Victoria neighbourhoods and places of interest include Oak Bay, Beacon Hill Park, Chinatown, Government Street and the Inner Harbour.
Other notable areas in the downtown area include Bastion Square, Uplands, Market Square, Douglas Street, Blanchard Street, Fort Street and Rockland Avenue.
Additional main roads of significant importance are the Pat Bay Highway which connects Victoria with Swartz Bay and the BC Ferry Terminal, and the Trans-Canada Highway which connects Victoria with the rest of Vancouver Island.
This article contains information about the following parts of town:
Bastion Square | Beacon Hill Park | Blanchard Street | Victoria’s Chinatown | Douglas Street | Fort Street | Gordon Head | Government Street | Inner Harbour | Market Square | Oak Bay | The Rockland Neighbourhood | Patricia Bay Highway | Trans-Canada Highway
Victoria Neighbourhoods, Streets and Parts of Town
For information on the above parts of town in Victoria, see below.
For details about other municipalities within the larger region, including Colwood, Esquimalt, Saanich, Sooke, Sidney and other communities, click Greater Victoria.
Bastion Square
Bastion Square is a short pedestrian street and civic square located between Wharf Street near the waterfront and Government Street by the Bay Centre. It’s full of old heritage buildings and outdoor patio restaurants (in the warmer season). It’s also home to the Bastion Square Public Market which takes place over the summer months running on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Beacon Hill Park
Beacon Hill Park is Victoria’s large, free, beautiful and famous city park. It stretches from the edge of the downtown core all the way to Dallas Road and the ocean.
At Beacon Hill Park there are tranquil ponds, beautiful gardens, rugged beaches, miles of walking trails and a children’s farm with animals to pet. There are also sports fields, tennis courts, a cricket pitch, a large playground, an outdoor bandstand and lots of trees, plants, flowers and everything else you can imagine in a first-rate urban park. You’ll also find ducks and squirrels, plus other birds and sometimes even turtles.
Blanchard Street
Next to Douglas Street, Blanchard is arguably Victoria’s second most important commercial street. As it exits Victoria it turns into the Patricia Bay Highway which connects the city with BC’s Lower Mainland via Swartz Bay and the BC Ferries network.
Along the Blanchard Street part of the road is the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre (civic arena), Mayfair Mall, Uptown Market shopping centre and Victoria’s Royal Theatre, not to mention lots of shops, restaurants and commercial buildings.
Victoria’s Chinatown
The oldest Chinatown in Canada and today a National Historic Site, Victoria’s Chinatown is centred along Fisgard Street and the area between Government Street, Store Street, Herald Street and Pandora Avenue. It’s a small area full of historic buildings, Asian stores and Chinese restaurants. Places of interest there include the entrance gate and Fan Tan Alley.
To learn more about the area see our article about Chinatown.
Douglas Street
Douglas Street is Victoria’s main commercial street which leads into the Trans-Canada Highway. In the heart of downtown it’s where you’ll find Victoria City Hall, the back side of the Empress Hotel and the Bay Centre shopping mall. On Douglas Street there is also the Victoria Convention Centre and numerous shops, banks, hotels and restaurants.
At the one end Douglas forms the western edge of Beacon Hill Park and as it heads out of town that’s where you’ll find Mayfair Shopping Centre.
Fort Street
Fort Street is a commercial street in downtown Victoria that intersects many of Victoria’s other main commercial streets, including Government, Douglas, Blanchard, Quadra and Cook. What’s particularly special about Fort Street is its collection of antique stores, coin and stamp shops, heritage buildings and auction houses.
Gordon Head
Like Oak Bay, Gordon Head isn’t actually within the City of Victoria. Unlike Oak Bay, however, it’s not its own municipality. Gordon Head is part of the municipality of Saanich which is a large municipality, both by land mass and population.
Gordon Head borders both Victoria and Oak Bay. The University of Victoria is half in Oak Bay and half in the Saanich neighbourhood of Gordon Head. Mount Doug Park is also in Gordon Head. The park boasts some of the finest views of the region, much like Mount Tolmie which is also in Saanich, but not in Gordon Head.
Government Street
Government Street is a trendy road that intersects the Inner Harbour and where you’ll find the Empress Hotel, Bay Centre, Victoria’s Mountain Equipment Company store and the MacPherson Playhouse. The street is also full of numerous trendy stores, souvenir shops and restaurants.
On Government Street are the main entrance ways to both Bastion Square and Chinatown, and not far away is Market Square.
Inner Harbour
The Inner Harbour is the beautiful waterfront area in the heart of downtown Victoria where the Empress Hotel and Legislative Buildings are located. For more information on what is arguably Victoria’s most famous part of town, click Victoria’s Inner Harbour.
Market Square
Market Square is another historic square in downtown Victoria located in the block bordered by Pandora Street, Store Street and Johnson Street. It’s half a block from the Mountain Equipment Company store and a couple of blocks from Chinatown.
There isn’t usually a lot to see other than an attractive empty square surrounded by a number of restaurants and interesting stores. Market Square and the entire neighbourhood around it though is where you’ll find some of Victoria’s oldest and most beautiful heritage buildings.
Oak Bay
Oak Bay isn’t actually within the City of Victoria – it’s its own municipality, but still part of Greater Victoria. We mention it here as it borders the City of Victoria and its neighbourhoods are often included in tourist bus tours.
Areas of particular interest in Oak Bay include Beach Drive which connects with Victoria’s Dallas Road to make a spectacularly scenic drive along the southern shore of the peninsula. Points of interest along the route include Ross Bay and the Ross Bay Cemetery (both still within the City of Victoria), Gonzales Bay (at the border of the two municipalities), the Victoria Golf Club, Willows Beach and Cattle Point.
Also in the municipality of Oak Bay is charming Oak Bay Village and the ritzy residential neighbourhood of Uplands.
The Rockland Neigbourhood
Rockland Avenue is a quiet street and upscale residential neighbourhood. It’s not large or long, but it is beautiful to drive or walk along. Places of interest along the way include the Lieutenant Governor’s House at 1401 Rockland Avenue and Craigdarroch Castle just a few blocks away at 1050 Joan Crescent.
Patricia Bay Highway
Also as mentioned above, Blanchard Street turns into the Pat Bay Highway and connects the region with the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal. Along the way, points of interest include Elk Lake and Beaver Lake within the municipality of Saanich.
The Pat Bay Highway also leads to the turnoff for Brentwood Bay, home to world-famous Butchart Gardens as well as nearby Butterfly Gardens. The Pat Bay Highway also connects Victoria with Victoria International Airport and the municipality of Sidney.
Trans-Canada Highway
As mentioned above, Douglas Street turns into the Trans-Canada Highway which connects Victoria with the rest of Vancouver Island. Points of interest along the #1 Highway but still within Greater Victoria include Thetis Lake Regional Park and Goldstream Provincial Park.
Other Information
The above is just a short list of some of the City of Victoria’s main streets and neighbourhoods. There is a whole lot more to the region, though, including many attractions in all the other municipalities that make up Greater Victoria.
For a more complete list of what’s what and worth seeing in British Columbia’s capital city and the surround area, click the A to Z’s of Victoria.
For a list of neighbourhoods and other municipalities close by and their own various attractions, including regional highlights like world-famous Butchart Gardens, click Greater Victoria.
