May We Recommend for Your Victoria Vacation
while at Race View B&B, enjoy….
Downtown Victoria Inner Harbour
Victoria Harbour Ferry Ballet
This is such a lighthearted and free bit of entertainment! It’s on every Sunday until the first week in September. Stand on the upper causeway to view the tugs do a water ballet to the Blue Danube Waltz! It starts at 10:45 a.m.
Then, take the little tugs, the “Harbour Ferries” in local speak, to various points around the harbour. Ask the captain to take you to Barb’s Fish and Chips and the houseboat city, or over to Ocean Pointe, or down to Point Ellice House for a trip back in time. Really! You are transformed on the site to the role of a servant on their first day on the job. You’ll learn the secrets and dirt of this advantaged family from another servant’s point of view.
City Tours in Victoria
You can take the Big Bus (Hop on Hop Off City Tours) The ticket is valid for two days!
1-888 434-2229 to reserve, or watch for it at the various sites where they stop:
Olde Town
Chinatown
Craigdarroch Castle
Oak Bay Village
Beach Drive
Rockland
Inner Harbour
Songhees
Or, take The Royal Blue Line (Hop on Hop Off) 360 2249.
Or, take a Grey Line Bus tour of the city 388 5248.
At the very least, you want a tour that takes you on the scenic tour of waterfront homes as well as the usual stops at Butchart Gardens, Craigdarroch Castle and Chinatown.
*** Please note that Butchart Gardens is out of town, and is a half hour to forty minute drive from Race View B&B, Craigdarroch Castle is a good twenty minute uphill walk from downtown.
Walking or Driving Tours in Victoria BC
Ask us to help you organize a tour of Victoria. Tell us your interests, and we’ll help you arrange an efficient walking or driving tour of the city. At Race View B&B we want you to be happy with your visit to this amazing city, so if you like old railways or kitchen shops or ghostly walks, or maritime museums or genealogy centres, or Art Deco architecture or …you get the idea. We’ll know about it, or will have researched your particular interest by the time you arrive!
The Royal BC Museum
This is a great spot to spend an afternoon or a day.
Hours
Museum:
9am – 5pm*
(to 6pm from July 1 to October 14)
IMAX: 10am – 8pm
Shop: 9am – 5pm
Cafe: 9am – 5pm
Royal BC Museum ?675 Belleville Street?Victoria, BC Canada?V8W 9W2 ?Tel: 250-356-7226
First Peoples Gallery?This gallery gives visitors dramatic glimpses of First Nations cultures before and after the arrival of Europeans.
Modern History Gallery?The sights, sounds and smells of the past are so vivid that you might – just for a moment – think you’re really there.
Natural History Gallery?This gallery takes visitors on a journey across time and through dramatically changing environments.
Craigdarroch Castle
This castle was built to show off the wealth of Robert Dunsmuir, coal baron of Vancouver Island. Built to look like a Scottish Castle on the outside and a spectacular Victorian home on the inside, you will be amazed at the details of Victoria life represented here. Whether your interest is architecture, carpentry, period costumes, Victorian life, sensational home decor and furniture or the soap opera lives of the family who put the fun in dysFUNctional, you must see Craigdarroch Castle.
Our favourite docents are work on Friday morning. They cover languages in English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. The brochures cover many more languages, too!
Hatley Castle
This castle is very close to Race View Bed and Breakfast. Enjoy the thought of ghosts? Gardens? Victorian luxury? You will find lots to explore at Royal Roads.
Gardens in Victoria
Butchart Gardens
Well, of course you’ll go to Butchart Gardens while in Victoria, BC. Do be aware that it isn’t in downtown Victoria. It’s much more fun to stay at a place like Race View B&B where the resident gardener can tell you about plants and pests in the area. Sharon will direct you to her garden and can tell you what to look for at Butchart, and can answer your questions about all things green in the area.
You will be pleased by gardens even closer by like the Japanese Garden at Royal Roads (about ten minutes from Race View B&B) Have a tour of Hatley Castle while you are there.
Other notable gardens are the University of Victoria Finnerty gardens, one of Canada’s best rhodo collection in North America, the romantic Abkhazi Gardens, Glendale Gardens, Playfair Park (for the rhodos–April to June) Government House gardens, Beacon Hill Park, and, for native plant lovers, the gardens at Swan Lake Naturay Sanctuary or the Provincial Museum.
