British Columbia
Visitors to Canada's westernmost province should pack a long list of superlatives to deploy here; the words 'wow,' 'amazing' and 'spectacular' will only go so far. Luckily, it's not too hard to wax lyrical about the mighty mountains, deep forests and dramatic coastlines that instantly lower heart rates to tranquil levels.
There's much more to British Columbia (BC) than nature-hugging dioramas, though. Cosmopolitan Vancouver fuses cuisines and cultures from Asia and beyond, while mid-sized cities such as Victoria and Kelowna are increasingly creating their own vibrant scenes. It's also hard to beat the welcoming, sometimes quirky character of smaller communities – from Cumberland to Powell River and Salt Spring – that are the beating heart of BC.
Wherever you head, the great outdoors will always call. Don't just point your camera at it: BC is unbeatable for life-enhancing skiing, kayaking and hiking experiences that can make this the trip of a lifetime.
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Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout British Columbia.
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Stanley Park
One of North America’s largest urban green spaces, Stanley Park is revered for its dramatic forest-and-mountain oceanfront views. But there’s more to this 400-hectare woodland than looks. The park is studded with nature-hugging trails, family-friendly attractions, sunset-loving beaches and tasty places to eat. Why you should go Built in stages between 1917 and 1980, the park's 8.8km seawall trail is Vancouver 's favorite outdoor hangout. Encircling the park, it offers spectacular waterfront vistas on one side and dense forest on the other. You can walk the whole thing in roughly three hours or rent a bike to cover the route far faster. Keep in mind: cyclists and in-line skaters must travel counterclockwise on the seawall, so there's no going back once you start (unless you walk). Also consider following the 25km of trails that crisscross the park's interior, including Siwash Rock Trail, Rawlings Trail and the popular Beaver Lake Trail (some routes are for pedestrians only). The Beaver Lake route is especially recommended; a family of beavers resides there and you'll likely spot them swimming around their large den. The totems in Stanley Park are a top attraction © Regien Paassen / Shutterstock The seawall also delivers you to some of the park's top highlights. About 1.5km from the W Georgia St entrance, you'll come to the ever-popular totem poles. Remnants of an abandoned 1930s plan to create a First Nations 'theme village,' the bright-painted poles were joined by some exquisitely carved Coast Salish welcome arches a few years back. For the full First Nations story, consider a fascinating guided park walk with Talaysay Tours. Continue on to the nearby Nine O’Clock Gun (it fires at 9pm nightly) and Lumberman's Arch, which is a good spot to see Alaska cruise ships sliding past. From here, you can cut into the park to the popular Vancouver Aquarium or continue around the seawall; it gets wilder and more scenic as you pass under the Lions Gate Bridge and face down the Pacific Ocean. Wildlife in Stanley Park Stanley Park is studded with appeal for wildlife fans. Neat the W Georgia St entrance lies Lost Lagoon, which is a bird-beloved nature sanctuary – keep your eyes peeled for blue herons. Its perimeter pathway is also a favored stroll for wildlife nuts. Plunging deeper into the park's more secluded trails, you'll also likely spot wrens, hummingbirds and chittering little Douglas squirrels. For an introduction to the area's flora and fauna, start at the Stanley Park Nature House. You'll find friendly volunteers and exhibits on wildlife, history and ecology – ask about their well-priced guided walks. While they mostly give humans a wide berth, you might also come across a coyote or two; aggressive incidents with coyotes are rare. However, be cautious and treat them with respect and give them a wide berth as well. Beaches in Stanley Park Second Beach is a family-friendly area on the park's western side, with a grassy playground, an ice-cream-serving concession and a huge outdoor swimming pool. It's also close to Ceperley Meadows, where Fresh Air Cinema offers popular free outdoor movie screenings in summer. For a little more tranquility, try Third Beach. A sandy expanse with plenty of logs to sit against, this is a favored summer-evening destination for Vancouverites. Opening hours and other practicalities The park is free to enter and open 24 hours a day. The park can be reached by taking bus 19 from downtown. There are additional fees for bike rentals and attractions in the park, like the Vancouver Aquarium. In summer, the seawall is packed with visitors; arrive early morning or early evening if tranquil nature-communing is your bag. There are often summertime queues to enter the aquarium; try to make it one of your first stops when you arrive at the park. Hotels near Stanley Park Buchan Hotel Times Square Suites Hotel Sylvia Hotel
