Van Islanders? advice please?

Sorry for the boring nature of this, mods delete if it's not appropriate.
Looking for a little holiday/vacation advice if possible (please).
My (now) wife and I did a road trip in BC a couple of years back and loved it. We visited Tofino on that occasion (and got engaged there).
We're looking to revisit and would like a little advice about Victoria and surrounds if possible.
We'd like to be based in driving distance to Victoria but a little more "out there". What's Sooke like? The potholes look great, and we like to hike but also to relax surrounded by nature. I doubt I'll get any riding in as I'll probably be having multiple tattoo sittings. Are there any other places we should look at near Victoria?
We'd like a little cabin or something rather than a big resort or hotel, any suggestions?

The potholes are great, lots of fun if they aren't too crowded. Or at least they were when I was 8. Might want to check with West to make sure they're still a blast. What is it about Victoria that makes you want to visit there? If you're looking for a rougher, less groomed vacation your best bet is to head to the northern reaches of the island - if you're still after some comforts but want lots of trails to explore, I'd recommend Cumberland as your launch point - lots of great B[HTML_REMOVED]Bs in the area.

Potholes are cool to spend an hour or 2 theres a decent campground. If you wanna rent a cabin west of sooke check out poibt no point. A good launch point for all the beaches on the southwest coast. China beach sombrio beach and botanical are all must sees if youre in the area. Can easily spend 2 days going to all those. You also got the marine circle route which runs from port renfrew inland to lake cowichan. Worth checking out. If youre in town more theres east sooke park which is also good to see. Go to aylard farm/becher bay or iron mine bay and head to the view point. Any other questions let me know.

Thanks for the info so far.
We've done Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, Kelowna, Nelson and Tofino but missed Victoria last time around. Looks like a cool place (not too big, not too small) and I really want to visit a tattooist there.
I've spotted this place;
http://www.the-forest-house.com/
Anyone know of it?
We'd like a bit of seclusion/nature but with the option to go into a city if we want to eat out, look around shops go to a bar etc.
Will we find Victoria a bit dull?
When is the best time of year to visit (weather etc)?

A great place to stay is Point no Point. The cabins are very private and the views from either the restaurant or private beach can be rather nice. Being just outside Sooke it is very easy to split your time between Victoria and spots like the potholes and West Coast Trail.

You cant just visit the west coast trail from port Renfrew you need to reserve and shit I guess there are ways to get to certain parts if you have a truck and the know how of where the access points are

Thanks for the info so far.
We've done Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, Kelowna, Nelson and Tofino but missed Victoria last time around. Looks like a cool place (not too big, not too small) and I really want to visit a tattooist there.
I've spotted this place;
http://www.the-forest-house.com/
Anyone know of it?
We'd like a bit of seclusion/nature but with the option to go into a city if we want to eat out, look around shops go to a bar etc.
Will we find Victoria a bit dull?
When is the best time of year to visit (weather etc)?

Sooke is a great place to stay, but if I were staying out there I would go waterfront since that's the real attraction.

Victoria is super dull in the winter. Visit in July or August when you can take full advantage of the weather and do all the things the region is known for!

You never mentioned the time of year you are visiting.

If Sooke, you can easily do 4-5 days there.
- Stay at Point No Point
- Enjoy the potholes for a day
- Cycle / Hike into Leechtown and have a look around
- At the very least do the Juan de Fuca trail
- Go surfing in Jordan River
- Take the nanaimo ferry from the mainlaind, drive down to Duncan, and take the cowichan FSR (Called Pacific Marine road in google maps) to Port Renfrew on your way to Sooke
- go hiking in East Sooke Park
- Charter a fishing boat from Pedder Bay
etc.

If you've got a 4x4 and mountain bikes, there's much more to add to the list.

We have stayed at Fossil Bay resort which is just 1.5 km away from Point No Point [HTML_REMOVED] it's very private. No beach access, though, but a great view. From what I've seen, the Potholes can be very busy in the summer. Adam West would know. As mentioned, the beaches like Sombrio, Botanical you have to see. I don't think alot of people get to that part of the island.

That area around jdf trail is awesome. Probably tour best bet if you want to check out Victoria but be somewhere "out there". Keep in mind you will be pretty far from downtown victoria at a place like point no point like 45 mins or more. But anything closer will be suburbs or the city. Maybe some B n B's on malahat or metchosin highlands etc. Is the Aire resort on the malahat still there? Another option but somewhere out past Sooke would be best.

Will we find Victoria a bit dull?

Possibly, but if you like beer, you can easily remedy that. See the beer thread for details.

Possibly, but if you like beer, you can easily remedy that. See the beer thread for details.

Mmmmm brewery tours…

go past sooke and visit port renfrew! the west coast trail was already recommended… this is awesome! and avatar grove near port renfrew is worth checking out for some awesome old growth forest. And check out the road that loops back to victoria and goes towards cowichan

This ^^ If you're coming from England is safe to assume it'll be for at least a couple or 3 weeks? And into hiking?
If so then as said above I'd really consider spending a week doing the West Coast Trail. Its a friggin amazing experience every hiking and Canada fan should do at least once in a life time. You can bus to the north end of the trail from Port Renfrew, hike it back then B[HTML_REMOVED]B there for a couple days then into Victoria for a few days of pubs and tatts. We stayed at a B[HTML_REMOVED]B in Port Renfrew after hiking the trail that was over the garage at the town's fishing outfitter, cant remember the name of the place but great people owned it, awesome hot tub which was so appreciated after coming off a 6 day hike down that trail. It is ambitious thing to do, yes you have to reserve a spot and gear up a bit, etc but it man is it worth it. BTW, late summer / Sept is most likely the driest time to hit the trail.