awards-v6-2-1

{city} Food Tours

Photos of our

sft_logo_large_2_transparent

PRIVATE TOURS

Food Tours

Victoria Food Tours - Secret Food Tours

Victoria Food Tour

Victoria sits at the south end of Vancouver Island, and the island decides what people eat here. Salmon and shellfish come out of Pacific waters a short drive from the harbour. Vegetables, fruit and cheese arrive from farms on the Saanich Peninsula and in the Cowichan Valley, close enough for a cook to know the grower by name.&nbsp;The British inheritance shows up in the baking. Sausage rolls, shortbread and afternoon tea are still ordinary here. So is the Nanaimo bar, three layers of crumb, custard icing and chocolate, named after a town further up this same island and printed in a Vancouver cookbook in 1953.&nbsp;&nbsp;Then there is Chinatown, the oldest in Canada. Chinese miners arriving after the 1858 Fraser Canyon gold rush built six blocks of shops, temples, schools and kitchens, and by 1911 it held the largest Chinese community in the country. Barbecue pork, egg tarts and steamed buns have been ordinary weekday food in Victoria ever since.&nbsp;

The Tour Guides Take Care Of The Rest

Select Your Adventure

secret-food-tours-victoria-hero-1

secret-food-tours-victoria-hero-2

secret-food-tours-victoria-hero-3

secret-food-tours-victoria-hero-4

secret-food-tours-victoria-thumbnail

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-1

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-2

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-3

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-4

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-5

Victoria

Secret Food Tours: Victoria

Victoria Culinary Experiences

Secret Food Tours Victoria

Secret Food Tours

secret-food-tours-victoria-city

Contact

BOOK YOUR TOUR

Seven hand-picked stops, from Pacific chowder on the Inner Harbour causeway to a barbecue pork bun under the Chinatown gate. Three hours on foot through Old Town with a local guide, and one dish we keep quiet about until the day.

Seven hand-picked stops, from Pacific chowder on the Inner Harbour causeway to a barbecue pork bun under the Chinatown gate. Three hours on foot through Old Town with a local guide, and one dish we keep quiet about until the day.

Photos of

Secret Food Tour?

What is a

Your guide will meet you outside the entrance of the Destination Greater Victoria Visitor Centre, harbour side, on the Inner Harbour. If you have any questions, please <a href="mailto:contact@secrettours.com">email us</a>.

If a tour is fully booked, please email us about <a href="/private-bookings">Group &amp; Private Tours</a> options.

Meeting Spot

Old Town Victoria is a few blocks of brick warehouses built on gold rush money, and it holds together better on foot than through a bus window. The wharves and the buildings behind them made this the main port of western Canada until 1900. Walk north from the Inner Harbour and the streets narrow, the brick gets older, and the shop signs switch to Chinese.&nbsp;We start at the water. Your first stop is a takeaway window on the causeway below the boardwalk, where you eat looking across at the Legislature and the harbour planes coming in. From there we work inland through Old Town: a tasting bar with dozens of oils and vinegars on tap, a chocolatier trading since the 1880s, and a bakery on Fort Street. Then north through a heritage market square and under the Chinatown gate for barbecue pork.&nbsp;Your guide lives in Victoria. They know which counter to order from, which day the bakery sells out, and what the buildings held before they held shops. Ask where to eat dinner and you get a real answer rather than a list.&nbsp;Seven stops across three hours, and one dish we keep quiet about until the day you walk it. Along the way you pick up how a port town, a British colony and Canada's oldest Chinatown ended up sharing six blocks, and why an island this size grows so much of its own food.&nbsp;You finish under the Chinatown gate with an afternoon still ahead of you, holding a far better idea of where to eat for the rest of your stay.

What you'll do

Due to the nature of creating a well balanced and thoughtful gastronomy experience, many of our tours are unable to accommodate certain dietary restrictions. Please <a href="mailto:paris@secrettours.com">contact us</a> prior to booking your tour to see if we are able to accommodate your dietary needs.

