Offbeat Vancouver and BC: 6 Days

Six days adds Salt Spring Island, the Gulf Islands’ own BC lifestyle showcase, to the 5-day plan ’s North Shore, Squamish, Victoria, Richmond, and Whistler base; the 7-day version adds a Naramata Bench wine day on top of this.

Day Focus Distance/travel time from Vancouver
1 North Shore (Lynn Canyon + Grouse Mountain) 20-40 min, SeaBus + bus
2 Squamish + Sea to Sky Gondola ~60km, 45-60 min drive
3 Victoria + Butchart Gardens BC Ferries ~95 min crossing (8+ h round trip) or floatplane ~35 min
4 Richmond, Steveston + Bowen Island Canada Line ~25-30 min; Bowen Island ferry ~20 min
5 Whistler ~120-125km, ~2h drive, no rail
6 Salt Spring Island BC Ferries ~35 min from Swartz Bay

Book these before you go

Day 1: The North Shore, British Columbia’s Easiest Reach

Base yourself downtown or in Gastown, then ride the SeaBus across Burrard Inlet to North Vancouver, about 12 minutes on the same TransLink zone fare as any bus, no highway and no ferry reservation required for this one. Lynn Canyon Park costs nothing to enter, and its own 1912 suspension bridge, hanging roughly 50 metres above Lynn Creek, costs nothing to cross either, genuine old-growth-adjacent rainforest trails included. A short bus ride further, Grouse Mountain’s Skyride runs roughly CAD 86-89 (about USD 62-64) for the summit wildlife refuge, lumberjack show, and the best panorama of the city you’ll get all trip; Cypress Mountain, past the other two, is the North Shore’s quieter third peak, worth a mention even on a first visit that skips it.

Day 2: Squamish and the Sea to Sky Gondola, BC’s Own Highway

Highway 99, the Sea-to-Sky Highway, is British Columbia’s own scenic corridor, and Squamish sits about 60km and 45-60 minutes up it from downtown, the natural stopover for anyone continuing to Whistler. The Sea to Sky Gondola runs roughly CAD 62-76 online, closer to CAD 75 at 2026 peak-season rates; book ahead in summer to skip the gate line. Hikers who find a gondola ride too easy can climb the Stawamus Chief instead, the granite monolith towering over the town, a genuine multi-hour scramble rather than a photo stop. Visiting between November and February, budget an extra hour for Brackendale, just north of town, where one of North America’s largest bald eagle gatherings shows up on the riverside dyke trail every winter, free to view.

Day 3: Victoria, British Columbia’s Actual Capital

Victoria, not Vancouver, is BC’s capital, a fact this whole family of trips leans on: reaching the provincial legislature means a genuine journey, not a quick hop across a harbour. BC Ferries runs Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay roughly 8-12 times a day, a 95-minute crossing through the Gulf Islands’ Active Pass; foot passengers pay roughly CAD 19-22 one-way, a vehicle roughly CAD 70-90 one-way plus each passenger’s fare, and a reservation, an extra CAD 15-18, is strongly recommended June-September and close to mandatory on long weekends. Door-to-door, budget 3.5 to 4-plus hours each way once the drive to Tsawwassen and the terminal-to-downtown leg on the Victoria side are added to the crossing itself, an 8-hour-plus round trip before Butchart Gardens gets any time at all. The Harbour Air floatplane collapses that to about 35 minutes each way, downtown to downtown, for a fare from roughly CAD 357 (about USD 258) one-way. Butchart Gardens itself tacks on a separate admission and another 20-30 minutes from downtown Victoria; a guided day trip (see the box above) handles the ferry reservation for you if you’d rather not manage it yourself.

Day 4: Richmond, Steveston, and a Quick Hop to Bowen Island

The Canada Line reaches Richmond-Brighouse in about 25-30 minutes from downtown, no car and no reservation required, and Richmond’s dim sum scene is widely considered stronger and cheaper than downtown Chinatown’s, a genuinely useful contrarian food tip. A further bus or short drive reaches Steveston, a working fishing harbour with the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site and a walkable waterfront village, about 55 minutes total from downtown by transit. In the afternoon, a BC Ferries hop from Horseshoe Bay to Bowen Island, roughly 20 minutes, adds a taste of the Gulf Islands without committing to a full Victoria-style day; most Vancouver visitors never make this crossing despite the ferry dock sitting on the same road as every Whistler-bound car.

Day 5: Whistler, the Sea-to-Sky’s Big Day

Whistler sits about 120-125km and a genuine 2-hour drive up Highway 99 from downtown, longer in snow, sometimes considerably, with no passenger rail linking the two at all. Whistler Blackcomb’s village, lake trails, and summer gondola scene all suit a single sightseeing day; a genuine ski day, by contrast, wants an early departure and either an overnight or a very long day, since the mountain highway drive alone can stretch past 4 hours in bad winter weather. A guided day tour or a self-drive rental (see the box above) both work, since rideshare coverage thins out fast past Squamish.

Day 6: Salt Spring Island, British Columbia’s Gulf Islands Showcase

Extend the Victoria leg with a Salt Spring Island add-on, reached via a roughly 35-minute BC Ferries hop from Swartz Bay; the largest of the Southern Gulf Islands runs a genuine Saturday Market through spring and summer, artisan crafts and farm stalls that read like a BC lifestyle brochure come to life rather than a stop built for one. This day pairs best with an overnight near Victoria, since chasing it straight off the Tsawwassen ferry turns two long ferry days into one very long one. Salt Spring’s studios and farm gates stay open without a ticket or a reservation; the market itself is the only thing on this day with a schedule to work around.

Should you stay overnight on Vancouver Island for the Victoria and Salt Spring days?

Yes, if the schedule allows: pairing Days 3 and 6 with one overnight near Victoria turns two separate 8-hour ferry days into one manageable stretch, and it gives Butchart Gardens and Salt Spring’s Saturday Market actual time instead of a clock running out.

Do you need a car for these six days?

Not for the North Shore, Victoria, Richmond, or Salt Spring, all four run on transit, ferries, or a short island walk from the dock. Squamish and Whistler still need a self-drive, a shuttle, or a guided tour, since no train or SeaBus link reaches either.

Pack a real rain layer for every ferry crossing even on a dry-looking morning; the wind off the water runs cooler than the forecast suggests. For the city itself, see our Vancouver guide ; the 7-day version adds a Naramata Bench wine day, reached by flight rather than road, on top of this same six-day base.