Beacon Hill Park, Victoria BC

[Katie100]

I am thinking of renting a car at the dock and going to this park. We will have a 3 year old with us, so most of the excursions are not an option.

 

Any thoughts from someone who has been there?

[Langley Cruisers]

Why do you want to go there? Just sincerely asking, not judging. Have you heard it is fantastic and not to be missed?

 

Having said that, I don't know if you can rent a car at the pier. I used to live and work in Victoria (worked for Budget Rent a Car) and the car rental companies would pick passengers up from there and transport them back to their office where the actual rental would take place. Having said that, most of the offices are actually walking distance from Beacon Hill Park.

 

It is a beautiful park and too large to walk through in its entirety with a toddler, but a taxi certainly could drop you within and pick you back up again, probably for less than you could rent a car. But, if you had the rental car, you could explore beautiful Victoria outside of the main tourist area downtown.

[cruiseryyc]

A day in Beacon Hill Park with a toddler would be a great idea. There used to be a petting zoo there (mostly domestic animals, sheep, pigs, etc.) which your little one would love. I agree that a taxi would be your best bet.

[Putterdude]

Beacon Hill is an excellent idea to let a toddler run and play and a cab will work just fine, no need to rent a car. If were an inclement day I would advance the idea of Miniture World...a bit touristy to be sure but fun for children.

http://www.miniatureworld.com/

[scottbee]

I am thinking of renting a car at the dock and going to this park. We will have a 3 year old with us, so most of the excursions are not an option.

 

Any thoughts from someone who has been there?

 

I lived and worked a block from Beacon Hill park for 10 years, it's a lovely park. However, renting a car to get there is going to cost you WAAAY more than a taxi back and forth (1 mile), and then you need to find parking, normally quite bad in and around the park in the summer. Or alternatively the #30/31 city bus ($2.25 IIRC) runs from in front of the cruise terminal (you want the bus on the same side of the street as the cruise terminal) and passes by the Northern end of the park along Superior/Southgate.

 

A local favourite is the soft serve ice cream at the Beacon Drive in, corner of Douglas and Niagara, and an interesting point of interest 1 block south of that is Mile 0 of the transcanada highway (just douglas st at that point), the longest road in North America

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=48.412254,-123.364105&daddr=199+Dallas+Rd,+Victoria,+BC,+Canada&hl=en&geocode=&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=15&rtol=1&sll=48.411827,-123.3708&sspn=0.01655,0.04549&ie=UTF8&ll=48.415331,-123.369255&spn=0.016549,0.04549&z=15

[Luckysll]

I agree that a cab to the Park is much better than renting a car. Here is a link to some info about the Park. And I second the Beacon Drive-In for soft ice cream!

 

http://www.beaconhillpark.ca/

 

In addition to the Children's Farm (admission by donation - suggested donation is $3 adults, $2 children), there is a playground with swings, slides, etc.

 

There are a lot of ducks (and ponds) in the park. Kids love feeding the ducks and most of the ducks will come quite close to get the food. Perhaps you can get a few slices of bread from the dining room to take off the ship with you.

[Katie100]

For the playground, petting zoo, beautiful surroundings for a picnic.

[Katie100]

Is there a restaurant in the park where we can grab something to eat or take out for a picnic?

[cruiseryyc]

I believe the Drive-In selling the fabulous ice creams cones (must visit there again on my next trip to Victoria) also sells hamburgers, etc.

[quincytoo]

I believe the Drive-In selling the fabulous ice creams cones (must visit there again on my next trip to Victoria) also sells hamburgers, etc.

Oh yeah :) I have been known to get in my car and drive down there for Burgers, Shakes, and HAVE TO HAVE the best soft ice cream in Victoria.

 

They used to have GREAT fried chicken but am not sure if they still do?? It was yummy but now a girl has to pick her sins and for this girl I would rather sin with soft ice cream :)

[scottbee]

Is there a restaurant in the park where we can grab something to eat or take out for a picnic?

