Vancouver Island adventure

For your first two days, a personal Urban and Eco-Guide leads a tour to the sights of Vancouver’s mixed indigenous, European and Asian heritage of downtown, Yaletown (the business district) and Chinatown. Swiftly followed by the kaleidoscopic First Nations carvings of the Native Totem Pole Garden, the neck-craning 280 feet Douglas fir trees of the coastal rainforest and the chance to see salmon run the river in Capilano River Canyon. A foodie’s paradise is on the menu the next day on a gastronomy tour of Gastown, the city’s oldest neighbourhood.

Collect a hire car for the journey to Tofino. With a ferry stop at Horseshoe Bay along the way, the drive usually takes almost three hours, but if you ask us, we recommend allowing at least five because the breath-taking scenery shouldn’t be missed. Stopping off to admire the landscape, snap some photos or just take a mindful moment before reaching Wickaninnish Inn, your home for the next three nights. Approximate driving time: 2 hours 30 minutes.

From the traffic noise of the city to the wild orchestra of the Clayoquot Sound, it’s all about nature in these parts. Private whale and bear watching excursions aboard custom designed zodiacs take up daylight hours, exploring the fjord inlets for a glimpse of a descending tail fin (or ‘Fluke’) or shaggy black fur while other residents like sea lions and bald eagles join the cast. And when the adventures sadly come to an end, a massage back at the hotel’s spa softens the blow.

Today, get back behind the wheel for a drive to Canada’s wine country – Victoria. We recommend a lunch break at Coombs, famous for its daring goats that prefer the building’s roofs to solid ground, before the rolling hills of the Cowichan Valley come into view. From bold reds and classic whites to sparkling ciders and something even stronger (brandy or port anyone?); winery and cider house tours through the diorama of South Island are broken up with a picnic lunch or dinner in a local bistro.