British Columbia Travel Guide

Canada's most westerly province, British Columbia is huge and diverse. If you love the great outdoors, you'll never be bored in a province that is so beautiful, with such variation, and with so many opportunities for hiking, rafting, sailing and skiing, to name just a few.

British Columbia is studded with breathtakingly beautiful mountains that puncture vast, blue skies. You'll also find long stretches of rugged coastline, sandy beaches, wineries, orchards, forests and snowmelt-fed lakes.There is even Canada's only desert: Osoyoos, in the southern Okanagan, which is home to rattlesnakes, scorpions and prickly pear cacti. If you're seeking unspoiled wilderness, then British Columbia is the perfect province to lose yourself in.

If you want company, however, there are plenty of modern and lively cities and towns in British Columbia. Vancouver has scores of galleries, museums and bars. But even in Vancouver you're never too removed from nature: the city contains Canada's largest city park, Stanley Park.

With seven national parks and numerous provincial parks, British Columbia is renowned more for its nature than its urban settings. From kayaking with whales off the coast to driving down a highway flanked by mountains, British Columbia will enchant you.