Seaplanes in harbor
Victoria · Canada

The Inner Harbour: BC Parliament Buildings (Free Tours!), Fairmont Empress & Causeway

Walking the lively horseshoe of Victoria's Inner Harbour—from free tours inside the 1897 Parliament to the ivy walls of the Empress.

Curving in a tight, pedestrian-friendly horseshoe around the calm waters of James Bay, Victoria's Inner Harbour is one of the most theatrical urban waterfronts in the world: while twin-engine Harbour Air floatplanes take off and splash down literally 100 metres from the stone seawall, two grand Edwardian and Victorian landmarks by architect Francis Rattenbury face each other across the grass.

The ivy-clad brick facade and chateau turrets of the 1908 Fairmont Empress Hotel facing the Inner Harbour in Victoria
Opened by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1908, the Fairmont Empress anchors the eastern curve of the Inner Harbour Causeway.

1. The British Columbia Parliament Buildings (Built 1897 — Free Guided Tours!)

Dominating the southern lawn of Belleville Street is the 150-metre-long Neo-Baroque facade of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings—won in an architectural competition in 1893 by a 25-year-old newly arrived English immigrant named Francis Rattenbury! Look up at the central copper dome topped by a gold-leaf statue of Captain George Vancouver:

  • How to Take the 100% FREE 45-Minute Interior Tour: very few visitors realize that anyone can walk inside the BC Parliament Buildings for free! Simply bring a government photo ID to pass security at the main entrance: free 30-to-45-minute guided tours run multiple times daily (7 days a week in summer, Monday to Friday in winter), taking you beneath the soaring marble rotunda dome (painted with four murals of BC history), past the stained-glass Queen Victoria Jubilee window, and straight onto the gallery of the blue-and-gold Legislative Chamber!
  • The 3,300+ Nightly Lightbulbs: originally strung with incandescent bulbs in 1897 for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, the building's entire outline glows every single night at dusk with over 3,500 energy-efficient LED lights!
Tiered silver stand of scones, clotted cream, finger sandwiches and Empress Blend tea in the Lobby Lounge of the Fairmont Empress
Served since 1908 beneath the carved mahogany ceiling of the Lobby Lounge, Afternoon Tea at the Empress is Victoria's most famous culinary tradition.

2. The Fairmont Empress (1908), The Rose Garden & The Lower Causeway

Directly across Government Street stands Rattenbury's second masterpiece: the 1908 Fairmont Empress. Even if you don't book its famous Afternoon Tea, anyone is welcome to stroll through its free outdoor Rose and Perennial Gardens, walk through the lobby to see historical displays, or order a purple colour-changing Empress 1908 Gin & Tonic on the veranda at Q Bar overlooking the Lower Causeway street musicians and Indigenous artisans!

Pedestrian stone promenade of the Lower Causeway lined with hanging flower baskets and yachts in Victoria's Inner Harbour
Since 1937, over 1,500 hanging flower baskets planted with moss, petunias and geraniums have hung from the Victorian lampposts around the Inner Harbour.

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