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Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve & Haida Heritage Site
This huge Unesco World Heritage site encompasses Moresby and 137 smaller islands at its southern end. It combines a time-capsule look at abandoned Haida villages with hot springs, amazing natural beauty and some of the continents best kayaking. A visit demands advance planning as the number of visitors entering the park each day is limited. The easiest way is to take a guided trip with a licensed operator; access to the park is by boat or floatplane only. Archaeological finds have documented more than 500 ancient Haida sites, including villages and burial caves throughout the islands. The most famous village is SGang Gwaay (Ninstints) on Anthony Island, where rows of weathered totem poles stare eerily out to sea. Other major sights include the ancient village of Skedans, on Louise Island, and Hotspring Island, whose natural hot springs are back on after being disrupted by earthquakes in 2012. The sites are protected by Haida Gwaii caretakers, who live on the islands in summer. In 2013 the magnificent Gwaii Haanas Legacy Pole was raised at Windy Bay, the first new pole in the protected area in 130 years. The easiest way to get into the park is with a tour company. Parks Canada has a lists of licensed operators on its website. Many operators can also set you up with rental kayaks (average per day/week $60/300) and gear for independent travel. To visit independently, you must make a reservation, pay a visitor use fee (adult $20 per day, child free) and attend a 90-minute orientation. The number of daily reservations is limited, so plan well in advance, especially for the busiest period of July to mid-August. Details of the requirements are on the excellent Parks Canada website, which has links to the essential annual trip planner. The Parks Canada office is next to the Haida Heritage Centre at Kay Llnagaay.
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Sea to Sky Gondola
On a warm summer’s evening, with a 7.5km ascent under your belt and a pint of craft beer on the table in front of you, there are few better places in Canada than the top station of Squamish’s spectacular gondola. The glorious glass-and-wood Summit Lodge is a triumph of environmentally congruous Northwest architecture while the views – Howe Sound on one side and the 100m-long Sky Pilot suspension bridge on the other – are unforgettable. For an active day out, hike up from Shannon Falls on the Sea to Summit Trail and take the gondola down afterwards (down-only gondola tickets cost $15). There is a whole network of additional trails heading out from the Summit Lodge – some easy, others forging further up the mountain. You can also enjoy the wobbly suspension bridge, several viewing platforms and the lodge restaurant with its alfresco deck where the hills are alive with the sound of (live) music in the summer.
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Butchart Gardens
Far more than just another pretty flower arrangement, Butchart is a national historic site and a triumph of early-20th-century gardening aesthetics. With its well-tended blooms, ornate fountains and diverse international flavor (from Japanese to Italian), it’s hard to imagine that this land was once an abandoned limestone quarry. Tour buses roll in relentlessly throughout the summer, but the gardens with their undulating topography are big enough to absorb the melee. Food outlets and gift shops crowd the entrance, including the Dining Room Restaurant, which serves a smashing afternoon tea. Butchart is open year-round, although summer is, arguably, the best (and busiest) season to visit: there are Saturday-night fireworks in July and August. The Christmas-lights season from early December to early January is another highlight. The gardens were the brainchild of Jennie Butchart, whose husband founded the limestone quarry. She began planting and landscaping over the old quarry in 1912. Expanded and manicured throughout the course of a century, the site now counts over one million blooms to cater for its one million annual visitors. Passed down through several generations, the gardens are still owned by the Butchart family.
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Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
One in a magnificent seven of BC national parks, Pacific Rim is replete with wave-whipped beaches and brooding forests, most of them far from civilization. The park is split into three units, often visited separately. The northern Long Beach Unit, between Tofino and Ucluelet, is famous for its surf beaches. The Broken Group Islands Unit in Barkley Sound is a kayaking nirvana. The West Coast Trail Unit to the south contains one of the most famous multiday hikes in Canada. Hit the Pacific Rim Visitors Centre for advice on exploring. Visitor fees apply to anyone stopping in the park; buy your 'pay and display' pass from the visitor center or the yellow dispensers dotted along the highway.
