Things to do in  British Columbia

Great way to experience Vancouver - beautiful 40 km ride around Stanley Park and through downtown, English Bay, Kitsilano, Granville Island, Spanish Banks, and UBC

Great ride, highly recommend. Auzzie Tour guide “Milk” made the trip fun and informative- thanks Milk. We saw bald eagles, sea otters, water falls. Tips for the trip- go to the bathroom right before lol and definitely opt to wear the red suits for colder weather through the Indian arm. I almost skipped the suit bc it looks bulky and hot…I’m very glad I decided to wear it. We got some rain and the temp drops significantly through the Indian arm. Suit was actually a comfort. Beautiful scenery on the way but a long trip back so be prepared for that.

Although it was a freezing and rainy day we would still highly recommend this trip if you want to see as much as possible while visiting BC! Our tour guide Jeff truly made the experience special and seemed to be passionate about everything he was telling us which made the experience much more enjoyable. I would suggest making a plan for what you’re going to do in Whistler as you are there for 4 hours. Amazing views no matter the weather!

We thoroughly enjoyed our history and food tour of Victoria, BC. So much rich history and delicious food! Such a great way to see and taste the beauty of Victoria! Andy is a wonderful tour guide full of interesting facts and love for Victoria! All of the food was delicious, but we especially enjoyed the risotto balls and meatballs… And of course the chocolates!

For us the Gondola trip was the highlight but good weather is essential to show the beautiful BC views. Whistler is a nice place to wander around but it’s basically a modern a ski resort with lots of eateries so unless you want to try your hand at local activities such as mountain biking there’s not much to do for a casual visitor so a few hours there is perfect. Our driver, Brent, was very courteous and gave us a well received commentary on the trip with clear instructions on timings.

The entire staff was fantastic and provided a truly memorable experience. We had a significant delay getting off our cruise ship and fortunately, they were able to accommodate us on a later journey. We originally booked the enclosed boat but only the zodiac was available for the reschedule. I was reluctant and nervous as I knew little about the open air boats, beyond the fact that it is wide open and speedy. I disclosed my anxiety to the staff and they were incredibly supportive and most importantly, informative. They made sure I was comfortable before departing. Honestly, after being out on this boat, I consider it luck to have missed the first booking. The zodiac was speedy but it was also stable and provided easier views from side to side. The open air was incredible, especially in the coverall suits they provide. The skipper, Mark, I believe has decades of experience and knowledge that he readily shares. He exhibited a lot of patience to locate multiple whales with an added bonus of peregrine falcon babies. We look forward to traveling back to the BC area in the fall to do it again! Not to be missed.

My wife and I went on the Granite Falls zodiac tour and it was absolutely fantastic! 3 hours and a total pleasure. Brett was a great host, with funny and informative stories throughout. We come to bc every year and it's been increasingly difficult to find new things to experience, but this was literally a breath of fresh air! We got to see eagles, seals, jellyfish, a hovercraft, three waterfalls, an old powerstation and many many other points of interest, complete with some history to contextualize what we were seeing. I highly, highly recommend.

The trip was very enjoyable, only too short. We thoroughly enjoyed the flight over to Victoria, had a great brunch, went to the Royal BC Museum, walked around the harbor to the Fishermen’s Wharf. Then we caught a water taxi back to the Empress Hotel. By then it was already time to catch the Ferry Connector (a bus) up island to get on the Ferry to go back to Vancouver. We had a good time, but I was especially disappointed not to have been able to visit Bushertz Gardens - not enough time. If I had realized this would have happened, we would have extended our visit.

