Union Steamship Marina Resort cottages

In the 1920s the Union Steamship Company shipped Vancouverites to Bowen by the thousand and put them up in little painted cottages above Snug Cove. A century later you can still do exactly this, in some of the few originals left standing, two of them sitting in the old Davies apple orchard that is now part of Crippen Regional Park. Most heritage buildings become museums. These became somewhere you can nap.

There are five units: Cottage 1, Cottage 2, the Summer House, the Garden Suite and the Loft, the last being the sensible two-person pick. Every one has a full kitchen, a proper bathroom and a wood burning stove, with firewood supplied, though Metro Vancouver bylaw only permits burning between September 15 and May 15. Yes, there is a bylaw governing your romantic fire. Welcome to British Columbia.

The location borders on cheating. You walk off the ferry and you are essentially there, with the marina below, the shops and restaurants of Snug Cove beside you, and the Crippen Park trails to Killarney Lake starting more or less at your door. It may be the only island getaway in Canada where the hardest part is deciding whether to bother with shoes.