{Travel Diaries} Victoria, BC with Kids

We do a lot of traveling and so far it has always been with our girls.  Traveling is something we love to do and want to share with our daughters but we don't want to miss out on all the fun stuff because they are along for the ride with us.  When we travel we make sure to incorporate some fun kid friendly activities as well as some down time to allow for them to either nap or stay a little longer somewhere due to their enjoyment.

When visiting Victoria, BC I was most looking forward to Butchart Gardens but we knew we needed to find some more kid activities.  Thankfully just a few blocks from the downtown area is a giant park, Beacon Hill Park, that has lots of walking paths, gardens, wildlife, and a playground.  It's an easy walk from downtown so we made a couple of trips there during our stay.

(just across the street from Beacon Hill Park was a small school yard...Ellie spotted it so we made a detour.  I forgot that we were there during the week and accidentally joined in one of the classes for their recess but they were so kind to let Ellie play with them and the teachers encouraged us to stay and play!  Ellie had fun playing "bump" on the slide, playing, tag and digging in the sand with her new friends.)

The playground at Beacon Hill Park had two play structures, swings, and other climb on toys.  Ellie was totally in her element and Finnley had a blast swinging and crawling all around.

The walking trails in the park boasted some great city views while having a super cool wild terrain.

Another one of our favorite spots to take the girls was to Indigo/Chapters a bookstore chain in Canada.  I loved looking at all the home decor and the girls had a blast in the children's department.  We had so much fun that we stopped in multiple times throughout our stay in Victoria and neither girl was ever ready to leave ;)

We also did a lot of walking around and sightseeing.  Ellie enjoyed going into all the tourist shops and got a big kick out of this Bear Mountie, right after I snapped this picture she screamed and yelled "ahh it's a bear and he's going to get me!!!"  The imagination on these kiddos is something else.

We happened by a fire station near Beacon Hill Park and they had an old fire engine on display in the window on the right.

Walking the grounds at the British Columbia Legislature building was a great activity.  They had plaques up where you could read the history of Victoria as well as statues that Ellie had fun checking out.  Not to mention the grounds were beautiful and I enjoyed the sunken rose garden.

And finally another great stop is the Royal BC Museum.  It's perfect for inclement weather (or when it's ridiculously hot outside - like anything above 75 ;))  There was so much to look at and explore.  Not only did they have animal exhibits but they had a huge area dedicated to the First Nations.  Additionally they had my favorite part of museums: Old Town where they recreated Victoria circa 1890-1900, complete with a hotel, retail shops, a livery, and a small section of Chinatown.  You could peer in the windows and walk through some of the exhibits and that is just my kind of thing.  Ellie and Finnley had a great time exploring and walking (crawling) around checking all the things out.  Ellie's favorite part was the boat and the gold mining - she was really able to stretch her imagination and get some role playing, though she pretended the boat was a Pirate Ship...

The girls had so much fun on our excursions to all the kid friendly spots that Finnley was able to catch some sleep in the stroller!  Always a win ;)

Have you ever been to Victoria?  What is your must do when traveling with kids?

♥ Ashley

Want to learn more about our trip to Victoria?  Check out Where to Eat in Victoria.