Hornby Island: Tribune Bay, the 'Little Hawaii' of BC

Whistler's cooler, cheaper neighbour sits 45 minutes up the Sea-to-Sky with a gondola, a giant rock, and brewery rewards at every trailhead.

A 20-minute ferry from Horseshoe Bay, a wood-stove cottage, and the moment the last ferry leaves and Snug Cove is entirely yours.

Ninety minutes east, a mineral-fed pool town where the lake is sandy, the mountains are misty, and your shoulders finally drop.

Cross the Duffey Lake Road and land in BC's best-kept secret: a sun-baked canyon, a milky-turquoise lake, and actual gold-rush history.

Granite railway tunnels over a turquoise gorge, 80-plus chainsaw carvings, and a 90-minute drive most people waste by not stopping.

A 40-minute ferry hop to The Beachcombers harbour and a bohemian beach pier with a hand-painted mandala.

Forty-plus boutique Okanagan wineries on a 16-km lakeside road, best done by e-bike so nobody has to drive.

A 3.8-km granite-bluff hike, followed by the doughnuts Kate Winslet name-dropped at a film festival.

Check the tide table first: walk the rocky causeway out to Whyte Islet, and leave before the ocean takes it back.

A hot semi-desert valley with a still-working 1877 grist mill, roadside peach stands, and an alpine park of six turquoise lakes.

Over 350 Victorian buildings, a 1924 lakeshore streetcar, and the filming location of Roxanne: Nelson earns the seven-hour drive.

A historic fishing village where you can buy salmon off the actual boat, then eat it on the boardwalk ten steps later.

Buy a $2 bag of seed, and within minutes black-capped chickadees are landing directly on your hand. Yes, really.

Wade waist-deep through a natural 150-foot cave at 42°C above Kootenay Lake, and give yourself a reason to drive to the Kootenays.