woman kayaking

All Work and All Play - 3 Great Ways to Extend your Business Trip in Victoria

Posted on August 21, 2019

While your customs declaration might require you to clarify if your trip is for ‘business’ or ‘personal’ reasons, more and more travellers are blending the two with ‘bleisure” trips. Here in Victoria, B.C., mixing work and play can be as simple as taking in an afternoon tea experience at The Pendray Inn or extending your trip and embarking on a road trip on the Pacific Marine Circle Route. No matter your preference for leisure, Victoria can deliver.

In a recent Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) survey, “84 per cent of North American business travelers say the quality of their business travel experience impacts their business results.” It makes sense: when travellers are given the space to re-charge, explore and ignite their creativity the results will translate over to their business endeavors.

Victoria has all the elements necessary for a successful bleisure trip: great food, history, museums, art and culture. And as one of Canada’s most walkable cities, navigating around the sights here is a (ocean!) breeze.

 

a bunch of people walking on a wharf outside a fish store

Fisherman’s Wharf

 

12 Hours:

If you’ve got a half-day open before boarding you hop on a seaplane home, here are some great options right downtown:

 

two people looking at a map of beacon hill park

Exploring Beacon Hill Park

 

24 Hours:

No matter if your extra day is on the front or the back of your business trip, we suggest exploring the day-tripper’s paradise that is the Saanich peninsula:

 

two bottles of wine and a wine glass on a barrel

Church & State Wines

 

2 Days:

Two days translates into tons of memories on our beautiful island. we recommend these experiences in no particular order – choose your own adventure!

  • Catch a glimpse of local wildlife with one of our whale watching tour companies
  • Take a drive to East Sooke Park and go “forest bathing”
  • Make a stop at Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse for lunch on their patio and treat yourself to a tasting flight
  • Rent a car and discover a portion of the Pacific Marine Circle Route
  • Take a tour of Victoria on two wheels with Bike Tour Victoria
  • Rest and relax at The Boathouse Spa followed up with a soak in the mineral pools at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel
  • Enjoy a world-class dinner at Boom + Batten as you look out at super yachts docked at the Victoria International Marina
  • Explore Victoria’s rich relationship with barley on a tour of our city’s many breweries (including the oldest one in Canada – Spinnakers Brewpub!)

 

woman smelling flowers planted in a bike basket

Exploring Cowichan Bay on the Pacific Marine Circle Route

No matter how much extra time you have in British Columbia’s capital city, we’ve got some great ways to create memories.

Destination Greater Victoria is honoured to be based on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples of the Songhees Nation and the Esquimalt Nation, whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.