Explore Victoria, BC (4D3Ns)

A trip to British Columbia (BC) will not be complete without visiting Victoria, the capital city of BC. Located at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, one would have to take a flight or ferry to reach this island. My mum and I spent 3 nights here after our overnight trip in Whistler (check out my Whistler blog post). We boarded the Pacific Coach Lines bus from Whistler to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and from there, we purchased a separate bus ticket (YVR airport/Victoria) ($46) that brought us to Tsawwassen (a ferry terminal south of Vancouver). The ticket covers only the transportation to the ferry terminal. You will then be required to purchased ferry tickets ($16.25) to get onboard the ferry. The bus travels on the ferry as well. Prior to arriving in Swartz Bay terminal in Victoria (journey on water takes approximately 2 hours), you will have to board the Pacific Coach bus in the ferry. The bus will then bring you to downtown Victoria; however there is no service to downtown on their 7.40pm departure. Journey to the ferry terminal from downtown Vancouver is a little bit cumbersome if you travel by yourself; so unless you are really tight on budget and have lots of time, I would recommend you to take Pacific Coach Lines buses. It saves all the hassles as you can plan ahead with schedules in their website and purchase your tickets in advance.

For those who gets sea sick, fret not as the ferry service is not like those little ferries on a rough sea as you imagine. We are talking about a huge ferry that can fit up to 2100 passengers and 470 cars, almost like a cruise ship! Some prefer to hang out at the open deck; enjoying the sea breeze and beautiful sceneries ( my friend spotted whales during their ferry ride!). There is a nice cafe with decent prices on board the ferry. We personally had lunch there on our return trip and it was good (and initially, I was wondering why people were rushing towards the cafe area once boarding the ferry lols). 

We arrived at our hotel, Chateau Victoria Hotel and Suites, late night as we had to board the last ferry due to some technical error Pacific Coach had with our bookings at Whistler earlier (lesson learnt; make sure you call and confirm with them your bus tickets prior to your trip!). Tired from the long journey from Whistler, we were happy to be greeted with a warm welcome (probably because we were their last customer who showed up at midnight!). This hotel is definitely not cheap but I bought a very good deal online for their traditional room. Their traditional (standard rooms) are newly renovated and have either 2 queen beds or 1 king bed. Nothing else beats its location; right at the heart of downtown with easy walk to attractions such as the Parliament Buildings, Inner harbour, Fairmont Empress, Big Bus tour main centre, souvenir shops and Pacific Coach Lines station. The bus stop to Buchart Garden is also  situated directly opposite the hotel building. 

Visitor Centre at Inner Harbour

Big Bus Hop-On-Hop-Off Welcome centre (kiosk) on Government St.

I would definitely recommend Big Bus Hop-On-Hop-Off tour especially if you are travelling in big groups, if you have limited time or if you want the flexibility without having to walk as a tour group and slowly enjoying the attractions. It saves the trouble of having to rent a car, find your way etc. Tickets are offered as 1-day ($29) or 2-days ($37) passes. *Tips: Groupon has good deals for these tour bus tickets occasionally for both Vancouver and Victoria :)). For Victoria, 1-day pass is quite sufficient to cover the whole town including Oak Bay Marina. The tour however do not cover Saanich area where Buchart Gardens and Butterfly Farm are located. 

Canada's oldest Chinatown and world's second oldest after San Francisco's

Fan Tan Alley : The narrowest street in whole of Canada!

Lunch at Fantan Cafe, Chinatown

Right beside Fan Tan Alley, is Fantan Cafe which has been there for 21 years! A quaint little shop with an attractive front and well-displayed menus. Surprisingly, there's quite a number of people eating inside eventhough its already way passed lunch time. We tried their special won-ton soup (wor-won ton), a version of won ton soup with chicken, shrimp, bbq pork and vegetables. The combination was good but I didn't quite like the wonton as I thought they tasted porky-ish. I would think they can improve on their marination. We also had the Thai peanut sauce noodles tossed together with sliced chicken and vegetables. I thought the combination was good (slightly sweetish but its Thai peanut sauce @__@). Usually Thai peanut sauce is used in Pad Thai (stir-fry noodles) and this would be a healthier version ? ;P 

Thai peanut sauce noodles

Wor-won ton

Overall, meal was just ok for us. My deepest regret was probably because we ordered the wrong things that did not suit our taste bud? They have a wide variety of dishes on their menu (including dim sum) and even a special make-your-own-lunch combo. Location is good and price is acceptable; pretty standard even though it is situated at a tourist area. You can easily get here at the Chinatown stop on Big Bus Hop-On-Hop-Off.

Address : 549, Fisgard St, Victoria BC

Website : Fan Tan Cafe

Opening hours : 11am to 10pm daily. Dim sum till 6pm.

Swan Hotel : Super lovely with all the flowers!

This town has lots of flowers everywhere thats for sure!

Oak Bay Marina and village

Buchart Gardens

Buchart Garden is one of the world's most famous floral show gardens located at Brentwood Bay, Victoria. It is about 30-45 minutes from downtown Victoria. You can drive here, take a shuttle bus or the cheapest alternative would be to use the public transit via Route 75. Honestly, the public transit is easy, cheap and convenient (especially if you are staying at Chateau Victoria). Of course, there will be a few stops here and there ( its a public transit afterall!), but you save lots ($5.00 for a DayPass) and its not as tiresome or worrisome as you think (return trip is slightly more cumbersome because you will have to wait with a whole bunch of visitors as well-especially if you happen to meet visitors coming from cruise ships). 

