Saanich Peninsula

The Saanich Peninsula offers many activities from golfing, hiking & cycling, waterskiing or fishing in the fresh water lakes. Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park is ideal for the whole family with a beach, picnic areas, a wheelchair-accessible fishing dock, and a 15-kilometre (10 mile) walking, jogging, and riding trail. Elk Lake is an excellent location for kayaking, canoeing and wind surfing.

Golfing in the Saanich Peninsula include the Glen Meadows Golf Course, Ardmore Golf Course in North Saanich, the Sunshine Hills Golf Course in Central Saanich, Cordova Bay Golf Course, Prospect Lake Golf Course, and Royal Oak Golf Course.

Several popular attractions located here include the world-famous Butchart Gardens, and a winery producing prize-winning wines from grapes grown on a beautiful 26 acre property. The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and the Saanich Historical Artifacts Society offer an excellent family attraction on a 29-acre site. A fascinating museum with antique farm equipment such as a 1907 Sawyer and Massey Portable steam engine, a huge model train track, nature trails and restored heritage buildings. The Sandown Harness Raceway, also on the Saanich Peninsula, offers live harness racing or you can stroll amidst hundreds of exotic butterflies flying free in an indoor tropical rainforest, and for the ultimate high try skydiving - jump from 5,000 feet.

The Institute of Ocean Science, the Pacific Geoscience Centre, and Canadian Hydrographic Centre share facilities and services including the use of ships and equipment. The Institute is a working research centre where scientists fom all over Canada study climate chemistry, ocean ecology and ocean physics. There are 90 minute public tours of the facility Monday to Friday at 11:00 am. Call 363-6518 for more information.

The Saanich Fall Fair in Central Saanich, held every Labour Day weekend, has three times more exhibits than the PNE, and more than 5,000 entries in 26 sections. For more information about activities at the Saanich Fair call 652-3314.

Many country roads criss-cross the Saanich Peninsula making this a cyclist's paradise, leading past parks, farms, beaches and bays as well as the Peninsula Trail System which connects to the Galloping Goose Trail in Victoria. A map of the Galloping Goose and Peninsula Trails can be picked up at the Visitor's Infocentre in Victoria's Inner Harbour.

Shop at roadside fruit and vegetable stands for fresh, locally grown produce and stop in at the village of Brentwood Bay which offers shops, restaurants and marina facilities.

A multitude of bed and breakfasts, inns, resorts and motels can be found in the Saanich Peninsula as well as restaurants, bistros, and eateries to suit every taste. Air and boat charters and rentals are avalable as well as sailing, kayaking, fishing and diving adventures.

The Victoria International Airport, the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal with links to Vancouver and the Gulf Islands are located here. Bus and taxi services and car rentals are available. The ferry terminal for the route from Sidney to the San Juan Islands and Anacortes in Washington are located here as well.