• Mystic Vale: A great hike for kids near Victoria BC
    Get Outdoors! Camping & Hiking Trips,  Victoria

    Kid-Friendly Hikes Near Victoria, BC

    To find out more about family-friendly hiking and camping near Victoria, BC I interviewed Kari Jones, a mom to one son and the author of the book “Hiking Adventures with Children: Southern Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula” which you can order from Kari’s blog or from Amazon.com. Q: Is there a kid-friendly hike within Victoria’s city limits that you recommend? What do you like about it? There are so many walks within Victoria; it’s hard to choose just one. But if I have to, I’d say Mystic Vale is my favourite. The walk starts at the University of Victoria, which is easily accessible by car or bus, but once…

  • Victoria

    Giveaway: Savvy Squirrel offers savings

    One of my favorite ways to find cool, indie restaurants and stores with sustainable values is to pick up eco-coupon books. Every major city in Cascadia offers such a book – Portland’s Chinook Book, Seattle’s Chinook Book and Vancouver’s Green Zebra. But the one with the cutest name? Victoria, BC’s Savvy Squirrel. Each of these books offer great savings to local attractions, shops, restaurants services and restaurants. It’ll pay for itself in one weekend trip. Savvy Squirrel’s book is primarily focused on family-friendly shops and restaurants in Victoria. “We love a local bargain,” says Lale Minielly, who started the Savvy Squirrel with fellow mom Tabitha Rutherford. “As new moms we…

  • Mo:Le a great place to take kids in Victoria.
    Victoria

    Victoria Vittles: Family-friendly Victoria Restaurants

    If you haven’t eaten in Victoria since your own childhood, you’re in for a treat. Skip the fake fish ‘n’ chips shops and touristy stops. Victoria’s thriving foodie scene means you’ll find plenty of locally grown, internationally influenced options at all price ranges. Victoria BC family-friendly restaurants: Rebar. Take a seat at an oilcloth-covered table and ask for a dinosaur along with the kids’ menu. Rebar loans out the plastic toys to fidgety kids. But it never takes too long for your stacked sandwiches and Asian-fusion fare to arrive. Rebar’s healthy without being ur-crunchy — carob’s on the menu, but so is a veg quesadilla, dripping with creme fraiche. Sally…

  • Butchart Gardens: A fun thing to do with kids in Victoria
    Victoria

    9 Great Things to Do with Kids in Victoria, BC

    My family and I visit Victoria twice a year for long trips – and these are the places we don’t get tired of, and the spots the kids ask to return to, again and again. Victoria Bug Zoo. It’s not necessarily the bugs that are the draw here – there are plenty of places to see a cockroach or an African millipede. But the tour guides make this attraction one of our favorites in Cascadia. The guides dispense education with entertainment and genuinely kid-friendly attitudes. Whether describing how a bug eats her mate or using a millipede as a moustache, the enthusiastic employees always provide weird facts and fun. Butchart…

  • pike place market sign, a good place to take kids
    Portland,  Seattle,  Vancouver,  Victoria

    Four Family-Friendly Markets in the NW & BC

    We have markets by the bushelful here in Casadia and traveling families are always welcome. Bring the kids, $30 and a sense of adventure to these farmers’ markets. It’s a cheap vacation solution and a memorable excursion, all rolled into one afternoon. Here are my favorite four markets — indoor and outdoor, large and small. Don’t miss them when you’re visiting! Portland Farmers Market, Portland. This weekend, the Saturday Portland Farmers Market reopens for the growing (and grazing) season. The outdoor, downtown market features dozens of local-vendor booths, great food trucks (I like Pine State Biscuits) and musical performers. Chefs put on cooking demos, and children’s cooking classes take center…