Food, Wine & Craft Beer

Victoria's food tours work the old town, Chinatown — the oldest in Canada — and the Inner Harbour on foot, stopping at a handful of places for small plates: seafood, baking, chocolate, and a lot of the city's craft beer. They double as orientation walks, and the morning ones are a smart first-day booking.

The Cowichan Valley is the island's warmest, driest pocket and the reason it has a wine industry: vineyards, cideries and farm restaurants strung along the roads between Mill Bay, Cobble Hill, Cowichan Bay and Duncan. Tours from Victoria handle the driving up and over the Malahat and typically visit three or four producers with tastings included. It is a full afternoon or a long half day.

Brewery and distillery tours in Victoria stay in the city; pub crawls run in the evening. None of these need a car and all of them make a rainy day useful.