Vancouver and Pender Islands
Trip Type: Custom-Made Travel
Territory:
Region: Pacific Northwest
Trip Price: $3,500
Duration: 8 days/7 nights
Trip Begins/Ends: Vancouver, British Columbia / Vancouver, British Columbia
National Parklands:
All custom travel is tailored to the desires and interests of our traveling clients (see How Custom Travel Works tab). Trip pricing detailed is an estimate of the per person pricing for the sample itinerary detailed and includes all of the lodging, activities, and guided experiences described. Actual pricing for the trip designed expressly for you and others traveling with you will depend on the features and elements developed during the trip planning process. Travel with Off the Beaten Path requires agreement to our standard Terms & Conditions.
No Sweat - 1-2 miles of walking or hiking per day, plus easy activities
Nice & Active – 3-6 miles of hiking or walking per day, plus physically active exploration
High Five! – 5-12 miles of hiking per day, plus possible peak bagging or other action-oriented fun
The Energy Index detailed above relates to the level of exertion associated with the sample trip detailed. This would be modified to fit the style and ability of your group as a part of the custom trip planning process
We’ve been tailoring custom journeys for clients since our very inception in the mid-1980s! The process is all about connecting the interests of the travelers with the best that a given destination has to offer. To achieve this, we rely upon good ol’ fashioned conversation! Our geographically focused travel designer love to meet new people and learn about their interests for travel. Understanding your goals informs the process immensely and serves as the foundation for the development of a bespoke travel experience for you and yours.
The trip detailed on this web page is a sample of something we’ve done for other clients over the years. In order to start the process of designing your own custom travel experience, just call us at (800) 445-2995 and ask to speak with one of our Travel Advisors. After a bit of time on the phone, you will then have the opportunity to connect with one of our travel designers.
The entire planning process is very personalized and works in an iterative fashion until a final, perfect trip has been created. We then secure all of the lodging, activities, and guided experiences associated with your trip and send along abundant trip materials capturing these details – and much more about your travels!
Pick up your rental car and settle into your boutique hotel in one of this cosmopolitan city’s unique arts districts.
Enjoy a guided biking tour of Stanley Park, one of the greatest city parks in the world. Along the way you’ll learn about the history of coastal First Nations people and see the legendary totem poles. Then trade your bike for the ferry, and relax on the pretty 1.5-hour ride to Vancouver Island. An hour’s drive will get you to the quaint seaside town of Sooke.
For your first full day, head out with a guide to explore some of the area’s best coastal trails, and forest trails through towering old-growth trees. Your guide drives—and brings lunch! The next day take to the water for a whale-watching tour to look for resident orcas, or humpback, gray, fin, and minke whales. One afternoon be sure to visit the Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery.
Spend a few hours in Victoria and Butchart Gardens, then hop a quick ferry to Pender Island. Your destination on this lovely little Gulf Island is a unique and tranquil luxury camp, with accommodations in a sweetly outfitted Airstream, with farm-to-table restaurant on site.
Your days here are gloriously unhurried and filled with novel experiences and active adventures. Set out on your first day here with a private guide to kayak, hike, and explore—and maybe even learn some wilderness skills or hit an art gallery. The following day has you out on the water for a half-day salmon fishing charter and wildlife watching excursion. Take a late afternoon to visit picturesque Sea Star Vineyard.
Catch the morning ferry back to Vancouver and head to the airport to catch your flight home.
Granville Island Hotel is located on Granville Island on the banks of False Creek overlooking the waterfront and downtown Vancouver. The renovated, boutique-style hotel offers comfortable, welcoming rooms, and nice hotel amenities. This is the perfect location to enjoy all this lovely artist district has to offer!
Escape to the welcoming and gracious Sooke Harbor House, with its enchanting water views, casual and fine dining, and impeccable rooms. Watch for seals and whales from your room!
WOODS on Pender offers a unique, luxury camp experience on 7.3 tranquil wooded acres—a beautiful juxtaposition of rustic outdoors and comfortable amenities. Unique accommodation options include Airstreams, retro trailers, and rustic cabins.
As an in-house writer for Off the Beaten Path, a good chunk of my day is spent researching travel destinations – reading magazine articles, perusing traveler reviews, gaining insight from travelers’ blogs, and speaking with locals. And whether I’m writing about Sedona, Steamboat, San Francisco, or Silver City (New Mexico, in case you didn’t know), […]
The little girl gripped the edge of the folding table. “Billy is not afraid,” she told me with a steely look as her brother handed over Billy for the slug race weigh-in. I peeled the surprisingly sticky Billy from my latex-gloved hand and laid him on the digital kitchen scale. Ten grams. A small contender […]
While so far, 2020 feels like the year of inside, people are doing what they can to get outside, taking advantage of balconies, backyards, regional parks, and local trails for mental and physical health. Bike sales, gardening, and birding have surged, and popular neighborhood trails and pathways are busy. In light of that palpable desire […]
The Greater Yellowstone region is a wonderfully dynamic destination for traveling, with Yellowstone National Park as its anchor. Winding ribbons of road connect small mountain towns, world-class national parks, trail-rich national forest land, wild rivers, and relics of western history. No matter where you land in the Greater Yellowstone, setting out in any direction from […]
