Heading out for 2 weeks to Victoria

[Nismorphed]

Thought Id see what you guys like to do around Victoria.
Sweet places to go? Clubs, bars anything really?

[masoncgy]

The Sticky Wicket is my favorite place downtown to grab lunch... their food is good and decently priced for the portions they serve. I watched the Canada vs Russia game there in February too...

Butchart Gardens is a day's adventure if you're into flowers and that kind of stuff.

You can take the Black Ball ferry from the inner harbour over to Port Angeles if you feel like exploring the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.

Same goes with the San Juan Islands... there's a ferry that departs from Sidney.

You can go tour Oak Bay and drool over all the amazingly kept mansions... stunning real estate all around the Victoria area, but Oak Bay is definitely worth the trip.

If you're into hobnobbin' with the upper crust, go have afternoon tea @ the Empress. That's not really my thing, but I have drank my own tea simultaneously on the front lawn before... haha.

That whole area around the inner harbour is worth a tour... especially on a nice day... it's very touristy but a picturesque spot...

Enjoy Victoria... it's one of my favorite places!

[Nismorphed]

Thanks masoncgy Im going to check those places out

[BokCh0y]

There's also a ton of cool hidden Markets downtown in this courtyard thing. It's by Chinatown somewhere, you'll have to ask around. But the house numbers in Chinatown are like 549 1/2, kinda weird. never seen house numbers with a half. Anyways ask around for that market in the courtyard, the locals will know where it is.

Also check out the ghost tours. Definitley worth seeing, tons of history in Vic.

Patricia Bay about 20 km South of Vic is also a pretty cool place to go if you wnat to catch mini crabs, snails and collect sand tokens.

There's a joint right on Douglas Street called Import Foods or Italian Import Foods, something like that. Close to downtown. Anyways great place to go to if you like Italian Cuisine. They have awesome lunch specials and the BEST panini's i've ever had. And the sandwiches...WOW. Just like Pepinno's in Kensington, but 100000000 x better.

If you're staying for a few days or more, i highly suggested the drive to Tofino and checking out the beaches there. Leave the city at 6am and head to Tofino for low tide at 10:30am. The drive alone is WORTH it. Trust me on this....

There's also this tour you can take at the Wicininish (sp) conservatory that explores the sand dunes and the vegetation there, really cool and worth the time imho.

May want to stay in nanaimo on the way back as the drive takes between 4-5 hours one way even though it's like 300 some odd km's away. Roads are crazy windy after you pass Port Alberni.

Hope this helps.

[~Leah~]

Sorry to hijack your thread but I'm going there for a week too!

Thanks for all the tips guys!

Is it worth driving up to Tofino for a night??

[JohnnyBlaze]

Check out a club called 'The Upstairs', i think that's what it was called

[BokCh0y]

Originally posted by ~Leah~
Sorry to hijack your thread but I'm going there for a week too!

Thanks for all the tips guys!

Is it worth driving up to Tofino for a night??

There's nothing to do in the town itself in my opinion, but on the way into Pacific Rim National park, there's a tourist information joint, it's right after you get of the Number 4 highway from port Alberni - Pacific Rim Visitor centre. i'd stop by there and ask them for teh beach spots to check out and also for the guide.

Beach wise, there's 3 in Tofino and none in Ucluelet. But the best beach spots are the ones in the Pacific Rim Park. There's Long Beach, Incineration Rock, Grice, Combers, Florencia Bay just to name a few.

Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre offers a free tour of the beach and the dunes. But get there early, like 10:30am during low tide if you want to see the star fish and other sea creatures.

What we did was we spent 4 days in Vic, then we left at 6am and headed out to Tofino. Got there at 10am and checked out Incineration Rock at low tide. We hiked through the sand dunes ont he Wickaninnish Beach Tour, Checked out Long Beach and also Florencia Bay. The Rain Forest there is amazing, you'll hav eto hike through some of the rain forrest to get to certain beaches, but well worth it!!!!!!!! Anyways we spent the whole day there and took off at about 7pm. Drove to Nanaimo and stayed the night. Then we caught the ferry from Duke Point in the am back to Van. We didn't stay in Tofino cuz the cheapest place we could find there was $285/night + 12% HST and 1% Hotel Tax. So it was ridiculous prices, but i'm chinese so clearly i'm cheap hahaha.

Anyways if you don't mind, Ucluelet has a hostel you can stay at for $55 a night. My wife is too girly for a Hostel so that's why we didn't stay there.

I think a day is sufficient, but in hindsight, i shoulda stayed the night and spent another day or two there. The beaches are so beautiful.

Also on the drive up there, watch out for Black bears. We saw two.

[rinny]

After being there once, its tough for me to justify the long trip to Tofino ESPECIALLY if you're not going to be doing what everybody goes there to do- surfing.

That being said, if you want some neat beaches and an incredible drive- head out west toward Port Renfrew.

Sombrio beach along the way usually houses surfers and is a cool place to check out and maybe hike around exploring the area for a few hours.

Botanical Beach in Port Renfrew is certainly a cool marine park to check out especially at low tides.

There is a restaraunt run by hippies (yes, most are) in Port Renfrew on the main drive that serve up delicious food in very good portioned meals with homegrown produce.

In Victoria, tons of restaurants but if you're feeling Thai, place called Sookjai Thai on Fort St, as well as the Italian Food Imports place that one other was talking about is great for quick bites.

As for things to do in Vic:
-Always look around online for big meets/events around special days/long weekends- tons of good stuff on the streets

-The architecture walks are cheap and should be kind of interesting if you have an hour or two to spare (http://www.aibc.ca/pub_resources/aib...king_tour.html)

-Walk around the harbour side and everywhere else downtown

-The area around Craigdarroch Castle has a lot of beauty old houses and architecture. A short bus ride from downtown brings you up Fort St and you can get off a block away from Craigdarroch Castle, walk down and check it out and then walk further to the Governor's House which is a huge compound with nice Gardens.Continue then and walk to the beach!


Anyways, I could go on and on but there's a healthy selection from my short time since I've moved here.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by masoncgy

Butchart Gardens is a day's adventure if you're into flowers and that kind of stuff.

Get tickets for the Butchart Gardens fireworks they have going every saturday night during the summer. Bring a blanket, a girl, and some weed, and you've got a pretty spectacular show.

[S4maniac]

If you're looking for clubbing, the Sticky Wicket, Rooftop Surfclub and Element are all in one building. If its nice weather, the Surfclub fills up fast on weekends, usually by around 3. Its a neat place with 2 sand volleyball courts.

If you prefer pubs, Irish Times is the best downtown in my opinion.

If you're going to head to Butchart, then as mentioned, save it for a Saturday and catch the fireworks at night.

Depending when you get to Victoria, the beaches to hang out are Willows and Gyro. The hotter it is the better the scenery.

Again, depending on when you travel, there's a pretty big street market on thursday nights in Sidney. I believe that ends in September.

I could probably point you in more directions depending on what you like doing.

[jdmakkord]

45 minute drive away is Sooke. There isn't much there aside from some bike trails etc, but one amazing dining experience if you are a foodie. Sooke Harbor house, one of the most talented chefs in Canada, and their dining room overlooks the Ocean and the Olympic Mountains in Wash.

[S4maniac]

Just thought of this ... you can buy a package of 2 hrs of zipline then a 3 hour whale watching tour. Its about $150 per person for the package. I think its Adrenaline Zipline in Sooke that offers it. That'd be a cool day for sure.