Victoria and Butchart Gardens Weekend
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.
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Victoria has some of the mildest, driest summers in Canada. From June to September, afternoon highs are usually around 20–23 °C (68–73 °F) and nights fall to about 10–13 °C (50–55 °F); July and August are the driest months, and a sunny day is the norm. Along Dallas Road, on the breakwater and on the ferry decks, a sea breeze can make it feel much cooler, especially in the evening. Mornings can start in fog that burns off by midday, and in late summer wildfire smoke sometimes hazes the views. These are seasonal expectations, not a forecast for your travel date; check the Environment and Climate Change Canada forecast the evening before and the morning of your trip.
Admission and parking are separate. Check current conditions before departure.
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 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.