Air Tours

You can see Victoria and parts of Vancouver Island from the air with Harbour Air Seaplanes. Twenty-minute flightseeing tours start at C$99 per person.

Fees & Schedules

Harbour Air Seaplanes (250/385-9131 or 800/665-0212. www.harbourair.com).

Boat Tours

The best way to see the sights of the Inner Harbour, Upper Harbour, and beyond is by Victoria Harbour Ferries; 45- and 50-minute tours cost C$20.

Fees & Schedules

Victoria Harbour Ferries (250/708-0201. www.victoriaharbourferry.com).

Bus Tours

Gray Line West's open-top double-decker buses visit the city center, Chinatown, Antique Row, Oak Bay, and Beacon Hill Park; a combination tour includes the Butchart Gardens. The company also runs a lower-cost shuttle service to Butchart Gardens and Butterfly Gardens. The Big Bus runs step-on tours on open-top and trolley-style buses. The narrated tour takes 90 minutes, but you can get on and off at any of the 21 stops. You can buy a C$30 ticket, good for two days, on board; there's even a free shuttle to get you to the starting point.

Fees & Schedules

Big Bus Victoria (250/389-2229; 888/434-2229; 250/383-8411 Shuttle reservations. www.bigbus.ca).

Gray Line West (250/388-6539 or 800/663-8390. www.graylinewest.com).

Carriage and Pedicab Tours

Tally-Ho Sightseeing and Victoria Carriage Tours operate horse-drawn tours of the city. Both leave from the corner of Belleville and Menzies streets, near the Parliament buildings. Kabuki Kabs run narrated pedicab tours for C$1 a minute; you can flag one at the Empress Hotel.

Fees & Schedules

Kabuki Kabs (250/385-4243. www.kabukikabs.com). Tally-Ho Sightseeing (250/514-9257 or 866/383-5067. www.tallyhotours.com). Victoria Carriage Tours (250/383-2207 or 877/663-2207. www.victoriacarriage.com).

Food & Wine Tours

Agritourism is booming in Victoria's hinterland and the moniker "the new Provence" is catching on. Every Saturday morning, May through October, Travel with Taste leads culinary walking tours of Victoria that include a tea tasting, a wine tasting, and a chance to try such artisanal goodies as pâté, pastries, and handmade chocolates—plus you get to meet the people who make them. The same company also runs culinary tours to the Cowichan Valley, Saanich Peninsula, and Salt Spring Island from March to December.

Crush Wine Tours and Grand Wine Tours offer Cowichan Valley and Saanich Peninsula winery tours with a winery lunch. Friendly Organics run tours of Vancouver Island organic farms and wineries, including a visit to a demonstration sustainable village. In Sooke, Diane Bernard, the "Seaweed Lady" of Outer Coast Seaweeds, takes guests out to learn about the wonders of seaweed; lunch at Sooke Harbour House is an option. Mara Jernigan, chef and farmer at Fairburn Farm Culinary Retreat and Guesthouse, leads day trips to Cowichan Valley farms, wineries, and farmers' markets. On Salt Spring Island, you can spend a day visiting wineries, cheese makers, chocolate makers, farms, and studios with Island Gourmet Safaris.

Contacts

Crush Wine Tours (250/888-5748. www.crushwinetours.com). Fairburn Farm Culinary Retreat (250/746-4637. www.fairburnfarm.bc.ca). Friendly Organics (250/655-4461 or 866/550-4461. www.friendlyorganics.ca). Grand Wine Tours (250/881-1000. www.grandwinetours.com) Island Gourmet Safaris (250/537-4118. www.islandgourmetsafaris.com). Outer Coast Seaweeds (250/642-5328 or 877/713-7464. www.outercoastseaweeds.com). Travel With Taste (250/385-1527. www.travelwithtaste.com)

Walking Tours

The Architectural Institute of British Columbia conducts walking tours of Victoria's historic neighborhoods for C$5 during July and August. Discover the Past Tours offers Ghostly Walks, exploring the more haunted areas of the city, and Chinatown Walks, which reveal the secrets of this intriguing neighborhood. Victorian Garden Tours offers small-group tours through some of the city's more interesting private and public gardens.

Fees & Schedules

Discover the Past Tours (250/384-6698. www.discoverthepast.com) Architectural Institute of British Columbia (800/667-0753 Ext. 333; 604/683-8588 Ext. 333 Vancouver office. www.aibc.ca). Victorian Garden Tours (250/380-2797. www.victoriangardentours.com).