Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/534792
British Columbia 89 BRITISH COLUMBIA "Super, Natural British Columbia"—was there ever a destination tagline as apt as this? Here, 1,000 provincial parks cross six regions, five mountain ranges, ice fields, lush vineyards, and even rainforests in a spectacular array of landscapes that will have you spinning in circles just to take it all in. With a climate that lets you ski Olympic mountains Whistler and Blackcomb, then golf one of 40 stunning courses in the same day; run or bike Stanley Park's seawall in the morning before undoing your workout at foodie paradise Granville Market; and trade a mission to find the Ogopogo lake monster for finding your favorite winery in the Okanagan Valley, you'll find that time is your only limitation. BC's two best-known cities, Victoria and Vancouver, will test you even further to make every day a whirlwind. Immerse yourself in traditional English elegance in its capital, Victoria, where high tea is a must, and Edwardian estates, Queen Victoria's favorite chocolates, Antique Alley, the Royal Theatre, and famous Sunken Garden at Butchart Gardens sweep you into a world of genteel pursuits. It's a refined contrast to the rest of wild Vancouver Island, where cedars are 1,000 years old, 9,396 lakes lend themselves to kayaking adventures, and water clarity and marine life have been declared among the best in the world by the Jacques Cousteau Society. Cross over those waters to the eponymous City of Vancouver, where designer shops on Robson and Burrard Streets and unforgettable Asian fusion dining marries chic urban living with a deep passion for nature and an active lifestyle in the "City of Glass." Distinctive neighborhoods like quaint Gastown, trendy Yaletown, and one of three Chinatowns—Canada's oldest is in Victoria, and nearby Barkerville, a National Historic Site of Canada preserving the Gold Rush culture, has one of its own—make it so BC can easily stand for "beyond compare." English Bay Burrard Inlet Coal Harbour False Creek Brockton Point Deadman's Island Granville Island Stanley Park Sunset Beach Park Vanier Park Nelson Park David Lam Park Charleson Park Davie St. Burrard St. Thurlow St. Pender St. Canada Pl. Way Powell St. Pender St. Main St. Jackson Ave. Columbia St. Denman St. Gilford St. 6th Ave. 8th Ave. 4th Ave. 2nd Ave. Howe St. Hastings St. Waterfront Rd. Columbia St. Cambie St. Heather St. Ash St. Willow St. Laurel St. 10th Ave. Broadway Seymour St. Granville St. Homer St. Cambie St. Beatty St. Carrall St. Dunsmuir St. Pacific St. Hornby St. Nelson St. Barclay St. Smithe St. Haro St. Pendrell St. Comox St. Broughton St. Jervis St. Bute st. Bute st. Harwood St. Robson St. Georgia St. Hastings St. Oak St. Burrard Bridge Cambie Bridge Granville Bridge P a c if i c B l v d. Charleson St. Laney's M ill R d . C o a l H a rbour Rd . B e a c h A v e. Science World VIA Rail Station Stadium Waterfront Main Granville Burrard BC Place Stadium Plaza of Nations Vancouver Art Gallery SKY TRAIN Aquatic Centre Vancouver Museum and H. R. MacMillan Planetarium Maritime Museum Canada Place SeaBus Terminal CH I NA TOWN DOWNTOWN YALETOWN WE ST EN D GAS- TOWN 0 1/4 miles 0 1/4 km 99 99 99 1A 99A 7 4 1 8 5 2 6 3 9 10 11 12 ROCKY MOUNTAINEER Travel into the heart of the Rockies in the lap of luxury on a rail ride that provides stunning views of this UNESCO World Heritage Site and the fantastic towns along the way. This line has been in service for over a quarter of a century, inviting more than one million international guests to experience one of the most "spectacular train trips in the world." It's your turn to count yourselves among them. Four routes with endless vistas are yours to choose from: • The First Passage to the West offers service from Banff and Calgary to Vancouver with an overnight in Kamloops • Journey Through the Clouds departs from Jasper with an overnight in Kamloops before continuing to Vancouver • Rainforest to Gold Rush travels between all-season resort towns Whistler and Jasper, and includes an overnight in Quesnel • Sea to Sky Climb links Vancouver and Whistler in a three-hour premier service