Castles to Visit in Victoria, British Columbia

I love visiting Victoria because it reminds me so much of Europe. There is gorgeous architecture, beautiful castles, and tons to explore. Here are two castles to visit while you are in Victoria!

Craigadarroch Castle
This castle is a gorgeous petite mansion really close to downtown Victoria. It is actually in the middle of a neighborhood so don’t expect to walk through gorgeous gardens or large grounds. It is quite a sad story about how the family dealt with having the castle built then going bankrupt and having to sell the surrounding land.

It is pretty, and it was cheap to visit, but keep in mind it is pretty small. We actually purchased our tickets on the ferry over to Canada because it was cheaper. $11 CAN per person on the ferry versus $15 CAN per person at the castle.

You will get a little self guided tour pamphlet so you can read about the family and each room in the house.

The inside wood is original and there are lots of artifacts throughout the castle. It is cool to see if you’ve never been to anything like it before. They have it staged like how the real family would’ve had it while they were living in it.

For more info about Craigadarroch Castle, click here.

Hatley Castle
Hatley Castle, interestingly enough, was built was James Dunsmier, who is the son of Robert Dunsmier. Robert Dunsmier built Craigdarroch Castle which I listed first. This one is much more castle-esque and I’d recommend it over Craigdarroch if you have to choose.

Visitors parking is down the hill just follow the signs and is $1 CAN per hour or $8 CAN for the day.

Hatley Castle is the sight of over thirty films. Some of the ones you may recognize are X-Men and Disney’s Descendents. This castle was Xavier’s school in the movie.

It still has the original wood, lights, and chandeliers. All of the original furniture and decorations were sold off years ago in an estate sale. A couple pieces have been donated back to the castle, which is now the site of a University College.

You will only get to see the inside of the castle on a guided tour because classes are in session year round for the college! Guided tours are offered seasonally and are $18.50 CAN per adult, $10.90 CAN for ages 6-17 and free for kids 5 and under.

On the tour they will give you a bit of history on the castle and the Dunsmier Family. Unfortunately the other three floors of the castle are not view able so you will only get to see the first floor. After touring the first floor they’ll take you down to the basement where there is some memorabilia of the family and the military college that was once there.

After this you’ll get the chance to walk through the gardens, entrance included with your tour. The grounds of the castle (now college) are huge and include multiple gardens. If you don’t want to view the inside of the castle you can pay to just walk in the gardens for around $10 CAN per adult.

You have a great view of the castle from the gardens, and the gardens are absolutely beautiful.

Dogs are allowed on the premises but not inside the gardens or inside the castle for the tour. So, leave Fido at the hotel for this day!

After our hour tour we enjoyed about thirty minutes walking around the gardens. There are different themed gardens including Japanese, Italian, Flowers, and more.