Best Weekend Getaways from Vancouver: Favourite Trips and Overnight Destinations.

Ann Turner is Financial and Budget Manager at the University of British
Columbia Library.

This is a new venture for Jack Christie, who is well-known to Vancouverites and visitors as the outdoors columnist for the Georgia Straight newspaper and for the various editions of his Best Day Trips from Vancouver published over the past two decades. While retaining the convenient format of Day Trips, he ranges farther afield in this new guide, to destinations within a five-hour drive of Vancouver, including ferry travel. There are 28 trips in all, grouped into five general areas: “Lower Mainland” (extending from Harrison Hot Springs to Pemberton and Lillooet); “Sunshine Coast”; “Gulf Islands”; “Vancouver Island” (the east side, from Victoria to Comox); and “Thompson Okanagan” (Kamloops to Osoyoos and Oliver).

There is an introduction to each of the trips covering how to get there, why it’s worth going, any special considerations to keep in mind, and general information about the area, with phone numbers and websites to find out more. Descriptions of the major attractions on the trip follow, with the available activities for each one listed at the beginning of its section. Jack’s running commentary takes you through the site, pointing out interesting features and giving background information. A scattering of black and white photographs illustrates highlights of some trips. Wheelchair accessible sites are clearly indicated, and they are also included as a special category of the activity index. Both the destination and activity indexes are very useful for planning what to see and do on these longer trips.

Jack states that his intention is “to suggest places where you can enjoy as soft or as challenging an experience as you wish,” but he admittedly favours those with comfortable waterproof accommodations and great food.