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Sooke keeps the good times rolling well past the farmers’ market, with a Saturday market out at one of Western Canada’s oldest working farms and a Thursday night market on the grounds of the local museum. The Sooke Passport Tour is built to fill in the rest of the day, from a community owned cafe born out of a town wide fundraising campaign to a wood fired restaurant known across the island, a local brewery, and a tart shop with a view of the harbour.
Don’t forget to download the BC Farmers’ Market Trail app before you go! Checking in at select stops unlocks exclusive discounts available only to Passport visitors.
Open Saturdays from 10am to 2pm, April through October, the Sooke Country Market sets up at Woodside Farm, which has been in continuous operation since 1851 and is recognized as the oldest working farm in Western Canada. The move to Woodside gave this farmers’ market room to grow past 60 vendors, and visitors can wander the farm’s gardens and meet the animals before or after they shop. Expect farm direct produce, gourmet ice cream bars, and fresh baked breads, all while live musicians play under the sun.
Running Thursdays from 5pm to 8pm, June through August, the Sooke Night Market has grown since it began in 2014 into a summer staple, held on the grounds of the Sooke Region Museum. It’s supported by the Sooke Region Historical Society and was developed to highlight the food producers, artists, artisans, and entrepreneurs of the region. While you’re there, take a walk through the museum’s exhibits on the T’Sou-ke and Pacheedaht peoples and Sooke’s logging, mining, and maritime history. Live music and local makers round out the evening.
Island Tarts Cafe
Tucked into the lobby of the Prestige Oceanfront Resort, Island Tarts Cafe serves locally roasted coffee and homemade European style cuisine, with a rotating lineup of sweet and savoury tarts as their specialty. The kitchen also turns out paninis, quiches, and fresh baked goods, with gluten free, dairy free, and vegan options on the menu. Grab a seat on the patio for views over Sooke Harbour, and bring the dog along, since the patio is pet friendly.
Check in on the Tasting Passport App on farmers’ market days (Thursdays and Saturdays) for 10% off your purchase.
Artisans Garden
Part coffee bar, part garden centre, part gift shop, Artisans Garden is a seaside stop where visitors can sip a locally roasted coffee on a patio overlooking Sooke Harbour, then wander through displays of local and ethically sourced home goods, candles, pottery, and jewellery from local artisans. Out back, the nursery is stocked with seasonal plants, shrubs, and garden accessories, and the shop regularly hosts workshops like its seasonal wreath making sessions.
Cafe Vosino
Cafe Vosino is the community owned cafe that Sooke built to save itself. When the beloved Stick in the Mud coffee house announced its closure, a group of regulars formed the Sooke Community Investment Cooperative, raised the funds, and bought the shop outright, reopening it in 2023 under a name that nods to Sooke’s old V0S 1N0 postal code. It’s now backed by more than 400 co-op members and still pours coffee roasted right next door, alongside the fan favourite Eggamajig breakfast sandwich and other fresh baked treats.
Wild Mountain Dinners
Wild Mountain is a small, cozy restaurant in a converted bungalow overlooking Sooke Harbour, built around chef Oliver Kienast and sommelier Brooke Fader’s commitment to Slow Food values and whole animal butchery. Nearly everything on the ever changing menu comes from the massive wood fired oven out front, a pandemic era build from a local stonemason and blacksmith. Expect hand stretched pizzas, sourdough breads, fire roasted vegetables, and house made charcuterie, plus seasonal mains built around whatever the island’s farmers and foragers bring in that week.
Reservations are recommended given the restaurant’s small size and popularity.
Sooke Brewing Company
Founded in 2016 by five owners with multiple generations of roots in Sooke, Sooke Brewing Company crafts a wide range of beers, from a Belgian Blond Ale to a Barrel Aged Baltic Porter, out of a custom built facility marked by a giant tree trunk entrance framed in fieldstone. The taproom offers flights and growler fills, and while there’s no in house kitchen, a food truck parked out back keeps the pub food coming alongside the pints.
Love craft beer? Find this brewery and more on the Greater Victoria Ale Trail from the BC Ale Trail.
Sooke Harbour House
Built in 1929 as a simple farmhouse inn, Sooke Harbour House has grown into a boutique oceanfront resort with 28 individually designed rooms, each with its own fireplace and ocean view. The property reopened in 2024 after a four year, $14 million renovation, and changed hands again in 2025 under new ownership. Guests can settle in at the Copper Room Restaurant for locally inspired, made from scratch cuisine, built on ingredients like Fanny Bay oysters and Metchosin area vegetables, a tradition the property has carried since long before farm to table became a common phrase.
Prestige Oceanfront Resort
Set along the Juan de Fuca Strait, Prestige Oceanfront Resort is a full service retreat with a spa, a fitness centre, a heated indoor pool, and a marina. Rooms are designed with modern touches and views of the water or surrounding mountains, and the resort’s own bike rentals and walking paths make it easy to explore the coastline right from the property. It’s also home to Island Tarts Cafe and the West Coast Grill, so a stay here puts a couple of the tour’s stops steps from your room.
Get out there and enjoy the Sooke Passport Tour! Download the BC Farmers’ Market Trail App to unlock exclusive discounts available only to Tasting Passport app visitors.