Country Guides
British Columbia
Top Things To Do

Top Things To Do

British Columbia

• Get walking. In Vancouver, stroll through Stanley Park. Or long-distance hiking trails include the beautiful West Coast Trail in the Pacific Rim National Park and the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, both on Vancouver Island. Giant trees may be seen in the old coastal rainforests on the island's Pacific coast.

• Take advantage of the excellent skiing in the Rocky and Coast Mountains. Canada's best-known ski resort is Whistler, which will co-host the 2010 Winter Olympics. Other well-known centres include Fernie, Red Mountain (home to Canada's Olympic ski medallists), Kimberley, Sun Peaks and Big White.

• Or if you tire of straightforward skiing, go snowboarding, glacier skiing (in summer), heli-skiing or snowcat skiing. Cross-country skiing is widely practised, and ski touring through snow-covered forests is popular.

• Enjoy myriad watersports on British Columbia's ample lakes and rivers. Excellent sailing, canoeing and white-water rafting are all available. The sheltered Inside Passage from Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert is particularly popular. Expect beautiful views of the fjord-indented coastline and snow-capped Coast Mountains.

• Go fishing. Salmon is especially plentiful around Vancouver Island and the Kootenay Rockies offer the best bass fishing in the province. Other fish include halibut, cod, trout, whitefish and burbot. There are more than 200 lakes within an hour of Kamloops. Licences are required.

• View orca (killer), humpback, grey and minke whales on a whale-watching cruise. In March, the Pacific Rim Whale Festival celebrates the yearly migration of Pacific grey whales. Watch for whales in remote towns Tofino and Ucluelet, near the Pacific Rim National Park, which is full of sandy beaches and wilderness.

• Take a winery tour along the Okanagan Wine Route in the vineyards of the Thompson Okanagan Valley, the oldest wine-producing region in British Columbia. There are 60 wineries along the route and the valley holds an Okanagan Wine Festival each year.

• Take the Silvery Slocan Circle Driving Tour past numerous historic landmarks, such as the historic logging town of Kaslo, which populates the hills and shoreline of Kootenay Lake, and the city of Nelson, home to 350 heritage buildings.

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.

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