Recent moves and openings have created one of the best six-block drinking neighbourhoods in Canada. Come to Victoria, and join us on the top bar crawl of summer 2026.
The Veranda patio. Photo courtesy of Fairmont Empress
Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary: They all have their bar stars and destination cocktail lounges. But this summer, the country’s most exciting cocktail neighbourhood might just be found in six boozy, and easily walkable, blocks of downtown Victoria.
Yes—the quaint, charming Vancouver Island city better known for its tea rooms, horsedrawn carriages, floral hanging baskets and souvenir shops. But it is also a city that knows how to drink. After all, it hosts North America’s best whisky festival each January and was the birthplace of the country’s craft beer movement.
When it comes to cocktails, Victoria punches well above its weight for a city of around 90,000 people in Victoria proper (400,000 if you include Greater Victoria). On this crawl are two bars that sit on the extended 51–100 list of North America’s 50 Best Bars (NA50BB), as well as at least four others serving top-notch cocktails, plus a terrific vermouth joint and several exceptional pubs.
Thirsty yet? Come join us on a Victoria cocktail crawl.
Secret Garden cocktail at Clive’s. Photo courtesy of Clive’s Classic Lounge
AROUND DOUGLAS AND HUMBOLDT
We’ll start where Victoria’s cocktail revival arguably began: at Clive’s Classic Lounge at the Château Victoria, where Aussie transplant Shawn Soole began shaking things up around 2009. (He recently became co-owner of the local cantina Café Mexico.) Soole has become a mentor, cheerleader and educator for countless bartenders, including local barkeeps like Harry Tham and Kate Chernoff (2025 Diageo World Class Canada Bartender of the Year). Tham recently departed to work at the Michelin-starred Moebius Sperimentale in Milan, but has left Clive’s in good hands with barkeep Kade Russell. Sip here for smart spins on classics and an epic whisky collection.
Cyanometer cocktail at Humboldt. Andréa Conforti photo
More or less across the road is the Humboldt Bar, currently #53 on North America’s 50 Best Bars (up from #69 last year.) Bar manager Brant Porter’s domain is a small, romantic, dimly lit lounge that pays homage the 19th-century naturalist, explorer, polymath and philosopher Alexander von Humboldt. The excellent cocktails are as adventurous as he was: try the Cyanometer, a citrusy blue drink named for a device designed to measure how blue the sky is.
From there, it’s a quick stroll across Douglas Street to the Fairmont Empress hotel, which is currently renovating its Q Lounge, set to re-open sometime this spring. Meanwhile the tea lobby serves cocktails in the evenings, and once the weather warms up, the sweeping Veranda becomes the city’s finest patio, with stunning Inner Harbour views. Try the Empress take on Victoria’s signature drink, the Shaft: vodka, Kahlua, Bailey’s, espresso, gold flakes.
Seabird cocktail at The Courtney Room. Photo courtesy of The Courtney Room
About a block from the Empress, you’ll find the lovely Magnolia Hotel & Spa and its restaurant, The Courtney Room, where Julie Hyde, the former chef of Toronto’s Michelin-starred 20 Victoria, now rules the kitchen. The bar here is beautiful, with a program that highlights local spirits and flavours, including bespoke whiskies from Stillhead Distillery in nearby Duncan. Try the In the Pines cocktail, made with Stillhead Bartenders Cask whisky, The Woods Nocino, bitters and maple water.
Forest Bathing cocktail at Wind Cries Mary. Photo courtesy of Wind Cries Mary
AROUND GOVERNMENT AND VIEW
Wander up Government Street where you’ll find a row of great pubs: Bard & Banker, where Cuban trumpet legend Miguelito Valdes plays on Tuesdays; plus the Churchill Draughthouse and 159-year-old Garrick’s Head. All serve decent pints and enjoyable whisky cocktails.
Hang a left at Bastion Square and down the steps to Wind Cries Mary, where David Bulters leads one of the city’s great bar programs. Originally from Australia, this barkeep is well-known to Vancouverites from his time behind the bar at AnnaLena, Oakwood, Juniper and, most recently, L’Abattoir. Now he serves cocktails inspired by Island life, like Forest Bathing: cedar gin, cucumber, nettle acid and forest aromatic.
From here it’s just a short stroll to tiny Trounce Alley, where you’ll find a trio of popular tapas joints—Tapa Bar, Poco and the vermut-soaked Bodega—and the most exciting new addition to the neighbourhood.
Piña Colada at Citrus & Cane. Photo courtesy of Citrus & Cane
Halfway down the block is the new location of Citrus & Cane, the tropical-themed bar that recently made it onto the NA50BB list at #87. It opened in 2020, in a fabulously retro 1970s space above an old motor hotel, where owners Tim Siebert and Jessa Gildersleeve served Mai Tais, craft Piña Coladas and perfect Daiquiris. But after BC Housing bought the property, Citrus & Cane’s time there was limited.
Now they’re in an even cooler space. Opening this season, it’s bigger and more accessible, with a patio, a kitchen and the same impeccable tropical drinks. Most of all, Siebert says, “We love this location because it is surrounded by other bars and restaurants. We can kind of complement [them], but without competing … which offers more choices to customers. It’s easy for them to walk into this block and kind of decide from there. Which is cool.”
In fact, it might just be Canada’s coolest place for a cocktail crawl this summer.
More great YYJ-area cocktails
Beyond the compact cocktail neighbourhood gestating downtown, you can also find exceptional cocktails at the following Victoria-area hangouts.
Fathom at the Hotel Grand Pacific on Belleville Street
Cenote on Yates Street
Artemis Whiskey Bar on Johnson Street (Market Square)
Café Mexico on Store Street (Market Square)
End Dive on Government Street
Marilena Café & Raw Bar on Douglas Street
Kinu by Sizzling Tandoor at Uptown
Janecva Kitchen & Bar at Rosemead House in Esquimalt
