I will be 5 days in the Vancouver,Victoria area at the end of May.
How many days should I spend in Victoria.
What do recommend to visit in and around Vancouver?
Godin

Butchart Gardens in/near Victoria always comes to mind.

Hi godin,

There have been a few posts on this subject recently so if you click on my user name you will find some recent links which should assist.

In Victoria, time exploring the harbour area - shops, restaurants, Royal BC Museum plus Butchart Gardens outside of town would easily fill 1 1/2 to 2 days. A drive along the coast to Botanical Beach if you're into seascapes, rocky costs, tide pools. Stop maybe at Sooke Harbour House for lunch or dinner (reservations!). Tofino is great, but you probably won't have time.
In Vancouver - downtown great for strolling, Stanley Park is a prime destination, Grenville Island with it's art shops, cafes, restaraunts and Market. If time - a lovely day trip or overnight to Whisler and Garibaldi Provincial Park for spectacular mountain scenery. UBC Museum of Anthropology is popular.

DEFINITELY stay at the Blue Sky B&B while you're in Victoria (it's actually in Sooke, but not too far from the city). It will absolutely change your life.

http://www.blueskybandb.ca/

It's the BC150th anniversary this year, so check out www.bc150.ca for events in Victoria and Vancouver area. I'd take 2 days in Victoria. 3 days in Vancouver, including a one day trip up to Whistler.

It depends on what you want to do. If you want wild west coast, beach, nature, hiking....then Sooke is your answer (it is a 45-minute drive from downtown Victoria).

If you want more city life, then stay in the downtown area. There is Butchart Gardens, Parliament Buildings, BC Museum, horse-drawn carriage rides, tea at the Empress Hotel, a beautiful harbour area...and yet you could still go out to the beach for a day (Sooke, French Beach) or hike (many, many hikes 10-20 minutes from downtown area).

I would also recommend doing a whale-watching trip. I prefer the companies that go out of Sidney, as opposed to the downtown companies as it doesn't take as long to get to the whales from there.

If you want to feed seals, go out to the Oak Bay Marina (approx 15 minutes from downtown Victoria) and you can buy fish from the gift shop there and the seals will actually take the fish from your hand. Very cool. Nice restaurant there as well.

Hope that helps!

godin, if u like gardens the Abkhazi grden in Victoria is a beautiful small site specific garden owned by the Land Conservancy.
Botanical Beach mentioned above is awesome w/ a low tide to expose the potholes. Kayaking is excellent here and u can rent from Ocean River Sports etc opn the Gorge. Whale watching is always fun and the ferry from the mainland to Victoria (actually Swartz Bay 35 minutes from town) through some of the Gulf Islands is stunning.

If it rains the Royal BC Museum, the Art Gallery and Craigdarroch Castle r good indoorvenues

cheers
AndrewDavid

Hi,
I think that so many people get caught up in the 'touristy' offerings of the city - tea at the Empress, the carriage rides, etc., that they miss some of the most enjoyable and simple delights that the city has to offer.
On our last visit there, we did it all. But the best times were at the old favourites. We bought a kite at flew it off the cliffs by Clover Point. We walked Cadboro Bay Beach - still one of the best in the city. We hiked up Mount Doug. And we let ourselves find sidewalk locations to let us sit down and watch the world go by.
It's a beautiful, marvelous city. History is fascinating, so do make time for the museum.
Do enjoy!