Drive the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler, cross Lynn Canyon’s suspension bridge, walk the Stanley Park seawall, soak in Harrison Hot Springs, or spend a weekend in Victoria, Tofino or Okanagan wine country. We’ve put the stops, routes and practical details together so your day out of Vancouver is easier to plan.
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Drive Highway 99 from Vancouver along the fjord of Howe Sound to Whistler: a pier on the water at Porteau Cove, the 335 m (1,100 ft) drop of Shannon Falls, the Sea to Sky Gondola above Squamish, Brandywine Falls on the way north, and an afternoon in Whistler Village with the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre.
A full day across the water from downtown Vancouver: an early hike to Quarry Rock above Deep Cove, the free suspension bridge over Lynn Canyon, the Skyride or gondola up Grouse Mountain for the city view and the grizzly habitat, and dinner by the harbour at Lonsdale Quay and The Shipyards.
Walk Vancouver's waterfront from the cobbled streets of Gastown along the Coal Harbour seawall and around Stanley Park, past the totem poles at Brockton Point, Siwash Rock and Third Beach, to English Bay. Then take the little Aquabus ferry across False Creek to Granville Island's Public Market.
An easy country day east of Vancouver: a riverside walk at Derby Reach, where the first Fort Langley stood, the Hudson's Bay Company fort where British Columbia was proclaimed in 1858, lunch in Fort Langley village, waffles and berries at Krause Berry Farms, a tasting at the Fraser Valley's oldest winery, and a boardwalk loop in Campbell Valley.
Head east up the Fraser Valley past Abbotsford to the 60 m (200 ft) veil of Bridal Veil Falls, lunch at the 1906 general store and farm of Kilby Historic Site, a forest walk or swim at Hicks Lake in Sasquatch Provincial Park, and a late-afternoon soak and lakeside dinner in Harrison Hot Springs.
Take the BC Ferries crossing through the Gulf Islands to Victoria for two nights: a free tour of the Parliament Buildings and an evening on the Inner Harbour, the Royal BC Museum, Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse, a sunset walk on the Ogden Point breakwater, and a quiet Sunday morning at Butchart Gardens on the way back to the ferry.
Take the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo and cross Vancouver Island on Highway 4: the goats on the roof at Coombs, the giant Douglas firs of Cathedral Grove, and the winding road past Kennedy Lake to the open Pacific. Spend Saturday in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and Tofino, from rainforest boardwalks to a sunset on Chesterman Beach, and walk Ucluelet's Wild Pacific Trail on the way home.
Drive the Coquihalla to Kelowna, stopping at the Othello Tunnels on the old Kettle Valley Railway. Spend Saturday crossing the rebuilt Myra Canyon trestles and tasting at Summerhill and Mission Hill, and Sunday on the Naramata Bench above Okanagan Lake before the drive home.
Every guide lists the date and time it was last updated and when the trip is best experienced, from a single week to all year. Each includes official links to verify roads, tides, hours, fees and closures for your travel date. Buy once and the guide is yours forever: read it online any time from your account, always in its latest version, or keep it offline in the Greg’s Guides app for iPhone and iPad, which updates it for you.
No juggling a dozen tabs or guessing how much you can squeeze into a day. Get a realistic starting plan, then make the day your own.
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A relaxed beach day, a mountain outing, or a bigger coastal adventure. Choose what fits your time.
Pay once and read it online right away, or open it in the Greg’s Guides app to keep it on your phone.
Check current conditions, open your route, and head out. Linger where you like. Skip what you don’t.
A digital guide with a timed itinerary, stop-by-stop details, a schematic route map, navigation links and a plain-text plan. This is a self-guided plan; attraction admission, parking, food, and transport are separate. We update trips regularly, and you’ll always have access to the latest information: you own your guide forever, so you can read the latest version online any time or keep it up to date in the app.
No, but it’s worth having. Tell us your home city and we’ll unlock a free guide to a day trip, event or activity near you. Your account also keeps every guide you buy, so you can read it online any time and use it in the Greg’s Guides app.
Yes. Read it online in your phone’s browser: sign in to My account and open your guide. Or, as we recommend on iPhone and iPad, use the Greg’s Guides app: sign in with the same account and your guides are saved on your phone, so they work without cell service. Navigation links open in the relevant app or browser when supported.
In the Greg’s Guides app, yes: your guides and route maps are saved on your phone. Reading online needs a connection. Guides don’t include offline road maps or turn-by-turn navigation, so save the area in your navigation app and prepare your route while connected.
Route links open in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze, which calculate directions using their latest available road, traffic, closure and detour information. This information depends on your app, coverage and connection and may not include every restriction. Check official road alerts, review the route before leaving and obey posted closures. The guide’s route map is a saved overview.
Each preview tells you the time commitment and activities. Beach sand, stairs, steep paths, weather, and road access can affect suitability. Choose shorter options and check accessibility at the stops you want to visit.
Each guide shows the date and time it was last updated and the time of year it is best experienced; some stops also note their own best season. Roads, services, prices, tides and rules can change, so every guide includes official sources to check before departure. Online, you always see the latest version, and the app updates the guides on your phone. You own your guide forever.
Stripe returns you to an order page with links to read each guide online as soon as payment is verified. Bookmark that page and reopen it any time for fresh links. Sign in or create a free account to keep your guides together and use them in the Greg’s Guides app. No subscription is required. Please keep the order link private.
I’m Greg Pasquariello, a software engineer living in the Pacific Northwest and the owner of Tecnicl LLC. I love a good day trip, and I host a lot of out-of-town visitors who want to know what they can do while they’re here. Greg’s Guides began as the plans I kept putting together for them. Now anyone can use them.
Tell us about a day trip you love. If we turn it into a guide, you get every guide we make free for a year, and your name on the guide. If we don’t, pick any guide free as thanks.
Stawamus Chief hero photo: Daniel Lu (dllu) · CC BY-SA 4.0. May 2024 photograph from the Chief Overlook on the Sea to Sky Gondola's Panorama Trail; resized and displayed with crop.