What You'll Taste

Old Town and Chinatown sit side by side, and both exist because of the same year. The 1858 Fraser Canyon gold rush turned a Hudson's Bay trading post into a working port, and the money built the brick blocks along Wharf and Government Streets. Chinese miners coming north from California settled the ground above them. Parks Canada recognised the whole district in 1990, and Chinatown separately in 1995.&nbsp;Old Town and Chinatown sit side by side, and both exist because of the same year. The 1858 Fraser Canyon gold rush turned a Hudson's Bay trading post into a working port, and the money built the brick blocks along Wharf and Government Streets. Chinese miners coming north from California settled the ground above them. Parks Canada recognised the whole district in 1990, and Chinatown separately in 1995.

Why Victoria?

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-11

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-6

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-7

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-8

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-9

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-12

secret-food-tours-victoria-gallery-10

Old Town Victoria is a few blocks of brick warehouses built on gold rush money, and it holds together better on foot than through a bus window. The wharves and the buildings behind them made this the main port of western Canada until 1900. Walk north from the Inner Harbour and the streets narrow, the brick gets older, and the shop signs switch to Chinese. We start at the water. Your first stop is a takeaway window on the causeway below the boardwalk, where you eat looking across at the Legislature and the harbour planes coming in. From there we work inland through Old Town: a tasting bar with dozens of oils and vinegars on tap, a chocolatier trading since the 1880s, and a bakery on Fort Street. Then north through a heritage market square and under the Chinatown gate for barbecue pork. Your guide lives in Victoria. They know which counter to order from, which day the bakery sells out, and what the buildings held before they held shops. Ask where to eat dinner and you get a real answer rather than a list. Seven stops across three hours, and one dish we keep quiet about until the day you walk it. Along the way you pick up how a port town, a British colony and Canada's oldest Chinatown ended up sharing six blocks, and why an island this size grows so much of its own food. You finish under the Chinatown gate with an afternoon still ahead of you, holding a far better idea of where to eat for the rest of your stay.

secret-food-tours-yt-thumbnail

secret-food-tours-victoria-why

Cape Town

south-africca-flag

South Africa

Best Food Tours in Africa - Secret Food Tours

secret-food-tours-africa-card-Artboard 2

Africa

africa-map

Hong Kong

flag-china

China

Kyoto

Osaka

Tokyo

flag-japan

Japan

Kuala Lumpur

flag-Malaysia

Malaysia

Singapore

flag-singapore

Seoul

flag-korea

South Korea

Taipei

flag-taiwan

Taiwan

Bangkok

Chiang Mai

Phuket

flag-thailand

Thailand

Dubai

flag-uae

United Arab Emirates

Hanoi

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

flag-vietnam

Vietnam

Best Food Tours in Asia - Secret Food Tours

secret-food-tours-asia

Asia

asia

Melbourne

Sydney

flag-australia

Australia

Auckland

Wellington

Flag_of_New_Zealand

New Zealand

Best Food Tours in Australia - Secret Food Tours

secret-food-tours-australia

australia

Vienna

flag_austria-hd

Austria

Brussels

flag-belgium

Belgium

Dubrovnik

Split

flag_croatia

Croatia

Prague

flag-czechrepublic

Czech Republic

Copenhagen

flag-denmark

Denmark

Helsinki

finland-flag

Finland

Lyon

Marseille

Nice

Paris

flag-france

France

Berlin

Hamburg

Munich

flag-germany jpeg

Germany

Athens

flag-greece

Greece

Budapest

flag-hungary

Hungary

Reykjavik

flag_iceland-hd

Iceland

Dublin

flag-ireland

Ireland

Bologna

Florence

Milan

Modena

Naples

Palermo

Parma

Rome

Sorrento

Venice

flag-italy

Italy

Amsterdam

flag-neatherlands

Netherlands

Oslo

flag_norway

Norway

Krakow

Warsaw

flag-poland

Poland

Lisbon

Porto

flag-portugal

Portugal

Ljubljana

slovenia-flag

Slovenia

Barcelona

Bilbao

Madrid

Malaga

Palma de Mallorca

San Sebastian

Santiago de Compostela

Seville

Valencia

flag-spain

Spain

Stockholm

flag-sweden

Sweden

Zurich

flag-switzerland

Switzerland

Istanbul

flag-turkey (1)

Turkey

Belfast

Edinburgh

Glasgow

London

United Kingdom

Europe

Victoria Food Tour

Victoria Food Tours - Secret Food Tours

Select Your Adventure

Why join our Victoria food tour?

Locally Curated Menu

Discover Victoria Secrets

#1 Food Tour in Victoria

Photos of our