Any fun/interesting places of interest to stop at on my way from Vancouver to Kelowna?

August 10, 2006 4:51 PM

Hi! I will be travelling to BC for one week in early September (3rd-10th) and will be driving from Vancouver to Kelowna and back (leaving Sunday, coming back Wednesday). Can anyone recommend any places of interest to stop at along the way? A place for a bite to eat, or an interesting store/museum/attraction etc... Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance!
posted by Anizev to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

According to this, there's a Dragon Boat Festival in Penticton that weekend, about 30 min drive from Kelowna. Their Jazz Festival is happening too. Take the scenic route on your way back to Van, not the Coquihalla Highway - it'll only put a couple hours on your travel time, and it's a much more interesting drive with a few quirky little places to stop along the way. I like to stop by the Copper Mountain Bar And Grill in Princeton on my way back to Vancouver, the food may not be much to write home about but you can't beat the view from their patio. Have a great trip, drink lots of wine and eat lots of fruit!
posted by mushroom_tattoo at 5:55 PM on August 10, 2006

This isn't giving you much for things along the way, but here are things for Kelowna.

Wine tours! Check out the pyramid at Summerhill Estate Winery, the bell tower at Mission Hill Winery, and eat lunch at Burrowing Owl Winery (make sure you leave with several bottles of wine as well -- Burrowing Owl is one of the best Okanagan wineries).

The Alternator Gallery of Contemporary Art has been a Kelowna institution for almost 20 years, and recently moved into the new Rotary Centre for the Arts (which I haven't been to since the new building opened). Kelowna is also great for hiking, swimming, fruit-picking, and other outdoorsy stuff.

Get a coffee at the Bean Scene on Bernard (though I think they also opened another store in the Rotary building), and make sure you leave the valley with lots of in-season orchard fruit.

Have fun!
posted by Felicity Rilke at 8:06 PM on August 10, 2006

Depends if you're taking the Coquihalla, or the Hope-Princeton (the "scenic" route). Both trips are pretty if you're new to the area, but admittedly dull when it comes to Fun Places to Stop. But don't let the good stuff pass by:

* Visit the Hope Slide
* Visit the Othello Tunnels
* In Kelowna, check out the Myra Canyon Trestles. (A major fire destroyed these a couple years ago, but I believe some have been rebuilt.)
* Make sure you wait till the Whatcom Rd. exit in Abbotsford to fill up on gas. Cheapest you'll get the whole trip.
* You could take a detour out to Harrision Hot Springs.
posted by Milkman Dan at 8:09 PM on August 10, 2006

Oh yeah: Manning Park! It's just off the highway, and has picnic tables, a restaurant, gophers, and even a statue of a bear. Pretty much the ideal rest stop.
posted by Milkman Dan at 8:11 PM on August 10, 2006

Hm. Osoyoos isn't along the way. 'Cause apparently there's a banana farm there! Our tnp "down south" begins on Highway 97. Osoyoos lies approximately one hour south of Penticton. On the way down, be sure to check out some of the wineries and fruit stands that are so plentiful. (Speaking of fnuit stands, did you know that Osoyoos is home to the only banana plantation in Canada?)

I've always wanted to stop, but every time we've done a drive to the Kootenays from Vancouver Island, it's been a gotta-get-there, and not a stop-and-enjoy-the-trip thing. Sadly.
posted by Savannah at 8:25 AM on August 11, 2006