A Taste of British Columbia

Fly from the UK to Vancouver, Canada.

Vancouver sets the tone for the trip, a city where mountains meet the Pacific and every neighbourhood has its own rhythm. Spend your first days getting to know Gastown's cobbled streets, Yaletown's waterfront and Stanley Park's seawall, before heading to Granville Island for a guided tour of its public market, stopping to sample local produce, seafood and artisan goods along the way. Your base, the boutique OPUS Hotel, sits in the heart of Yaletown, close to the city's best restaurants and bars.

Leave the coast behind and drive east into the Fraser Valley, where dairy farms and pastoral scenery line the road as far as Hope. From here, the route climbs through mountain passes towards the Okanagan, arriving in Vernon by evening. Your stay at Sparkling Hill Resort & Spa sits on a granite ridge above Okanagan Lake, with views across the water to the Monashee Mountains beyond. Spend your time here at the resort's KurSpa wellness spa, or venture out to the wineries of the nearby Scenic Sip trail.

Continue south to Kelowna, the largest city in the Okanagan and the heart of British Columbia's wine country. With three nights at The Royal Kelowna, you'll have time to explore the vineyards and orchards that line Okanagan Lake, joining a guided Okanagan Wine Country tour to taste the region's wines straight from the source. Between tastings, take in the lake itself, whether from a waterfront path or a paddleboard.

Head further south to Penticton, set between Okanagan and Skaha lakes, and the gateway to the Naramata Bench wine route. The town has built as much of a name for beer as for wine, and Lonely Planet has called it Canada's Craft Beer Capital, with Cannery Brewing, the city's oldest, and Tin Whistle, the South Okanagan's first microbrewery, both worth seeking out downtown. Your two nights at the Balcomo, a Ramada by Wyndham, put you close to the town's beaches, orchards, wineries and breweries alike. It's a good spot to slow down, whether that means a lakeside walk, an afternoon on the wine route or an evening working through a flight of local beer.

Your final stop is Osoyoos, home to Canada's only desert and two nights at Spirit Ridge, part of the Unbound Collection by Hyatt. The resort sits above Osoyoos Lake on land that has belonged to the Osoyoos Indian Band for generations, and its onsite Nk'Mip Cellars, the first winery in British Columbia to be owned by an Indigenous community, is well worth a visit for a tasting. Between the desert scenery, the lake and the vineyards, it's a fitting final stop for a trip built around the Okanagan's food and wine.

Drive from Osoyoos back to Kelowna and fly to the UK.