Adventures With a Knife and Fork: Best Food and Wine Tours

We've been digging up some pretty unique food and wine tours on Vancouver Island! When you get here, touch and taste all this spectacular Island offers.

What we found are some not-to-miss culinary adventures! Ever dined on... seaweed? How about joining in on an oyster festival!

You won't be disappointed... Food and wine tours are a great way to see what we produce locally here on Vancouver Island!

So here are the best Vancouver Island food and wine tours that top our list:

• EDIBLE SEAWEED TOURS - Southern Island

  For a really unique culinary adventure join Diane Bernard (known locally as The Seaweed Lady) in Sooke on a walking seaweed tour! You'll scour the southwest coast beaches and get to taste dozens of varieties of seaweed. Visitors and locals love this tour! Offered daily by appointment, from May through September.

  A bonus for larger groups: Diane can arrange for tours to include a lunch or dinner at the famous Sooke Harbour House Restaurant. Sample seaweed in all kinds of dishes prepared by in-house chefs! Click Here for more tour information.
  

• GREAT FALL MUSHROOM HUNT - Southern Island

  Here's another unique (and tasty) Island food tour... Vancouver Island wild mushrooms! This tour is located at the Aerie Resort on the Malahat Ridge, about a 30-minute drive north of Victoria on the Island Highway.

  Definitely an interesting culinary adventure, where you do "hands-on" hunting. Surrender them over to be cooked and presented in a three-course lunch at the resort!

  Tours offered on Saturdays, from September to late October, and last about 4-5 hours. Click Here for more tour information.

• CIDER TASTING TOUR - Southern Island

  If you like wine tours, but crave something just a bit different, here's a good cider tour we recommend. Merridale Ciderworks, in Cobble Hill (the heart of Vancouver Island's wine country) is about a 40-minute drive north of Victoria on the Island Highway.

  They offer special lunch with tour packages, or go for the tour and tastings at their cider bar - all at reasonable prices. Tour packages must be pre-booked. They suggest reservations, but there's generally no problem if you "drop in." Click Here for more tour information.

• OYSTER FESTIVAL & TOUR - Western Coast (Tofino)

  Love oysters? Then head for the extremely popular Clayoquot Oyster Festival. Held during the 3rd week of November on the our western coast, you'll learn how oysters grow in Vancouver Island's Clayquot Sound, and enjoy sampling plenty of mouth-watering oyster appetizers.

  During this festival, don't miss the Oyster Farm Tour! A chance to visit a working oyster farm, where a local oyster grower will show you the various aspects of oyster growing. This tour is offered by Remote Passages Marine Excursions based in Tofino. To find out more information, call Remote Passages at (250) 725-3330.

  HOT TIP: There's only 200 tickets for this yearly event... and we've been told they get snapped up FAST! Tickets go on sale October 1st, so call the tour company right away if you want in! Best place to stay during this festival? The Best Western Tin Wis located just south of Tofino.

• VALLEY WINE TOUR - Southern Island

  Cherry Point Vineyards is a good place to check out Vancouver Island wine. Located in Cobble Hill (40-minute drive north of Victoria on the Island Highway), the winery offers free tours throughout the summer months. Tours last about 30 minutes, and there's an excellent selection for tasting. Click Here for more tour information.

Want more info on Vancouver Island wines? Here's a fantastic Web site for information on all the Vancouver Island vineyards. Check this site out! It gives you schedules of when vineyards are open throughout the year, and excellent touring maps!