The garden is open all year round but of course, summer would be the best ( rose garden and Japanese garden should best be visited during spring though). Summer admission rate is $30.80 and I think its totally worth the trip! Free brochures and maps of the place are available so that you know the garden  that you are in and the flowers that you are looking at. A perfect place to visit with your loved ones! You might want to check the weather forecast beforehand or bring a rain coat just in case it rains because it did when we were here. Be sure to browse through their huge souvenir shop and try out  The Dining Room's English afternoon tea! It was an awesome experience! Check out my blog post  on it (Buchart Gardens Afternoon Tea)~

Website : Buchart Gardens
Admission : 800 Benvenuto Ave, Brentwood Bay, BC V8M 1J8

Nanaimo bar : A popular dessert item of Canadian origin. Named after the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, BC

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Afternoon Tea @ The Dining Room, Buchart Gardens, Victoria, Vancouver Island

A visit to Victoria is never complete without visiting their top tourist attraction, Buchart Gardens located in Saanich. One can either go on the many bus tours available to the gardens, drive or take a public transit. Check out more in my Victoria post!

    When you are there, do not miss the chance to enjoy the splendour of a traditional afternoon tea at The Dining Room, a fine dining restaurant which was the original Buchart family residence. You have the option to dine in the room or outside the terrace with spectacular views of the private garden, Italian garden and Tod Inlet. 

     Since, Victoria is pretty famous with traditional English Afternoon Teas, I chose to have mine at the Buchart Garden ( tea with a purpose you would say). We were at the garden since 11am, started exploring till about 1pm before heading to The Dining Room for Afternoon Tea. Reservation is required to prevent long waits ! Apart from afternoon teas, they have menus for lunches/dinners/high-tea (for winter season) as well. They do looked pretty presentable and nice ( peeked neighbouring tables ;P).

View of the Dining Room from afar!

Their outside and inside seating. Both totally good !

A private garden-Looks like they meant to reserve this for the Queen!

Entrance to Dining Room Restaurant

After a couple of minutes wait, we were brought to our table facing the Italian garden and the Rose garden ! Amazing view ! Waitress was really friendly and attentive and we were almost immediately attended to.

We got a table with a garden view ! Felt soo English-sy!

First up was the selection of loose teas. Mum went with their exclusive loose tea Bachelor Button which was Chinese black tea and sencha tea flavored with bergamot, rhubarb and blue cornflowers while being not a tea lover, I decided not to be too adventurous and took their Mixed green tea. Both came in separate pots ( large pots !) and I suddenly felt so English @_@.

A choice of loose tea for each person !

For starters, we had their Berry Trifle which was layers of sponge cake with mixed berries and topped with fresh chantily cream. It was heavenly delicious! Probably from the walking and late lunchtime, but it was so good and refreshing!

Starters : Their very own Berry trifle ! Superb but beware that this can fill you up before you even start!

The much anticipated three-tier afternoon tea set came thereafter. The waitress did a good job in explaining so detailed on the items on each tier. We were even recommended to start with the hot (savoury) item followed by the fresh scones and jam and finally the sweet treats. 

Loving the traditional Afternoon tea set !

We started of with the hot items which we think was the best among all the items. I personally like the maple glazed smoked ham salad on cheddar scone (Photo below : Top far left). It was unique and flavourful. My mum liked the chicken salad with curry and cashews ; which had the most 'Asian' taste among all the items. The curry taste was actually good I thought. Sausage rolls were slight salty but ( its sausage @__@) the pastry was really good. The most bland item was the cucumber sandwiches with cream cheese ; most likely because its the simplest item. But it was really good blend of heavy and simple items; just to make sure you would still have space for the rest !

Hot (Savoury) Items : A variety of salmon, ham, sausage, chicken curry, cucumber, egg rolls, quiche and sandwiches! 

I then tried their freshly-baked gingery scones which came with Buchart's Strawberry jam and Devon-style cream. While my mum thought it was nothing special, I though the combination (especially the jam) was really good. I ended up eating half of her portion as well! 

Scone, strawberry jam and cream

And finally, with our stomach pretty full, we started the sweet tier! I like the French Meringue (macaron) and the chocolate brandy Napoleon. The standards were really close to those you can find in proper bakeries/pattiseries. The poppy sead and orange load was nothing to shout about ( taste like plain sponge cake) while the Marzipan-wrapped Battenberg cake would be good for those liking marzipan ( not me and my mum though !). Their house-made truffle came in a cute box and I do personally like the truffle as it was rich, sweet with a touch of Baileys and crunchiness.

For the sweet tooth

Buchart Gardens' chocolate baileys irish cream truffle ! 

The Afternoon Tea is priced at $29.95 (plus tax) / person. For the experience, food and view, I though it was rather acceptable. I have seen reviews on the more-talked about Fairmont Empress Afternoon Tea with much higher prices and not-so-good menu items. So, step in for a feel of a Queen's tea if you ever visit Victoria !

Address : The Dining Room, Buchart Gardens, 800 Benvenuto Ave, Brentwood Bay, BC, V8M 1J8

Website / Menu : The Dining Room

Note : Reservation is recommended online via *OpenTable. Admission to Gardens is required.