Hi, I’m Paul, and I love to be On The Go!
One of my favourite places to go in Victoria is the Royal BC Museum! It’s especially perfect to visit on a rainy day because it’s indoors.
I visit the museum often, and I always buy a yearly pass for it so I can visit whenever I want.
Check out this article for information all about visiting the Royal BC Museum with a wheelchair.
Is the Royal BC Museum Wheelchair Accessible?
Yes! The Royal BC Museum in Victoria is very wheelchair accessible!
They have an elevator that goes to every floor and exhibit, and the accessible washroom on the main floor is large and easy to find.
Accessible Parking and Entering the Museum
The best accessible parking for the museum is in front or behind of the building.
There is one accessible spot in front of the museum, and a few accessible parking spots behind the building. However, you will need to pay for the parking using your phone and/or the ticket dispenser.
There are nice switch-back ramps that will take you from the parking lot to the entrance of the museum.
There are additional accessible parking spots on Belleville Street.
You can also take the bus to the museum – the #31 bus goes the closest.
When you get to the front doors of the museum, there is a wheelchair button to open the doors on the farthest left door. You’ll need to push another button to get in the second set of museum doors.
One you go in, you line up to buy your tickets. The ticket line is on the same level as the doors and is accessible.
There is an IMAX theatre where you can watch IMAX movies. You can buy a day-pass to the museum and get a special rate to add in a movie.
I always buy a year-long pass to the museum as I love going there at least once a month!
Getting Around the Royal BC Museum With a Wheelchair
Most of the museum is very accessible for a person in a wheelchair. The only exception is that the cobblestone streets in the Old Town are quite bumpy for the wheelchair-user. On the bright side, the cobblestones help to make the town look authentic and are very pretty.
Also, in the Old Town, there is an old-time hotel that you can go to. There is a small elevator that you can take to go to the second floor of the hotel, but it’s pretty tight inside that exhibit for a wheelchair. I usually don’t go up there.
Each floor of the museum has a rest area with a nice bathroom and some seating. Those areas are wide and open.
The elevator is located in the main lobby – across from the escalators.
Wheelchair Accessibility in the Exhibits
Most of the museum is very accessible. Here are my thoughts on the main permanent exhibits:
Natural History Exhibit
The Natural History area is on the second floor and is accessible via elevator.
My favourite part of this area of the museum is the Wooly Mammoth! He’s not real, but he is life-sized and is huge!
The hallways are quite wide, so both manual and power chairs are fine here. Besides the Wooly Mammoth, there’s also a forest area with animals that live in BC, such as elk, bears, deer, owls, etc.
I can see all of these exhibits from my level, and I quite enjoy this area of the museum.
The Old Town
The Old Town is my favourite part of the museum! It’s on the third floor. Don’t miss this area because there is an old train station, where you can pretend that there is a real train going by.
I used to get scared of the train station when I was a kid, as it sounded so real. There are lights in the station that make it look like a real train is going by, and a recording of a real train plays when the ‘train’ goes by.
My sister and I both worried that the train would run us over in the Old Town when we were little, but now we understand that it’s not real. The train looks like it passes by about every five minutes, so you have lots of chances to see it.
As I mentioned before, the Old Town has cobblestone streets, so I find it quite bumpy. It’s accessible for my wheelchair, but not ideal.
The Old Town is also a bit dark, so be prepared for that.
If you want to visit the top floor of the old-time hotel, you’ll need to use a very small elevator. I don’t usually bother going up to the top floor.
You can also see a Water Wheel gold-panning exhibit and an old-fashioned cannery, as well as a replica of the Discovery, which was Captain Vancouver’s ship (the inside of the ship is unfortunately not accessible).
Indigenous Collection
This area is also accessible, but the museum is re-doing parts of it currently.
You can see interesting exhibits and listen to recordings of people speaking the different Indigenous languages from around BC.
Feature Exhibits
When I was at the museum in the summer of 2026, I saw a fantastic Egypt exhibit. It was nice to learn about Egypt.
I also saw the Egypt IMAX movie that day, and it was great!
The feature exhibits are located on the second floor, next to the Natural History area. The actual exhibit changes every few months, so I like to go often so I can see all of the new exhibits.
These exhibits are new, so they are always wheelchair-accessible.
Accessible Washrooms and Other Facilities
There is an accessible individual bathroom in the museum complex – it is across from the gift shop, in a long hallway on the main floor.
There is no button on the door of this bathroom, but the door is light and seems to have an assist to open it. The bathroom is large and easy to use.
There are lots of other bathrooms on each floor of the museum, with wheelchair-accessible stalls.
Gift Shop
The gift shop in the museum is large and there is enough room to maneuver my manual wheelchair in it. A power chair might be a bit tight.
IMAX
I love the IMAX theater – the screen here is the biggest movie screen in BC!
The best way to see an IMAX movie if you use a wheelchair is to line up on the left side of the ramp that goes into the theatre (not in the big line-up of people on the right side).
The staff will let you in first, before the rest of the line-up of people. There are quite a few wheelchair spots in the theatre, with seats for attendants beside them.
Tips for Visiting the Royal BC Museum With a Wheelchair
- You get a discount when you buy both a museum pass and an IMAX pass together – I recommend doing both! If you have a BC Access Pass, your companion will get a special rate.
- Allow extra time for the elevator, as there is only one in the museum. Sometimes it gets very busy, and you might have to wait for a while.
- Always check to see what featured exhibit the museum has at the time of your visit, as they change often – check the museum website here for more information!
- If you need to use an individual accessible bathroom (and not just the accessible stall), I recommend using it either before or after your visit as it is located on the main floor of the museum, and it can take a while to get there if you are in the middle of enjoying the exhibits.
- Make sure to see the train station in the Old Town – it’s my favourite part of the museum!
Is the Royal BC Museum Worth Visiting With a Wheelchair?
Yes, of course it is! Even though I don’t love the cobblestone streets in the Old Town as they are so bumpy, I love the museum and the train station in particular!
I hope you have time to visit the museum, and that you have a lot of fun there!
RELATED: The Top 7+ Accessible Places to Visit in Victoria BC
