Victoria on a Monday evening/night

Our cruise will stop in Victoria on a Monday evening, from 7:30 - midnight. Is there anything family friendly to do at that time of day? We don’t wish to stay on the ship and miss our first (and potentially only) visit to Canada. We’ll have a decent size party (6 adults, one child), ranging in age from 9 to 74.

It depends when you're in town. Once cruise season properly kicks-in, several attractions as well as many stores stay open later - gotta extract those tourist dollars from cruisers even on short evening port stops!

You may find that the Royal BC Museum is open, or at least their IMAX cinema, definitely a great place for all ages (try booking tickets for the date you'll be there, that will confirm opening hours).

Worst-case, the parliament buildings and Empress hotel, as well as lots of other sort-of British-looking downtown buildings, will look very nice after dark with their lights even if there's nothing officially open but restaurants & bars.

Lots of pubs welcome kids (drinking age 19 here, so root beer for the littlest) and pub culture is a big draw in Victoria - it's chock full of Brit expats so you can even find real beer, flat and warm by North American standards, the way God intended;-)

'Afternoon' tea is also available until a ridiculous time of day inside the Empress - they accept bookings in the evening throughout most of cruise season. NOT cheap, but if it's a bucket list thing you may find the $75pp(!) tolerable.

With seven of you, splitting into two groups is a necessity for taking cabs (nothing seats more than 6) but will still be much better value for you than the cruise shuttles to & from downtown, which charge $10 or $11pp. A cab, regardless of number of people inside, is only ~$10 each way depending exactly where you want dropped off.

From another post... I think you are in Victoria in early June... this means decent daylight. Take advantage of it before the sun sets.

Here's some inspiration.... Butchart would be my fav trip. Victoria is also known for being a double for London.

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With the time you have in Victoria Butchart Gardens will not be an option unless done thru a ship's tour. But even with a ships tour you are likely going to have only 2 hrs in the gardens as they close at 10pm during the summer and they are a full 35 mins from the cruise terminal by coach ....so by the time everyone is off the ship, finds the coach....well you are likely not going to be there until 8:30 pm. The Royal BC Museum closes at 5 pm, however as I recall, during the summer they stay open one evening a week a little later. The I-Max operates on different hours depending what is being shown, however all of this can be confirmed by calling them at 1-888-447-7977.

You may care to consider a horse drawn carriage ride and there are 2 operators both of whom have been in operation for decades. If you want to take in something that is free....then there are the buskers who perform each evening on the esplanade of the inner harbour across the street from the Empress Hotel. A pointed out earlier a cab fare to in front of the Empress will run $10 per cab or it is a very pleasant 20 min walk, scenic and very level from the cruise terminal to the Empress.

I might have suggested a Victoria Harbour Ferry Cruise but their last pick up time is 7 PM during the summer months....so that wont work for you.

As for Victoria being a double for London .... well that ain't so. Years and years ago there was a saying that Victoria was more British then England itself but that's all it was, a saying and frankly it related more to the citizens of Victoria rather than the city itself. Yes, they still play the part with double decker tour buses but that is about where the similarity ends.

http://www.tallyhotours.com/

https://www.victoriacarriage.com/

We don’t wish to stay on the ship and miss our first (and potentially only) visit to Canada.

There is absolutely no reason to stay on the ship. Victoria is fabulous! You shouldn't miss it.

What is the date of your visit and we can tell you more, including what time twilight and dusk is.

Thank you all! We will be there on June 6. I'm very excited to see as much as I can!

Lovely! June is a beautiful month and your sunset will be at 9:11 pm. This gives you a nice long day in beautiful Victoria! :)