A Day at the Beach
A Day Biking
A Day Hiking
Outstanding Golfing near Race View B&B–five to ten minutes away!
Olympic View Golf Course 1 (250) 474 3673
Metchosin Golf Course 1 (250) 478 3266
Bear Mountain Golf Course 1 888 533 2327
Whale Watching
We can ensure the best whale watching in Victoria for the season in which you will stay. We’ll keep an eye on which part of the island to direct you for the most successful sightings. Whether you want a private boat, an enclosed whale watching boat, or a speedy zodiac, let us arrange it for your stay in Victoria!
Birds and Wild Life on Vancouver Island
This is not as difficult to find as you may think! This is a very natural area. Just sitting on your deck will result in seeing eagles, hawks, deer and other smaller animals! Birders take pleasure in the sightings of two different hummingbirds, Stellar Jays, Varied Thrush, Northern Flickers, Olive-sided Flycatcher, California Quail, several types of woodpecker, Rock Dove, owls, Turkey Vultures, finches, wrens, nuthatches and, many more.
Victoria Island or Vancouver Island?
This sometimes causes confusion for tourists. Vancouver is a separate city on the mainland. Victoria is on Vancouver Island and is a one hour 30 minute ferry ride away. Victoria is a city worth setting aside at least three days for exploring, but you could spend weeks touring all of Vancouver Island, an area the same size as Maryland in the USA. or Denmark in Europe.
Victoria has a wide variety of excellent stores to keep every shopper happy! From antiques to zinfandel, you’ll find something worth searching for.
Some stores our guests have enjoyed include:
Muffet & Louisa Kitchen Store
1437 Store Street,
Capital Iron, as they say, “There’s No Store Like It!
1900 Store Street,
Tuscan Kitchen
653 View Street
Dig This, for the gardeners
28- 560 Johnson St.
Munro’s Book Store
1108 Government Street
Then, of course, you will want to explore:
Antiques on Fort Street
Bookstores in Sidney
Oak Bay Village
Cook Street Village
And, if Big Box Stores have something you need for your travels:
At Race View B&B we are twenty minutes away from The Big Box Centre of Home Depot, Costco, Home Sense, Winners, Golf Town, Tommy Hilfiger, Martha Stewart, Liz Claiborne, Additionelle, La Vie en Rose, and many, many more.
Make sure you stop for a freshly baked treat at Cobs Bread or Serious Coffee, or both!
Take exit 14 from Victoria, or continue on the Veteran’s Highway from Race View B&B to get to the Big Box Centers.
Tea in Victoria! This is one activity that everyone needs to check off on their list of fun things to do in Victoria. You can call directly, or we’ll do it for you at Race View B&B. After one of our hearty breakfasts, we suggest you make your tea date for middle of the afternoon, and then you won’t have to have dinner!
Places to have tea in Victoria
The Empress Hotel is renowned for their Afternoon Tea. Prices can be well over $100 for two, but the ambiance is worth it. Also, checking for famous people at the other tables is considered a worthwhile people watching sport. Just don’t acknowledge that you know who they are…considered to be bad form in Victoria!
Our absolute favourite place to go is the White Heather Room. Once you hear Aggie’s laugh, you’ll know you’re in the right place. If her laugh doesn’t cheer you, the tea will. Priced at well under $20 per person, it’s worth it. Just ask for the “Big Muckle Tea” Don’t you love just saying it? You’ll get it all: scones, sweets and surprises–a three layer tiered plate that will encourage you to stay awhile. Book ahead. She’s always busy. There’s a good reason for that.
Fine Dining in Victoria
May we recommend:
My-Chosen Cafe (5 minutes from Race View B&B)
Paprika Bistro
Stages
Columbo’s Taverna
Smokin’ Tuna Cafe at Becher Bay (summer only)
Cafe Ceylon
Superior Street Cafe
Picnic Supplies at The Market
Picnic Supplies at Thrifty Foods
“Thank you for making us feel so much at home during our three day stay. Stunning views from the deck, the peace and quiet of the surrounding countryside and the comfortable room all contributed to an enjoyable stay. Apart from making us very welcome, your breakfasts were quite superb, Sharon. 10/10 to a wonderful chef.”
P & M S, Plymouth UK