Vancouver…

… where beaches and towering trees surround gleaming skyscrapers and hip neighbourhoods in this city’s  bustling downtown core, where the culinary landscape offers a tasty menu of fresh seafood, craft breweries and eclectic food trucks, where you can swim at the beach and explore a mountain in the same day.

Vancouver offers easy access urban exploration: walk or hop on public transport to discover independent boutiques in Main Street, coffee shops of Commercial Drive, red brick bars of Gastown, or the open spaces of Stanley Park.

Cycle through Stanley Park, take the Vancouver Street Eats Tour, where you can sample gourmet street food and watch food truck vendors cook their specialities, take a whale watching trip or a scenic seaplane flight, relax on the beaches, take a walking tour through Gastown’s cobbled trips; explore Granville Market, where fresh produce and local wines are showcased in a sprawling indoor fair, or absorb the surrounding woodland and waterfalls at Capilano Suspension Bridge.  Vancouver is a great start or end point for an itinerary.

Victoria…

…is British Columbia’s capital city, sitting at the bottom tip of Vancouver Island, brimming with West Coast history. Grand yet intimate, Victoria is home to the ancient Indigenous culture of the Coast Salish People, North America’s second-oldest Chinatown, and the famed Inner Harbour.

Compact and easily navigated, it lends itself to discovery on foot, in a horse-drawn carriage or, thrillingly, from a low-flying float-plane.

Take afternoon tea at the historic Empress Hotel, take a whale watching trip which may result in sightings of minke and grey whales, porpoises and harbour seals, experience the vibrant food scene at Victoria Public Market, with food stalls selling everything from artisan chocolate to butter pastry pies. Savour the local craft beers and farm-to-table dishes in the neighbourhoods around Chinatown and Lower Johnson Street.  Wander through Victoria's oldest neighbourhoods, full of quirky independent shops, hidden alleyways, and intriguing courtyards.  Browse unusual independent shops at Fan Tan Alley, and stroll along the Waterfront from colourful Fisherman’s Wharf to try fresh crab and seafood at one of the outdoor restaurants whilst watching seals and otters play around the jetty past Laurel point.  A stay in Victoria is easily added on to an itinerary which includes British Columbia.

Vancouver Island …

… characterised by rugged wilderness, colourful, quirky communities and outdoor activities that include tree lined cycling routes, waterfront hiking trails, and abundant wildlife including sea otters, whales, bears and bald eagles.

Tofino sits on the west coast of the island, and is a great base for whale watching, kayaking and surfing.  Just across Clayoquot Sound, visitors can hike the Big Tree Trail on Meares Island, visit Hot Spring Cove by Zodiac boat for a soak in the natural hot pools, take the Tonquin Trail to the beach at sunset for superb views, take surf lessons, guided canoe trips with a First Nations guide, rent a kayak to Meares Island, and shop at independent homegrown businesses at Beaches Shopping Centre.

Campbell River is the gateway to Strathcona Park, the Discovery Islands, and the remote north and west regions of Vancouver Island which offer true wilderness.   A stroll along Discovery Pier will often afford a sighting of a salmon, eagle or whale, as well as spectacular views across Discovery Passage to Quadra Island and the distant Coast Mountains on the mainland.  Wildlife trips here offer possibilities to see sea lion colonies, white-sided dolphins, porpoises, orca whales, bald eagles and bears.  Quadra Island, just over the Strait of Georgia, has great mountain biking trails.

At North Vancouver Island, the small village of Telegraph Cove, raised on wooden stilts over the water, is the start point for whale watching trips in the Johnstone Strait, while at the northern tip of the island, Port Hardy is the terminal for ferries to and from Prince Rupert: Canada’s most awe-inspiring bear watching trips start from here or from Campbell River.  A number of superb wilderness lodges operate from access points in North Vancouver Island and offer bear watching and water based activities.  We would highly recommend a stay on Vancouver Island as part of a British Columbia itinerary.

Okanangan Valley

Midway between Alberta and Vancouver, the Okanangan Valley is home to orchased of peaches and apricors and scores of excellent wineries.  The valley is a popular summer escape for British Columbians, with summer temperatures ideal for swimming and watersports in the lakes, and hiking and biking on the mountain trails … not to mention the vineyards for wine tours, tastings and long lunches.  The area makes for a great stop in between the Rockies and Vancouver / Vancouver Island.

 

Photo credits: Harbour Air Seaplanes, Kootenay-Rockies-Tourism-Mitch-Winton