I would say 10-12 days might be a couple of days too many. We drove down the whole length of the island from Port Hardy after taking the ferry through the inside passage from Prince Rupert. From what I remember the top end of the island wasn't that interesting, barren hills (due to logging) and lots of large logging trucks on the roads. We were on the island about a week and that included visiting friends who lived in one of the gulf islands off Vancouver Island.
We did stay overnight near Port Campbell where we were able to walk from the campground along an attractive unspoiled beach with lots of sand dunes. I can't remember anything really special about the town though. If you like to eat fresh salmon this is the place, as is most of Vancouver Island.
We found Ucluelet a bit of a let down but Tofino was really nice and I think we spent a couple of nights there. In an area south of Tofino called Long Beach we were walking along the beach when we saw a pod of Killer Whales (Orcas) out at sea. There were some interesting nature treks on raised boardwalks in the same area. The fairly long drive from Port Alberni was very winding and seemed to go on for ever. There was an avenue of very tall Douglas fir and red cedar trees some over 800 years old just out of Alberni called Cathedral Grove that was very impressive, it's worth a stop, it's on the road to Tofino, though parking can be a problem.
Victoria is a lovely town, in parts very British in appearance, we were there just one full day and part of the next (I think) which we found was ample time to see everything. We didn't visit Buschart Gardens though which would take up another half a day. The city itself is easy to walk around and unless you want to go out Whale Watching or out on a seaplane (both activities probably better in Tofino)I would say two days would be enough. We left our camper in the campground on the outskirts of the city and caught a local bus into Victoria as we were told parking was bad, especially with a large vehicle.

Thanks Judith, that's really helpful If you could recommend any good campgrounds near to Victoria and also Tofino that would be great! I am doing research into campgrounds but a recommendation is always a good idea. I was going to ask about taking the RV into Victoria but it seems to be a bad idea from what you've said as the RV will be quite big.
I have read about Long Beach too, are there any campgrounds there, if not is parking an RV easy to do to spend some time on the beach? I presume there is nowhere to stop between Port Alberni and the west coast, would it be worth an overnight stop in Port Alberni before travelling to Tofino?
I know you have previously done blogs of your travels. Do you have one from this area?
Thanks again
Barbara

Hi Barbara

We stayed at the Fort Victoria RV Campground when we visited Victoria, it was at the time the nearest to the city and the bus stop was right outside the gate. On the whole most of the campgrounds we used in Canada were pretty good and I can't remember anything negative about this one.
In Tofino we stayed at the Crystal Cove Campground which was about 3km outside Tofino, I remember the location and campground as being lovely, it was situated right at the beach.. It was quite expensive though but I think Tofino is an expensive area. There were a few campgrounds in the same area and all looked very nice. I'm not sure if there were any in Tofino itself, I don't think so as it's quite a small place. I believe Ucluelet is not so pricey. I don't remember any campgrounds between Tofino and Ucluelet but there was always lots of parking areas for visiting Long beach and the various nature trails.
As for staying overnight in Port Alberni, it depends on how far you have already driven, as I said in my first post it's a fair distance and could be quite tiring in a large vehicle. I don't remember any campgrounds between Port Alberni and the west coast. Though it is eight years since I did the journey, so I may have forgotten some details and there could have been a lot of changes in the years since then.
Unfortunately I didn't do a blog, just a small trip report which really didn't say much about Vancouver Island, more about the mainland, so am relying mostly on memory.
Are you planning on hiring one of the large RV's with a slideout again Barbara?

Thank you once again Judith I will look at the campgrounds that you have mentioned. We are planning to hire a slightly smaller RV this time but we have seen a smaller one which has a slideout so that you get the extra width. The very large one was great for space whilst on site but enormous when travelling and trying to park in busy car parks. I think the slightly smaller one will be just fine.