Best Food and Wine Tours
Discover our Culinary Adventures

We've dug up some pretty unique food and wine tours on Vancouver Island! This is a really great way to get an insiders look into the huge variety of natural foods grown in the Pacific rainforest region of Canada - right here on our beautiful Island!

Have you ever eaten... seaweed? How about heading out for the always fantastic Vancouver Island oyster festival!

So discover with us some of the best touch-and-taste adventures we've uncovered. You won't be disappointed. Food and wine tours are a great way to see what we produce locally.

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

• EDIBLE SEAWEED TOURS - Southern Island

  Head out with Diane Bernard - known locally as The Seaweed Lady - in Sooke (southern Vancouver Island) on a walking seaweed tour! You'll scour the beach and get educated on our west coast's varieties of seaweed and it's many uses - cooking and therapeutic. Visitors and locals love this tour! Offered daily by appointment, from May 1st through September 15th. Click Here for more Information
  
  

• RAINFOREST MUSHROOM HUNT - Southern Island

  Another unique culinary adventure where you can gather edible mushrooms under the canopy of a Vancouver Island rainforest. Surrender your mushrooms to be cooked by the resort's executive chef where you'll eat them in a gourmet lunch at the resort. Very cool (and very good)!

  Cost: $139 per person, and tours run only on Saturdays, from October 3rd to the 31st. The Aerie Resort is on the Malahat Ridge (about a 30-minute drive north of Victoria on the Island Highway). Watch for signs pointing to the Aerie Resort, or call them for directions. RECOMMENDED WEAR: waterproof jacket, gloves and waterproof shoes with good tread. Click Here for more tour information.
  
  

• CIDER TASTING TOUR - Southern Island

  If you like wine tours, but want something 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!