Hello! Vacationing up in Victoria soon, questions for you all!

[Jaycatt]

Hi there, my name is Jaycatt, and although I live in Oregon with my mate, I thought I might introduce myself and ask a question about a trip we have coming up to the Island.

We will be visiting Victoria at the end of May, and a friend of mine from the Vancouver area suggested I check in with you all to get ideas of what might be fun to do for the three days we are there :)  My mate has never been to Canada before.  We will be driving up to Tsawwassen for the ferry across, and have our car for the trip, although we're staying right behind the Empress so walking distance stuff would be awesome.

The things we want to be sure to do:
1) Visit the BC Museum there in Victoria (I've been before and it's fantastic)
2) Visit Craigdarrough Castle
3) Tour Parliament
4) Get some really good poutine (can't get it in the states)
5) Have breakfast with proper backbacon (can't get it in the states)
6) Stop at some large grocery store and check out the local munchies (mate has a craving for dill pickle potato chips, as well as turkish delight).

Any other suggestions, or neat places to eat/shop?  We really aren't garden people, so probably won't hit Butchart (I've seen it a number of times).

Thanks in advance!  Don't know when we'd get to afford to go back, so we want to make sure we catch some great stuff while we are there :)

Jaycatt

[Kithop]

Ha, speaking of the castle, I went there a few years ago with my ex and still have pictures up:
http://kithop.no-ip.com/images/victoria/Page1.html
http://kithop.no-ip.com/images/victoria/Page2.html

Again, one place I've had decently good poutine (outside of a chain like New York Fries) from is in Vancouver itself; I'm not sure about Victoria side:
http://maps.google.ca/places/ca/vancouver/commercial-dr/1885/-belgian-fries?gl=ca

I'm not sure of a restaurant that uses back bacon specifically, though I've seen it in pretty much every grocery store.  I've only ever had the 'standard' belly stuff. :p

Of course, being vegetarian now, we had to make our own vegetable/mushroom gravy for poutine at home, and no more bacon. <.<  Most places make their gravy from beef or chicken stock/drippings, so I'm going to be out of date and not as useful for those kind of recommendations. ;)

You can get dill pickle chips pretty much everywhere, even 7-11 (Lay's makes some decent ones, though a lot of grocery stores have their own off-brands, too), though I noticed at one grocery store, the 'Real Canadian Superstore', their 'President's Choice' lineup has a bunch of new, uh... weird chip flavours now.  Hotdog flavour with ketchup, mustard, and relish? o.O;  They're one of the cheaper grocery stores around here, and their newer locations are quite large and WalMart-esque, so they may be a good place to start.  They have some funky pop, too - sometimes made with real sugar and not HFCS, though beware, I believe the term 'Glucose/Fructose' is Canadian code for 'might-be-HFCS, might-not'.  You'll see 'Sugar and/or Glucose-Fructose' on lots of things; it just means it's completely up to the bottler what to use, so it's kind of a crapshoot depending on what's cheaper at the time they made it.  Though I'm not a fan of Turkish Delight, I see Nestlé's 'Big Turk' bars everywhere; chocolate coated, so I'm sure you could try those if you wanted.

[Jaycatt]

Thanks Kithop!  Yes, I think I remember the Superstores, I went to a few back when I would visit with my father; definitely going to stop there for the selection of things.  Not sure we'll have time with the schedule to make it to Belgian Fries, but the website and the menu looks *awesome*.  Still doing some searching for restaurants, and I think we might make it all the way up to Naniamo, but probably not much farther. :)

[Kurasii]

Awh! Going right past me, then =o

You DEFINITELY can't forget to get poutine, haha. One of my favorite foods ever. Sadly I don't know Victoria well enough to suggest a good place.
If you like GOOD seafood though, check out http://www.barbsplace.ca/... you order your food, then get a little pager, and they'll beep you when your food is ready :P You also sit right beside the ocean on a bench and eat, it's pretty cool, granted that the weather is decent. Just get the specialty! =D

You could also visit the wax museum if you do so please? I've never been, but I've heard everything from "It's so cool", to "it's so boring", so... yeah, I guess it varies on opinion. Oh! And when you go to the BC Museum, be sure to hit up the IMAX!

Ohh! And I learned that lots of the states don't have ketchup chips, but some do... if you've never had them, try ketchup chips (Lays brand if you can)!

Good luck with your trip, and have fun!!

[Univaded_Fox]

You can't go wrong with the food at the Yates Street Market or the Ogden Point Café.  For a real flashback, eat at Pluto's. 

Beacon Hill Park is really close to where you are staying.  It is the city park and filled with various microclimates, (forests, fields, semi-desert, rocky terrain).  The drive along the waterfront is also a great place to glimpse all the dogs in the city. 

You might also consider going to the University of Victoria, if only to look at the campus's large rabbit population.  And I mean large!  It is perhaps the furriest university in the province. 

[Jaycatt]

Thanks for the suggestions!  Yeah, I've never been much for wax museums in the past, but I know where it is, next to the tourist trap "Undersea Gardens" (we have one of those in Oregon too, next to the Ripley's Believe-in-or-not Museum) so I may check it out, I admit to always being curious about it.  The seafood sounds great too, I'm a big fan of it, must come from being feline, hehe...  And yes, ketchup chips are interesting to say the least!  I will most definitely pick up a bag, as they are nowhere to be found in the states.

Going to check out the Yates Street Market and Ogden Point Café now too!  Pluto's looks friendly and is closeby as well so those are on the list. :D  I remember Beacon Hill Park, and you're right, it is fantastic, and we'll be right nearby.  Love to go on walks, so that would be a great morning thing to do.  I also sort of remember the dog walking park down by the actual waterfront there, which was also a pleasant walk in the morning.  Never knew about the bunnies, that sounds pretty cool too.  I used to vacation with my Dad up near Ladysmith, at a lodge called Yellow Point, and it had a large rabbit population as well.  I wonder if it's the area?  I hadn't seen them anywhere else.

Thanks again everyone, these are great ideas :)

[Rift]

Hey, here's hoping you two have a really fun visit ^^

You're sadly going to be on the wrong side of the country for really amazing poutine... but you might be able to find some decent ones XD *suddenly really misses Quebec... wants to visit home again*

As for ideas for what to do: the victoria wax museum, and miniature world.
The wax museum is just amazing, the sculptures look unnervingly real at times.  I highly recommend looking into it if you've got time!
Miniature world is a collection of highly detailed (to the level of extreme ocd) miniature landscapes and dioramas. It's not overly well known, but it's a neat little oddity of the island and worth a visit.  I only found it because of my Uncle, who made a fair number of the displays (over many... many... years)