Butchart Gardens near Victoria has a Christmas lights display every year that several of our new hometown friends highly recommended. Since we had bought yearly passes for Butchart, we had to check it out. We drove to Victoria (2.5 hour drive) for an overnight in Portage and booked a site at Oceanside RV where we had stayed in April last year.
The Christmas lights theme this year is the Twelve days of Christmas. We arrived before dark and were happy to see very few people, so we were able to tour the gardens and take pictures at our leisure. As dark descended, and the lights came on, we joined the crowds for another walk through the beautiful displays lit up in all their glory. It was magical.
In addition to the lights, there was a great model train display, a hothouse full of pointsettias, an outdoor skating rink (with rentals), and live music. The gift shop is also worth a visit and was stocked with all sorts of great Christmas goodies.
A side trip on our way home we stopped at the National Historic site of Fort Rodd. An active artillery fortress 1895-1956. The Fisgard lighthouse is the oldest on the west coast, built by the British when Vancouver Island was not yet part of Canada. It stands at the entrance to Esquimalt Harbour.