A Four Day Victoria Wine Tour

Southern Vancouver Island has developed such a great reputation that it is now considered one of the best wine growing countries in the world. Victoria B.C. is located on the most southern tip of the island and is the capital of British Columbia. To get to Victoria on Vancouver Island, you can take a ferry to the island with your car, arrive by cruise ship, fly in, or swim over. A historically popular cliché about Victoria is that it is for “the newly wed and nearly dead.” Retirees from all over the world are drawn to the mild climate, beautiful scenery, and an easy going lifestyle of Victoria.

While enjoying your wine tour in the Victoria area there are also many other things to see and do.

History of Victoria

Prior to the arrival of the Europeans in the late 1700s, the Victoria area was home to several communities of Coast Salish peoples, including the Songhees. Erected in 1843 as a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post on a site originally Camosun and known briefly as “Fort Albert,” the settlement was later christened Fort Victoria in honor of Queen Victoria.

With the discovery of gold on the British Columbia Mainland in 1858, Victoria became the port, supply base, and outfitting center for miners on there way to the Fraser Canyon gold fields, mushrooming from a population of 300 to over 5,000 within a few days

Victoria Wine Tour – Day 1

In addition to the wineries you plan to visit today, plan to go to the Butchart Gardens. These gardens offer 55 acres of wonderful floral display that you stroll along while on meandering paths and huge lawns. From the exquisite Sunken Gardens to the charming Rose Garden, these gardens still maintain their gracious traditions of earlier times.

Victoria Wine Tour – Day 2

Before or after you tour the vineyards today, visit the artists’ studios where you can admire the local artists work and purchase their paintings and crafts.

Victoria Wine Tour – Day 3

Mix in a hike in the nearby primeval forest or rugged coastline or visit Beacon Hill Park. This park is adjacent to the southern shore and includes playing fields, manicured gardens, exotic species of plants and animals such as wild peacocks, a petting zoo, and the views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Olympic mountain range.

Victoria Wine Tour – Day 4

Visit the famous Empress Hotel or maybe stay here. Known by the local historians as the “jewel of the pacific,” this 460-room hotel was built in the Edwardian style. By far and away the most photographed attraction on the island, the Empress was originally designed by Francis Rattenbury, and opened in 1908. In true British fashion, the hotel is famous for its elegant “afternoon tea” that is served to over 100,000 visitors a year with silver service in the main lobby.

Enjoy your Victoria wine tour!