15 Best Day Trips From Vancouver

Outside of Vancouver are some gorgeous locations to explore. Many are easily reachable from the city making day trips to the mountains or coastline easily accessible via your Karma Campervan. From hot springs to small, quaint towns and towering mountains, the area around Vancouver is so diverse. It is a pleasure to travel around in both winter and summer.

Here are some of the best day trips from Vancouver:

Whistler

The trip to the world-class ski resort takes you along the Sea-to-Sky Highway, a stretch of alpine roads with beautiful views full of pine trees and ice-blue lakes. Winter offers world-class skiing. While during the summer, there’s hking, mountain biking and golfing. 

Karma Campervan driving through Canadian Rocky Mountains

Vancouver Coast

 A 30-minute drive from the city you’ll find Vancouver’s stunning coastline with an abundance of diverse places to discover and explore. The coastline has quaint little beach towns like Deep Cover, which is nestled between pine forests and the charming beach.

Along the coast you’ll find places to hike, kayak, sail or just unwind on the beach itself.

Victoria 

You can easily get to British Columbia’s capital city of Victoria by taking a picturesque ferry ride from Vancouver. Victoria is a lovely waterside city ideal for travelling on foot. You can enjoy the sights and sounds of the Inner Harbour, famous for its street performers or admire the city’s parliament buildings.

To learn about this capital city, be sure to visit the Royal British Columbia Museum, one of the most impressive and fascinating in the country.

Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

This park offers rainforest scenery with insight into First Nations People. It’s a great destination for hikers and cultural buffs who want to learn more about the indigenous population. The park offers scenic forest trails and river walks before you even arrive at the unique suspension bridge.

The First Nations Cultural Center offers a wealth of knowledge when it comes to their history and a chance to see the world’s largest totem pole collection.

Harrison Hot Springs 

Harrison Hot Springs is built on the shores of Harrison Lake. It’s popular with health enthusiasts and travellers alike. The hot springs here are the most mineral-rich in the world due to their heat and high sulphur concentrations.

If you don’t want to spend the entire day here, you can explore the scenic marina, catch an art festival or take a walk-through Sasquatch Provincial Park.

Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park

 The 90-mile drive from Vancouver to Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park takes you through rugged majestical natural scenery. The park consists of more than 250,000 acres of undisturbed watershed British Columbia and a variety of natural and historical attractions along the Stein River.

The park’s amenities are sparse, so if you’re planning a night at the campsite make sure to bring all of your food and gear that you’ll need.

Highlights include amazing mountain views, archaeological sites, and a number of pictographs created by the Nlaka’pamux people generations ago.

Abbotsford 

Here you will find a charming small-town feel and abundant activity options.

Fishing is one of the town’s most popular outdoor activities. The rivers and streams are full of hearty game fish like trout, salmon and massive sturgeon. There’s also an amusement park nearby and popular flea market that has been an iconic weekly social event for over 40 years.

Squamish

Squamish is a small town along the Sea-to-Sky Highway that leads to Whistler. Its location is at Howe Sound at the base of beautiful mountain range.

Squamish is a convenient trip for a day of fun. It’s popular among rock climbers seeking dramatic rock faces to climb and other adventure seekers who like biking and hiking trails.

Salt Spring Island 

Salt Spring Island is teeming with farms, homesteads and many artist’s studios who have moved to this lush green location. You can get to Salt Spring via non-stop ferry ride from Tsawwassen.

The main town of Ganges offers shops, restaurants and galleries there. 

Mount Baker, Washington

 The peak of Mount Baker is visible from Vancouver. It’s just two hours away and one of the most worthwhile excursions to take for incredible mountain scenery.

There’s lots of hiking in the summer and world-class skiing in the winter due to the amount of snow that falls there. In the late summer wildflowers are in full bloom for a few weeks, offering amazing beauty.

Fort Langley

 Only an hour from Vancouver, Fort Langley is a former fur trading post rich in history. It was also offers panning for gold re-enactments from the 1800’s. A true gold rush outpost, you can lose yourself in the wild stories of the British Columbia colonies as you walk around the old fort that’s open all year round.

Bridal Falls 

Less than two hours from Vancouver, you’ll find the town of Bridal Falls that caters to visitors looking to explore the base of the famous Bridal Veil Falls.

It’s wonderful place to have a picnic in the summer, the 60m high falls are beloved by locals and travellers alike on account of the serene setting tucked away in the forest.

One of the highlights is during winter when the temperature drops and the falls themselves freeze, creating an icy dreamscape that attracts as many visitors as in the summer.

Karma Campervan driving through Canadian Rocky Mountains

Britannia Mining Museum 

The Britannia Mining Museum is a fascinating insight into the 19th Century gold rush, making it a great trip for those looking to learn more about British Columbia. The building is an unmissable landmark on the Sea-to-Sky Highway, with over twenty-tiered storeys towing over surrounding pine forests.

Britannia Mine offers many things to do including, a guided underground tour, to panning for gold, or seeing original 20th Century equipment.

Hell’s Gate Airtram

 Hell’s Gate is about 2 hours from Vancouver and home to one of the area’s most impressive spectacles.

The Fraser River narrows to a point where the water is forced through a small, rocky section resulting in an amazing flow of raging white-water. Between spring and fall, the Hell’s Gate Airtram takes you on a hair-raising ride directly over the churning water and safely to the other side.

Hell’s Gate offers a gift-shop, restaurant and information center for those who want to see something different in an exciting way to see it.

Lighthouse Park 

Located in a residential area just 40 minutes from the heart of Vancouver, Lighthouse Park is a picturesque spot at the base of a classically designed lighthouse overlooking the water.

It’s popular amongst couples because of its romantic settings. A perfect place to enjoy a sunset picnic for two. For those looking to do something more active, there are many hiking trails in the area and a number of rock-climbing sites.

Ready to embark on a journey from Vancouver? Click here to book your campervan rental

We love seeing your adventures! Be sure to capture a photo along the way and share with us by tagging @KarmaCampervans and using #GoodCamping

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