This was so fun and SO beautiful! So first of all, if you’ve ever been ziplining before you know there is lots of climbing. Well here, it’s all climbing DOWN. On icy snowy narrow paths, across suspension bridges, down stairs, down down down. (A little up, but mostly DOWN) so if you like to go down, this is the zip excursion for you! (I personally HATE to go down, and I had sprained my ankle 2 weeks before so I was definitely the weak prey in the herd lol, taking my mincing steps and hanging on for dear life to anything that might help keep me upright if I slipped lol) but seriously the people in front of me MOVED so I think that if you’re not hurt, this is great - there was a man much older than my 42 years, and much rounder and even he was way in front of me lol. Also, they give you these shoe crampon things for your boots, like snow chains for tires, to keep you moving without slippage. Had I known THAT I think I would have worn my worn bottom snow Uggs instead of buying hiking boots. Okay! So now onto the fun part! The ladies that were our guides (ladies? Wtf? YES! Because on this tour you don’t SLAM into the guide at the end of the rope, it’s cleverly designed to slow you down, and they just have to hook you up and make you safe - you don’t even need gloves!) were expeditious and friendly and made sure we were all safe and that no one (even me lol) got left behind. The only thing I didn’t like was that we moved so quickly that I couldn’t really look around, I only looked at my feet, so that I wouldn’t slip. I think if I had worn my contacts it would have been better. In case you have marginally bad eyesight, and are thinking about just not wearing anything, maybe wear some contacts. Lol The zip lines are FAST! And do NOT plan to have your phone out unless you have a strap. Lots of opportunities to take photos of your friends though and great views on the trail. Also you get to go upside down! If you have a child that barely makes the weight limit, they’re probably going to get stuck, dangling above the ground (safely of course) till someone scoots out there to get them. It happened to a little girl on our trip (and she LOVED it) but if you’re forcing your small child to go and they’re scared of heights, don’t do it haha. This was a great experience and I would definitely do it again. I’m from Texas, it was like 38 degrees and we were HOT by the end of it. So you don’t need say, a down hood to protect yourself from vicious winds on the zip, or really even thick gloves or 3 layers. Maybe a couple of kleenex :) bc that wind is FAST as you zip along. It’s just as beautiful and wonderful as you would expect to sip in the winter, and the tour starts with a gondola ride half way up the mountain and then is all down, so it never gets colder than at the beginning and it is ALL down. Man I hate down haha But again, that’s only me I think. This tour is great! 100% reccommend!

Most memorable was I got closer to nature and I was able to see the most visited place in BC. The tour guide was amazing.

Our first time to BC and Whistler. We really enjoyed the guided tour and the commentary that our guide Hanson provided. Shannon Falls and the stop in Squamish were beautiful stops along our way to Whistler.

Our guide, Tim, was kind, knowledgeable, and fun and told us lots of interesting stats and corny jokes that we enjoyed! We had fun all the way up and back! We saw a bear and a beautiful waterfall---3rd highest in British Columbia (but maybe the best)!

Wonderful experience to visit the Capilano Bridge. Free transportation to/from the bridge was also great. I would recommend visiting the Capilano Bridge when visiting Vancouver BC

We had 2 adults and 4 teenagers 14-19. As a parent, it was nice to see the kids unplugged and physically engaged. Paul took care of the group. It is a beautiful, easy ride. We went in July. Weather was perfect!!! If you are into farming, gardens, or seeing how rural BC Canadians live you will like it.

We arrived in Vancouver last night and today headed out to experience the Sea to Sky adventure. I am falling in love with British Columbia. Pictures today are from Squamish and Whistler, BC. We saw two bears, a black and brown, and a vibrant rainbow. We walked a suspension bridge, thousands of feet up, and took a breathtaking gondola ride. Shannon Falls was a fabulous walk in the woods!There are two First Nation peoples in this area, the Squamish and the Lil’ Wat. We learned so much about their heritage and lifestyles at their cultural center.

My husband, my sister and I had the pleasure of taking this private tour from Vancouver to Whistler. Eric was our guide and he was totally the best. He was professional, attentive and fun. The drive up there was amazing. Eric pointed out so many things for us that we never would have noticed otherwise. The weather was nice and the only bad part was some smog from the wild fires in BC. But, we were still able to see a lot. Whistler was amazing. We took the trams to the top (for a cost of about 62 Canadian dollars each, which was well worth it. The lines were long, but moved well. Totally recommend doing this if you are able. There are tons of restaurants and shops. It was great to see the Olympic rings and flags. It was a great day. If you have the opportunity to take this tour, it is really exceptional.

I meant to book with another more popular company on TripAdvisor, unfortunately 2 days advance booking is not good enough during summer season as they filled up fast, we wind up booking with Westcoast sightseeing. This trip turned out to be what I expected based on the reviews, its great if you need a driver who will take care of all the details, but if youd like to have good stories, history or background info, you might be disappointed. We were picked up 30 min late at the hotel in Richmond pick up time was 8:15am, the lady explained it was due to someone calling in sick. We were then transferred to Vancouver to meet the bus with the rest of the tour. The transfer bus was more luxurious with leather seats than the green bus we toured in. Our guide was Lauren ?, I think there were 30 ppl in the tour. We got on the BC ferry around 9:45am to head to Vancouver island. It was a 1.5 hr ride, smooth with different levels and sections to hang out. The full hot all aboard breakfast CAD 12.69 was surprisingly enjoyable. Once we were off the boat, its another bus ride till we finally got to our first stop Butchart garden around 12:15pm. I was hoping the tour guide would give some history/stories along the way. He gave some info sporratically, but mostly offered good tips on how to best use our time at the garden etc which I appreciate, but not too much on cutlure or history. I got the Butchart garden history from reading the brochure. The garden was beautiful and pretty big. You have to spend the time wisely and vigoriously walking through most places if you want to cover all the sections. We had about 2 hours there. We got back on the bus and headed to Victoria. A beautiful town full of historical structures. We drove through different neighborhoods to downtown. The guide/driver was nice enough to offer 2 drop off places. One was downtown by the museum. The other was fishermans wharf. We picked the latter. The Victoria fishermans wharf was one of the highlights of our trip! Such a cute and charming place. I actually liked it better than SF fishermans wharf! Enjoyed some fish and chips there by the water recommend Barbs, and took the cutest water taxi back to inner harbor downtown to walk around a bit before meeting up at the museum drop off place. We had about 2 hours in Victoria. From there its the long journey back to Vancouver. The dinner options on the ferry were not as enticing as breakfast, the buffet didnt look very good. The tour arranged different bus to drop off the people from Richmond. Overall a great day, logistics was smooth and it was a comfortable trip. Not much background narrative, some people might prefer that. I am sure its a bit of a random thing you cant control depends on the driver/guide you got. If you only have 1 day to spend, Id recommend this tour over driving and figuring out everything on your own, as you wont be able to be as efficient, carefree, and see as much in 14 hours.

