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Love affairs make great stories, and this one resulted in a great garden. Prince and Princess Abkhazi along with designer John Wade came together and created a garden that took over 40 years to come together on a beautiful property overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains. There's also a teahouse that does afternoon tea and light lunches.
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Oak Bay is an older suburb east of downtown Victoria. Its splash of Tudor-style buildings, boutiques, restaurants and the Penny Farthing Pub, lend the town center some "Olde England" charm and make it a pleasant place to stroll around or browse through shops.
This castle was built in 1890 by a wealthy and powerful Scottish family who at that time owned a quarter of Vancouver Island. Great architecture. Its 39 rooms are still furnished with Victorian-era furniture and the building is noted for its stain-glassed windows and intricate woodwork. The castle had five different occupants before it was repurposed as a museum in 1979. Its exhibits and educational panels cover a vast range of Canadian history linked to those occupants, including Canada's equivalent of the Gilded Age, Canada's involvement in World War I, the development of Victoria's early suburbs, and the evolution of the educational system on Vancouver Island.
Art gallery with some notable works from BC artist, Emily Carr, and one of the largest collections of Asian art in Canada. There are also rotating exhibitions. The outside grounds include an Asian garden and the only authentic Japanese Shinto Shrine in North America.
The most popular hangout place in Oak Bay. The water is fairly shallow and the beach provides nice views of Discovery Island and Mt Baker (on clear days). There's also a small playground, picnic tables, lots of grass and a concession stand/tea room.
Large park close to downtown with trails, lakes, gardens, splash pads/playgrounds for the kids and sports fields. The south end is on the waterfront, with a walking path and a view of the Olympic Mountains across the strait. There are plenty of ducks, some wild peacocks running around and herons. Attractions within the park include the Beacon Hill Children's Farm, which features a goat petting area, Mile 0 (the western end of the Trans-Canada highway) and the Beacon Hill Park Story Pole, which, at nearly 39 m, was the tallest free-standing totem pole in the world when it was first raised in 1956.
Small museum with exhibits relating to Canada's or British Columbia's maritime history. There's also a gift shop with model ships, books, caps, prints and all things related to boats.