 

 

There's a quite good grocery store (Thrifty Foods) w/ a great Deli a few blocks from the park at the corner of Simcoe and Menzies. And Beacon drive in (as previously mentioned has burgers etc). Another option would be grab lunch at the James Bay Inn (corner of Govt & Toronto St)

[SKOOKUM]

I agree that a cab to the Park is much better than renting a car. Here is a link to some info about the Park. And I second the Beacon Drive-In for soft ice cream!

 

http://www.beaconhillpark.ca/

 

In addition to the Children's Farm (admission by donation - suggested donation is $3 adults, $2 children), there is a playground with swings, slides, etc.

 

There are a lot of ducks (and ponds) in the park. Kids love feeding the ducks and most of the ducks will come quite close to get the food. Perhaps you can get a few slices of bread from the dining room to take off the ship with you.

 

 

I agree, and go for the ice dream some of the best ever.

 

As well if your up to it you could walk from the pier to the park in about 20 min. maybe 30 tops even with kids and the walk is along the waterfront.

[Langley Cruisers]

...you could walk from the pier to the park in about 20 min. maybe 30 tops even with kids and the walk is along the waterfront.

 

Yes, I totally agree with you here. The walk will be beautiful in August along the waterfront. You'll come right to the "Mile 0" sign, which is the official start of the Trans-Canada Highway, and the bottom end of Beacon Hill Park. Will you be taking a folding stroller for your child? Perhaps you might catch a cab back; your little one will be tuckered out. :p

[jer_l]

If you go to webshots I have some pictures from May 2005.

http://community.webshots.com/user/jerrell52

 

Choose the Alaska 2005 album. Beacon Hill Park begins in the middle of page 2 with closeup shots of iris and ends on page 4 with the picture of the turtles followed by one of ducks.

 

We took our daughter and her friend there and we all loved it. (Our daughter was 27 at the time and took the ferry from Washington to join us for the day--so not much in common with your child :) , but I still think you would enjoy it.) If you have a stroller you can walk there from the ship if you enjoy walking.

[Marmot@Sea]

Beacon Hill Park is a great park for children. In addition to the petting zoo there is also a playground and a water park, so make sure you bring a towel and some dry clothes. I second the motion to bring some bread for feeding the various ducks, geese and sea gulls.

There is no place to purchase food in the park, with the closest restaurant being Beacon Drive-In. There is a store at the corner of Michigan and Government that is not far from the park. In addition there are grocery stores and restaurants in both the James Bay and Cook Street Village neighbourhoods which are on the west and east sides of Beacon Hill Park.

Another popular park for children is Gyro Park in Cadboro Bay. There are a number of concrete climbing structures for children to climb on including a salmon, an octopus and “Caddy” the Cadborosaurus. In addition to the climbing structures there is a beach, so you could bring along the sand pail, shovel, towel and bathing suit. I am not sure if there is a concession stand in the park, but there is a local grocery store at the entrance to the park. Take the 11 bus from downtown Victoria. Here is the link to the transit schedule http://www.transitbc.com/regions/vic/?p=1.txt

Another popular place to take your 3 year old would be the Commonwealth Pool at Royal Oak. http://www.gov.saanich.bc.ca/resident/recreation/scp.html You can take a bus from downtown to the Royal Oak Exchange.

Depending on your child you may want to try the Victoria Bug Zoo http://www.bugzoo.bc.ca/ It has been a popular place for pre-school field trips. There is also Victoria Butterfly Gardens http://www.butterflygardens.com/ but you would need to take a bus or drive a rental car to Brentwood Bay.

The Royal BC Museum is wonderful http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/MainSite/default.aspx It may or not be for your child but there are lots of different displays they may enjoy. There is also the IMAX Theatre next door to the museum.

If you do decide to rent a car you will need either a car seat or a booster seat for your child. Booster seats are now mandatory in BC for children under the age of 9 years or who are shorter than 4’ 9”. Check out http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/07/01/bc-child-seat-laws.html

I hope this helps.