My wife and I cannot say enough positive things about Mike Lawrence as a guide. We signed up first for a Fraser Valley wine tour. Everything was beyond first class. We were picked up exactly on time at our downtown hotel in a very comfortable modern van. As it turned out, we were the only two people on the tour that day. After a very informative ride to the Fraser Valley with such an easy going, warm individual was a perfect introduction. Mike knew people at each one of the five wineries we visited, and in each case we were made to feel at home. I actually am somewhat of a professional, writing scholarly articles and books about wine history as well as teaching wine courses at the University level and to community groups. As a result, we have done wine visits literally all over the world. Mike's tour of these BC wineries certainly ranks with the best in places like Bordeaux, South Africa, Argentina and Australia. The wines were overall excellent, and in some cases exceptional. We particularly enjoyed our visit to Blackwood Lane where we had a terrific conversation with the Peruvian owner whose wines were as engaging as he was. In addition, our lunch at a 6th winery was excellent and affordable. We enjoyed our experience so much with Mike that it occurred to us to ask him to plan another tour with our children and grandchildren who were arriving to Vancouver the next day. He came up with a number of suggestions and ended up proposing a tour that would engage the grandchildren's 6-12 years old varied interests the tour included going into a mine, climbing up to a gorgeous waterfall, riding a gondola up a mountain and taking a great hike, seeing a salmon hatchery and ending up a long day tasting many of the 230 ice creams at his favorite ice-cream stores. Mike made our and their Vancouver experience truly extraordinary

This was a great adventure and a very pleasant day. I would highly recomend the 8 am tour as by the 11 am tour, the destinations are very crowded, at least in the summer. A very fun and knowlegeable driver named Gina gathered up 20 of us in the bus and we first visited the amazing Capilano Bridge and park. The wilderness area is just gorgeous and the trip across the moving bridge is definitely an experience. There is also a set of stairs that goes up a steep cliff called the Cliff Walk which is not for the faint of heart but beautiful. There are great totems throughout the park, an home to the First Nations people who occupied this land. There is also music at one location and a coffee bar and other enjoyeable asides including a great shop with many local goods. We spent 2 hours at this location and I can highly recommend this tour with Land and Sea Tours. After leaving the Capilano Bridge park we drove a short distance up the mountain to Grouse Mountain. This is a wintertime ski mecca and a breathtaking summertime wildnerness experience. If you're afraid of heights, skip this tour. Upon arrival, you board a ski gondola and take a steep 6 minute ride to the top of the mountain. You can imagine the views of Vancouver and the surrouding area. At the top there is 2 restaurants, an outfitter, and a nice gift shop. The trails through the mountaintop are great for walking and hiking. Follow the bear footprints for about 10 minutes to the area where 2 grizzly bears live. They were found as cubs and have been living on the mountaintop for 18 years now. There is also many wood carvings throughout the area on the trails. We were at this location for apx 2 hours before we all boarded the bus and returned to our hotels. This tour company picks you up at your hotel which is super convenient. The price of this tour is 126 per person which includes the pricey admissions to both locations. I highly recommend this apx 5.5 hour adventure in magnificent Vancouver, British Columbia.

Eagle Wing Tours was FANTASTIC. We actually went out twice in one day with this same outfitter. The captain of one our boats was one of the owners. Everyone was SO knowledgeable and kind, and genuinely LOVED what they were doing. They were clearly committed to the experience. I highly recommend this experience with this company if you want to see amazing Orcas in British Columbia. ENJOY. It's majestic.