Working for the weekend: Five incredible BC getaways

Victoria

Described by Rudyard Kipling as the best of Bournemouth, Torquay, the Isle of Wight and the Thousand Islands arranged around the Bay of Naples with a “bit of the Himalayas” thrown in, it’s not surprising that our stunning provincial capital now sees upwards of four million visitors a year.

And neither that number, nor Victoria’s reputation as a retirement home for “the newly wed and nearly dead”, deters stylized Vancouverites from flocking to the City of Gardens each summer for the quiet sophistication and Vince Vaccaro sightings.

Like a staple-shaped sliver of Europe, the streets around the quaint Inner Harbour transport visitors to London by way of Stockholm, with the busker- and boat-lined seawall as your ever-present guide.

Victoria’s sheer number of British residents might explain how brewers like Phillips, Vancouver Island, Swans, and Spinnakers were able to get a head start in BC’s craft beer renaissance, and why they are now kept incredible company by the likes of Hoyne, Moon Under Water, and Driftwood.

Don’t miss: Spending a morning communing with the tide pools, panning for gold with the Klondikers and getting lost in the Old Town of the Royal BC Museum’s interactive galleries. The current exhibition on Vikings will surely satisfy your need for death rituals and metallic weaponry in these Game Of Thrones-free months.

After your a.m. educational, search for that one-of-a-kind find in the boutiques along Trounce Alley, a four-block corridor lined with 125-year old gaslights and hanging baskets. Then scoot over to Big Bad John’s – a beloved hillbilly bar in the basement of the Strathcona Hotel – to try to track down your mom’s bra among the lurid lingerie hanging from the ceiling. Watch out for The Spider, an eight-legged legend that’s always looking for a drinking buddy.

Visitor profile: People who think wallpaper is both a magazine and a way of life.

Essential listening: Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”

Summer highlights:
The rose displays at Butchart Gardens (July)
Victoria Pride Week (June 29-July 6)
Canada Day fireworks (July 1)
Victoria Int’l Buskers Festival (July 18-27)
Taste Victoria Festival of Food and Wine (July 24-27)
Phillips Backyard Weekender (July 25-27)
More at TourismVictoria.com

Driving distance: 111 km

Whistler

For those who can’t let the slopes go, summer offers up the chance for downhill redemption. It can be said that if winter in Whistler is the wedding, summer is the honeymoon – and the bride wants to impress.

World-class zip trekking, rafting, and bungee jumping all complement the main attractions: Mountain biking down 4,900 vertical feet of lift-serviced trails, and hiking/running the more than 50 kms of trails that wind through the volcanic landscape. The impressive Peak 2 Peak gondola even offers front row seats if you simply prefer to watch.

Don’t miss: One of BC’s most inspiring al fresco dining experiences – the Araxi Longtable series. With an Alice in Wonderland vibe that rivals Dîner en Blanc for pure visuals, the long table series serves up chef James Walt’s pioneering farm-to-table cuisine in stunning settings like Lost Lake in Whistler. Seated opposite the one who brought you, you’ll soon forget you’re at a table with 100 strangers and realize you’re at a table with 100 memories.

If that’s sold out? Sushi Village, where foregoing the sake margaritas is a sin, makes for an always-appropriate Plan B.

And if you’re staying at Nita Lake Lodge (which by all accounts you should), you can rent a standup paddle board the next day and regroup from the caloric chaos with quiet time on the lake.

Visitor profile: Disappointed Socceroos fans and GoPro enthusiasts.

Essential listening: Crowded House, “Don’t Dream Its Over”

Summer highlights:
Pemberton Music Festival (July 18-20)
Wanderlust (July 31-August 4)
Araxi Longtables (Vancouver, August 4; Pemberton, August 16; Whistler, August 30)
Crankworx (August 8-17)
More at Whistler.com

Driving distance: 124 km

Harrison

When the rich and famous started venturing out to Harrison Hot Springs at the turn of the last century, they often stayed four to six weeks because the journey was so difficult. Now the sleepy Fraser Valley hamlet is an easy getaway for those looking for a weekend spent among BC’s 50 shades of green.

Known almost as much for its thermal water as its sasquatch activity and sand (before the sand sculpture competition ended in 2009, sculptors around the world swore by the unique silica dredged from the bottom of Harrison Lake), a trip out to Harrison to have a dip in the pools fed by Potash and Sulphur (the names of the hot springs) will leave one refreshed and in love with what lies to the east.

Don’t miss: Pretty Estates; a glimpse into the history of the area via what remains of the holdings of Vancouver’s original timber baron. Now known as one of the most romantic resorts in BC, the estate was, for a time, the holiday playground for the Pretty family. And photos lining the hallways up to the period-perfect rooms reveal an incomprehensibly expansive and opulent way of life.

If you’re looking to get out on the nearby river, the area’s healthy sturgeon population offers a rare opportunity to see, touch and help tag these spirits of the deep. The BC Sport Fishing guides – whose weighing, measuring and cataloguing of every fish hooked is part of a larger conservation program at play – always prioritize the health and safe release of the fish over the photo op.

