My New Year’s Trip to Victoria, BC 

Hi! I'm Gaby, and in this article, I will describe six things to do in Victoria, BC. During winter break I went there with my mom and dad, and these are the things we did!

High tea 

The first thing you MUST do in Victoria is the High tea at the Empress Hotel. When you go there, you will be seated in a very fancy-looking room with lots of plants and very pretty pictures. When the food is ready, the waiter brings pots of tea and a three-layered cake stand and places them on your table. The first layer has scones, jam, and clotted cream. The scones are SO YUMMY. If you like savory foods, then either add clotted cream to your scone or nothing at all. If you like sweet foods, then you might want to add jam. On the second layer of the stand, there are four or five mini sandwiches. And lastly, on the top layer, there are many, many, MANY miniature deserts. The whole experience is unbelievably delicious. 

Carriage rides 

Now, if you really want to have a magical night, go on a carriage ride. When going on a carriage ride, you will have to wait until a horse is available. Once one is, the driver will let you know when you can get inside the carriage. I have done this many times, but during last winter break it was even more special because my family and I rode in the carriage on New Year’s Eve! 

Miniature world 

Another place we visited was Miniature World that has lots of little glass cases with perfectly structured small houses or displays. Each display is very special in its own way with lots of cool things hidden in different places. If you come during the holidays like my family and I did, you can grab a scavenger hunt sheet and look for the hidden Santas all around the entire museum. After you find all the hidden Santas, you will go back to the front desk and tell the person there that you have finished your sheet. They will congratulate you and give you candy or a treat! 

Shopping 

Something that you can do in basically any place in the world is SHOPPING! In Victoria, the best place to shop is Government Street. There are many shops there, like the huge candy shop and the Irish shop. Now, if you bump into me at the Coe playground, you might notice that I have a tiny sheep keychain on my jacket zipper. You know where I got it? On Government street in Victoria! 

Swimming pool in the hotel 

Another thing you can do is go to your hotel's swimming pool. When staying in Victoria, I recommend going to the Empress Hotel because some of the things mentioned in this article can only be done there, for example, the high tea. In the Empress Hotel’s pool, on the sides of it they have super cool lights that illuminate the entire room. 

Varsha – the awesome Indian restaurant we discovered 

Lastly, you can go to Varsha Indian Kitchen. Varsha is in Victoria’s China Town. One day, my parents and I were walking through China Town, and I smelled curry. It smelled so yummy that I asked my parents if we could go there for lunch. My mom said no because we were going to go swimming soon. But later that day, we decided to cancel our reservation for the restaurant that we initially picked for dinner and instead go to Vasha. The food there was SO good. I got chicken tikka and naan bread. I think that place deserves more customers, and I think that if you go to Victoria, you must go there! 

Thank you for reading this article! Hope these tips help you enjoy your next trip to Victoria!