Within 30 km of our home

 

 Things to do relatively close to town
  1. Visit Butchart Gardens.  This can get quite crowded, particularly if there are cruise ships in town.  It’s probably best to go later in the day when most of the tour buses will have left.  On Saturday nights in July and August there is a very good fireworks show – but get there early as they sometimes have to close the gates as early as 5 pm having run out of parking.  If you do go, take a rug to sit on and, if you want, a picnic meal.
  2. Visit other gardens:  The Horticultural Centre of the Pacific, Finnerty gardens (free) at the University of Victoria, Government House gardens (free), Abkhazi Gardens (within walking distance), Hatley Park at Royal Roads University are a few of the more popular ones.
  3. There are lots of pleasant walks locally.  To see some suggestions, download the walking trails map from the Oak Bay website.  Walk in the various parks in the region – two of the longer walks are around Thetis Lake and around Elk/Beaver Lakes (about 10 km).  Goldstream Park and Mount Finlayson offer some excellent walks.  Slightly farther away, the trails along the Sooke River from Sooke Potholes Provincial Park are very pleasant and along the coast East Sooke Park is great.  There are many, many other options and the best source for other ideas is this link.
  4. Victoria is a very cycle friedly place with many roads having dedicated bike lanes.  There is an excellent trail called the Galloping Goose that follows an old railroad grade all the way out to Leachtown near Sooke.  There is also an excellent trail – the Peninsula  or Lochside Trail – that connects with the Galloping Goose and goes out to Sydney.
  5. Visit some of the wineries on the Peninsula or visit the microbrewery pubs for which we are well known: Spinnakers, Swans and Canoe Club all provide good meals as well as good beer brewed on the premises.  On a good day, the patio at Canoe Club is hard to beat.
  6. Drive to the tops of both Mt. Tolmie and Mount Douglas for great views over the city.
  7. Play golf at one of the many golf courses around the city.  Not being a golfer, I cannot give any personal recommendations, but I have heard that Glen Meadows and Cordova Bay are interesting courses.
  8. Play tennis at one of the many public courts around town – the closest ones are about 500 m away in Windsor Park.