And there’s plenty of wildlife to be seen just by paddling the 18km river – one of the shortest in BC. Drifting along quietly in a canoe or kayak improves your odds of encountering the more elusive residents, such as seals, beavers and possibly even bears, from a safe distance.

Lastly, be sure to stop at institutions like the drive-through Sparkes Corn Barn in Agassiz to get some of the sweetest, non-GMO corn around.

Visitor profile: So-called outdoorsy types, who can be forgiven for thinking a portage is a type of wine.

Essential listening: Lana Del Rey, “Young and Beautiful”

Summer highlights:
Pretty Estates annual Great Gatsby party (July 6)
Harrison Festival of the Arts (July 12-20)
Slow Food Cycle Tour (August 2)
More at TourismHarrison.com

Driving distance: 129 km

Thompson-Okanagan

Simmering at the top of the Sonora desert system, which begins all the way down in Mexico, the Okanagan (not to be confused with the Okanogan, just across the border and home to a 1 00-year-old ghost town) soaks up more sunshine than almost any other part of BC. Dotted by communities with names like Summerland, Peachland, and Lake Country, Canada’s only desert is an obvious escape from the mild-mannered weather of the coast.

The largest city in the region, Kelowna’s unfortunate distinction of being “most like Regina” in terms of national crime statistics is balanced out by its title of Canada’s Freshest Smelling City, and by falling geographically alongside the Houseboating and Wine Capitals of Canada. Also, it was a Kelowna bar and grille that bravely declared the caesar wasn’t a fully realized cocktail concept without a cheeseburger for a garnish.

Don’t miss: If you’re in town for the fruit juice, while the Sun-Rype factory (which has called Kelowna home since 1946) doesn’t offer tours, many of the 120 hard-working wineries in the area do. We asked wine columnist Kurtis Kolt where he would visit:

“While many would go grand or fancy, I’m going to the other end of the spectrum. Van Westen Vineyards in sunny Naramata is the real deal,” says Kolt. “Owner and winemaker Rob Van Westen was initially growing grapes for other Okanagan wineries, but for the last 10 years or so has been making his own, quite-lauded wines in true garagiste style. It’s a peek at a boutique winery that makes delicious small-batch wines with honesty and integrity.”

And if you’re looking for some relief from the heat, be sure to grab an inner tube and head to Penticton to float down the 7km canal. Go early to catch that magical window when the waterway isn’t yet an inflatable highway of jerks who all had the same idea.

Visitor profile: People who have no use for sleeves as the English language originally intended them.

Essential listening: Kendrick Lamar, “Money Trees” (language warning)

Summer highlights:
Kelowna Folkfest (July 1)
Keloha Music & Arts Festival (July 11-13)
Centre of Gravity Beach Festival (July 25-27)
Boonstock Festival (August 1-3)
More at HelloBC.com

Driving distance: 388 km

Tofino postcard

Tofino

Anywhere a man seen paddling across a cove in a bathtub is treated as a normal, nay, “every day” occurrence, is my kind of town.

Known as the place most Vancouverites wish they could move to, Tofino has reached its quota of marine biologists, people who know what a 4/3 is, and tree planters from Quebec; the rest of us have to be content to visit.

On your way in, take a long look at the Eik Cedar Tree, the western redcedar across from Shelter Restaurant (Tofino’s version of Cactus Club). Believed to be 800-1,000 years old, it was declared an insurance hazard in 2001 and ordered to be destroyed. Two men lived for 37 days in the tree, and money was raised to fortify it, earning Tofino the nickname Tree Hugging Capital of the World.

An oasis at the end of 35km of surfable beach break, embrace the spotty cell reception and the quirks of a community that views the world from the peaceful prong of the trident.

Don’t miss: Taking a boat or a sea plane to Hot Springs Cove in the heart of Clayoquot Sound – you might just catch a glimpse of the Pacific gray whales that live in the waters all summer on the way there.

Keep an eye out, also, along the two-kilometre boardwalk for the plank that says “Clara Richardson Will You Marry Me?” The (now-married) Vancouver resident happily said yes, but the manner of the 2012 proposal sparked somewhat of a local mystery, and the bar has been raised ever since.

Once back in Tofino, if you can’t get a table at SoBo, head down to the dock or over to Trilogy Fish and pick up some Dungeness crab. For best results? Make like the pros and fill your pot with clean sea water, bring to the boil, cook the crab for 10 minutes, and then start a love affair with butter.

Lastly, before you tackle the epic drive home, grab a book at Mermaid Tales for the ferry line and stop into the Tofitian for the best coffee of your life.

Visitor profile: University students stalking “big surf” and Simon Nessman, a 24-year-old Vargas Islander who happens to be one of highest paid male models in the world.

Essential listening: Josh Pyke, “The Summer”