Why sell it
British Columbia’s Vancouver, coast and mountains is one of six tourism regions in the province. Home to both Vancouver and Whistler, it is the most visited region in BC. Its constituent parts are:
- Sea to Sky Corridor, between Vancouver and Whistler, considered one of the most beautiful drives in the world.
- Sunshine Coast and Bowen Island, only accessible by ferry or air.
- Fraser Valley, BC’s largest agricultural area and one of nine wine regions.
- Harrison River Valley, a salmon stronghold and a gathering area for thousands of wintering bald eagles
- Fraser Canyon – hiking and rafting in the heart of the Gold Rush Trail.
Main attractions
Also known as Highway 99, The Sea to Sky Highway offers a spectacular two-and-a-half-hour road trip. Stops include Brittania Beach, home to the Brittania Mine Museum, a National Historic Site of Canada that was once the largest copper mine in the Commonwealth.
The community is benefitting from a major redevelopment with new housing, retail and restaurants giving visitors more reasons to stop.
The highway leads to Squamish, where the premier attraction is the Sea to Sky gondola, a 10-minute gondola lift from the road up to various viewing points.
Squamish is also home to the BC Railway Museum, with its collection of 95 heritage railway locomotives and cars, and operators like Sea to Sky Air, which runs flightseeing tours.
At 180 kilometres long, the Sunshine Coast Trail is the longest hut-to-hut hiking trail in Canada. This coastal region offers a range of boat tours, kayaking, wilderness lodges and is well known for its community of artists.
Clients doing a self-drive should follow the Purple Banner Route: artists hang purple flags outside their studios or galleries, an invitation to drop in.
Vancouver has a wine region right in its backyard: The Fraser Valley. Also known as the “Berry Capital of Canada” it offers a wide array of farm-fresh produce, breweries, along with hiking trails, biking paths and fishing spots.
What’s new
Opening this summer is Squamish Canyon. A 2.2 kilometre loop along elevated walkways that will allow visitors to immerse themselves in nature and explore the Mamquam River and Falls while learning about local wildlife, ecosystems and the Indigenous culture of the Sḵwx̱wúmesh Úxwumixw. the attraction will include a forest lounge and children’s playground.
The tourist board
“The Sunshine Coast makes for a perfect self-touring route paired with Vancouver Island. Spend a couple of nights coming up the coast and then use BC Ferries to go across from Powell River to Comox (Little River) on Vancouver Island, a sailing of around one and a half hours,” says Heather McGillivray of Vancouver, Coast and Mountains Tourism Region.
“Then spend three days coming down the east coast of Vancouver Island, before crossing back over to Vancouver on a ferry from Nanaimo or Victoria.
“Each spring, three tulip festivals bloom across the Fraser Valley into the Harrison River Valley, creating a tulip trail through the region.”
