Hey!  I'm coming to visit in a couple weeks and I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for places to go or places to eat.  I've been browsing, but if anyone wants to speak up with some thoughts, I'd really appreciate it!

Hey Aly! I'm the Community Manager up here in BC, but I live in Vancouver so all I know for Victoria is the bits of shopping etc! But I'm sure the yelpers have some locally grown suggestions!

Hi!  I hope some people will post for me :)

Hey Aly,

Welcome - I hope you like it here. Gimme an idea of what kinds of things/types of restaurants you're interested in?

The Yelpers here have done quite a good job with putting together the tops in Victoria (it's really quite small).  But the real questions are these: how large is your food budget and will you have a car?  And do you have any food dislikes?

At any budget, you really can't miss Red Fish Blue Fish on a warm day - that is if you don't mind sitting on a stool on a boardwalk.

ReBar and Pagliacci's are also mid-priced sit-down Victoria essentials.

I saw the Red Fish Blue Fish one.  That one looked nice.

We're only coming for a weekend, so any special favorites that you would want someone to see?

We like almost any kind of food, but I don't want anything too expensive or fancy.  Just tasty.  We're planning on checking out the fireworks at the Boutchard gardens, so is there a nice place around there for dinner?  

For sightseeing, we found the Hatley Castle and thought it looked neat--is it worth the $18 for tour/gardens?  We like walking, cultural/historical things, gardens, and checking out shops.

Thanks for any suggestions!  I can see that the Yelp community is still building here, so it made it a little challenging to find many reviews.

Sorry--forgot to answer the one question.  We do have a car.  I also saw something about the Abkhazi Garden.  Any good?

Hey Aly,

Butchart Gardens is out of town, and I imagine any food near there would definitely be expensive/touristy. Personally I'd drive back into town after the show and eat then. For casual, tasty dining for dinner, I'd recommend Ferris' Oyster Bar on Yates (amazing pasta, burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads, lots of seafood, etc.), ReBar on...Langley, I think?  Pagliacci's on Broad is very good, but I find it too crammed/crowded in there sometimes, but if you like a close atmosphere and to get to know your neighbors, the food is excellent.  Konpira noodle bar and sushi on Broughton just down from Douglas is excellent and they make handmade udon noodles.

As for other stuff to do, you can't miss Beacon Hill Park - absolutely beautiful flowers, ponds, grounds, with a petting zoo and fountains and bridges and birds and things. It's really lovely. Walking the breakwater to the lighthouse at Ogden Point is nice. If you like to hike, Mount Finlayson is gorgeous and very challenging (I've never done it), Mount Work is more moderate, and parts of East Sooke Park are very scenic and easy-moderate with wildlife.  

Definitely skip the Undersea Gardens, probably skip the Wax museum, but the Royal BC museum is worth spending half a day - we have a really, really great museum here.

So many great ideas.  Thank you!

You're welcome, Aly - be sure to review the places you go! I'm dying for Victoria's Yelp scene to get going more.

Hope you have a great time here.

Blue fox cafe for breakfest

This is great advice for me too you awesomely fantastic Victoria Yelpers you!

I'm finally coming for a visit on Thanksgiving weekend!

Got any more ideas for what I can do while I'm there? I'll be arriving early Saturday morning, departing late Monday night...

And when/where a good time would be to meet with all of the Victoria yelpers?

Do you love brunches, lunches, afternoon drinks, evening drinks? I'm game for anything!

We did the Ghostly Walks tour. It was more interesting than I expected, and well presented by the story teller. For a breakfast that will negate the need for lunch, go to Floyd's Diner. French toast platter the size of my head. - literally.

Size of your head french toast.... hmmm... that could be doable!