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Bowron Lake Provincial Park
Forming a natural circle with sections of the Isaac, Cariboo and Bowron Rivers, the park's 116km canoe circuit (permits $30 to $60) is one of the world’s finest. There are eight portages, with the longest (2km) over well-defined trails. The park website has maps, and details everything you’ll need to know for planning your trip, including mandatory reservations, which sometimes book up in advance. Campsites cost $18. Check out Bowron Lake Canoe Rentals (www.bowronlakecanoe.com). The whole canoe circuit takes between six and 10 days, and you’ll need to be completely self-sufficient. September is a good time to visit, both for the bold colors of changing leaves and the lack of summer crowds.
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Royal BC Museum
Arguably the finest museum in British Columbia and carrier of a ‘royal’ prefix since 1987, Victoria’s flagship sight mixes the cream of BC’s provincial exhibits with a revolving lineup of world-class temporary exhibitions. Adding value is an IMAX Theatre and a small park replete with indigenous and early pioneer history. Permanent fixtures inside the museum are split into natural history (2nd floor) and human history (3rd floor). Both focus almost exclusively on BC. The natural history section beautifully recreates some of BC’s classic ecosystems, peppered with a selection of taxidermied animals. Highlights include hyper-realistic sea lions and a life-size woolly mammoth with meter-long fur. The human history section illuminates BC’s First Nations with a recreated Kwakwaka'wakw clanhouse and a sonic exhibit that greets you in 34 different indigenous languages. Further on, you’ll encounter a diorama of an early-20th-century BC street complete with a cinema showing Charlie Chaplin movies. In adjacent Thunderbird Park, behind a line of weathered totem poles, lie two of the province’s oldest buildings. The small log cabin St Ann’s Schoolhouse dates from 1844 when it served as a fur trading post. Next door, the Helmcken House (1852) is the former home of fur-trade-era doctor, John Helmcken.
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Craigdarroch Castle
More ostentatious country mansion than fortified castle, Craigdarroch, with its turrets, stained-glass windows and palatial interior, looks like it might have been teleported over from the Scottish Highlands. Beautifully preserved by a local historical society, the interior is filled with rich period detail and notable for its spectacular wood-paneled staircase that ascends from the entry vestibule. You’ll need at least an hour to admire the four floors of rooms, including a dining room, smoking room, billiard room and dance hall. Surrounded today by an attractive assemblage of lesser mansions in a Victoria suburb, Craigdarroch once stood on 28 acres of woodland. Built in the late 1880s, it drew its architectural inspiration from a medieval Gothic style known as ‘Scottish Baronial’, then experiencing a Victorian revival. The property is also interesting for the complex family dramas that once played out here courtesy of the feuding Dunsmuir clan, led by a Scottish coal-mining baron named Robert Dunsmuir who died before the house was finished. One room is dedicated to telling the Dunsmuir story: the family lived here until 1908 and their squabbles over money and inheritance became legendary. Before you leave, climb the tower's 87 steps for distant views of the Olympic Mountains.
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Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
As you inch gingerly across one of the world's longest (140m) and highest (70m) pedestrian suspension bridges, swaying gently over roiling Capilano Canyon, remember that its thick steel cables are firmly embedded in concrete. That should steady your feet – unless there are teenagers stamping across. Added park attractions include a glass-bottomed cliffside walkway and an elevated canopy trail through the trees. This is a hugely popular attraction (hence the summer tour buses); try to arrive early during peak months so you can check out the historic exhibits, totem poles and tree-shaded nature trails on the other side of the bridge in relative calm. On your way out, peruse what must be BC's biggest souvenir shop for First Nations artworks, 'moose-dropping' choccies and a full range of T-shirts and ball caps. And if you're here during the winter holidays, the park is transformed with a sparkling array of more than one million fairy lights. If you're not sure how to get to Capilano, there's also a free year-round shuttle bus from downtown; check the website for scheduling details.
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