🏼 About us
Hi y’all! We’re Adam, Kathryn, and Kona, an adventurous married couple (+ pup!) living on the road in our self-converted sprinter van! You can often find us driving all around the US and Canada, scoping out the best coffee shops, eating tacos and ice cream (we're a 5+ taco and 2+ scoop household), and enjoying nature.

We help travelers spend less time (and stress!) planning their trip and more time enjoying it! Our detailed travel guides, YouTube videos, and travel resources share the must-visit local eats, popular and off the beaten path sights, and tons of tips to make planning your next adventure a whole lot easier.

Note: We’ve linked a handful of items so you can see exactly which products we take with us. Full disclosure--if you click on these links and make a purchase, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. We will only ever recommend products we truly love, actually use during our adventures, and think you can benefit from too!

[AdventuresofAplusK]

Yes, we are very well aware we did not visit Butchart Gardens. It was not in the budget this time and Beacon Hill Park is a great FREE alternative 😉

[kathrynh]

I remember visiting Victoria as a kid and I declared it as "my favorite city in the world!"

[RYANandMICHELLEchannel]

Such aspirational and inspirational vlogging! The music, natural scenery, descriptions and details, conversations, food, cinematic shots, Awesome video!

[videocruzer]

Born here in 69. My big brother and I when we were kids (summer of grade 3 and 4) use to ride our bikes to town, lock them to the railing in front of the Douglas building, take the stairs to the Basement, then take the tunnel that led to the East side of the Parliament building first level basement. There is a tunnel that leads to the Empress. Way back in the days, the Royals when they stayed at the Empress would use the tunnel underground systems for security reasons. My brother and I spent 3 weekends/ many hours exploring the Underground network in and around the Parliament buildings in the summer of 1977. The first room we walked into had the door open, was full of all the plans of the Parliament building, surrounding building/ structures. We scanned all the planes for anything that had dashed lines and took notes. All of a sudden, we had a feeling someone was watching us. We looked at the door that we had left open a crack like we found it, to see an eyeball staring at us, the door opened to the Guard asking where our MoM was, I replied she is working in the Douglas building. The guard told us he did not have a problem with us being there, as long we put everything back, and you did not steal anything. As the guard was closing the door, he said, " You boys know there is treasure around here". My big brother and Eye looked at each other, as if to say, If there was, we will find it. Well Over the Average tourist has no idea how extensive the underground network is in this city. Take Government street for instance where that whale bush is, if you walk almost to China town, and look back towards the House of Parliament, you will see a hump in the road, that hump never use to be there/ when you walk into the stores on that hump, you are actually walking into the second floor of those stores. Where that hump is, if you walk west to the water, you will see a parking lot that has a retaining wall built from large rocks. those large stones were from the ballast of the old long-range sailing ships from South America, British Isles and Europe or so the story goes. The guy that built the Parliament, Empress and a few other buildings left too many clues about the so-called treasure that is hidden under this city. One of the best free things to do in this city is the Directed Tour of the Parliament building. As they tell you Gene wanted to fill the Decor of Parliament with so much gold trim, but it was shot down because it would have shown that house had too much of it. Gene was also rumored to have been kill in some sex scandal and died penny less as he was taken for everything he was worth as it was evident that he new something. Or so the story goes.

[penelopeasmr]

I spent 3 month on Vancouver Island a few years ago and I was really missing it. Thanks for helping me relive it! Victoria is a wonderful city

[rangerthebulldog]

We love that you guys enjoyed the island so much! It is amazing here we just don’t want too many people to know 😜 Also so nice that you showed that you can still enjoy the beauty of great city like Victoria with out spending a fortune. We go to Victoria often and you gave us a new ice cream place to try can’t wait to have some parachute ice cream 🍦😋

[gregmacdonald]

Thank you both, this really helps us reassure ourselves why we are moving there!
🇨🇦❤️🙏🏻

[MrAlbarry]

You two make me sooo hungry when you
Share the awesome food and desert’s you devour. This is truly a beautiful place to visit. Thank you for taking me along with you.

[bradgingerich]

This was a perfect vlog for Tuesday evening tacos! I knew the food was going to be a big part of this vlog so we were prepared. I was so happy to hear “pillowy” used that I let out a literal YES!!! I have my wierd quirks. Anyhow what a gorgeous city eh?! Wow so much to see and do…very cool all of it! Looks like Brisket is still humming along nicely. Alright my brain is shutting down…I’ll see ya when I see ya!

[juliesnitman]

Yayayay it’s A&K! It’s always a good day when y’all post a new video!

[christinawong]

Love that you’re taking time through Vancouver Island, great series!

[sandrafinney]

Everything is Beautiful and the food looks delicious!! Loved the scenery with the walks snd waterfall wad Beautiful.Cant wait for the next video.

[joycemoses]

Thank you for showing us this beautiful island!!! (So funny the ending with the talking tea ladies!!!)

[hikariyamato]

Almost All the places you visited I’ve either visited or was my usual go-tos whenever I have guests over. So glad you enjoyed your time here in this beautiful city!

[mcnater]

Looks like a gorgeous city. Loved your whole series of the island and I'm excited to one day get there and use your vids as a guide. Hope your drive to Alaska is going well!

[suzanneaydelotte]

Victoria is so beautiful! “I love tea the most!!” Haha. You two are so funny! That ice cream looked amazing…I want some of the lemon! I just love watching all your adventures…keep traveling safe❣️

[bd]

YouTube recommended this to me and I'm glad it did. I love the energy/enthusiasm you guys have while exploring 🙂 I was born and raised in Victoria and go through phases of boredom or even detest of my hometown. Seeing it from your perspective reminds me to appreciate the beauty of it, and not take it for granted 😌

[melpotvin]

Enjoying this series. Brings back memories for me. After graduation I took myself on a bus trip vacation to Western Canada. We stayed in Victoria and at that time our accommodations were places like The Empress and Lake Louise not the norm now. The views in this video takes me back. Butchart Gardens were beautiful and the views of Victoria at night so lovely. Looking forward to each stop you’re making.

[alexandrehenri-bhargava]

Glad you enjoyed our city and avoided the tourist traps! Excellent editing on your videos

[Littlestloverlol]

Gorgeous job guys! Our daughter goes to university there so we are over 4-5 times a year and love it. It’s a gorgeous place . The tea at Murchies is usually English afternoon tea. My fave is earl grey or London fog. We always say we will stop at red fish and now you have inspired us to do so next time! Looks delicious!