Vancouver Island is located in the Ring of Fire where a mild climate allows for all year round exploring, hiking, kayaking, and recharge in British Columbia, Canada.

You have a couple of choices to get here either drive, fly, or my favorite take a ferry from either Portland Oregon or Seattle Washington.

To give you a better visual other than photos, here is a sneak peek of what you can expect to see on Vancouver Island in this YouTube video made by Tyler Cave.

Cannon Beach in Oregon

I have always wanted to visit Oregon after seeing a picture of Haystack Rock in a National Geographic magazine.

Instead of making two trips to the Northwest, I decided to fly to Portland, rent a car, drive up the coast and stay overnight in Cannon Beach.

The air is so fresh smelling off the ocean and birch wood burning that even though it was wintertime, I cranked up the heat in my Mustang rental, rolled down all windows and set off driving up and down windy roads for the next couple of hours.

Cannon Beach didn’t disappoint. Located nearby was Ecola State Park.

It’s a great place to go hiking if you are a fan of that and take in the views of the Pacific Ocean.

The next stop was Seaside where I had some of the best oysters.

After exploring the town and buying a couple of art pieces, I was off to Seattle Washington where I would stay overnight at the Kimpton Hotel Vintage Seattle before taking a ferry ride to Vancouver Island.

BC Ferries offers package deals that include a round-trip ferry ride and hotel to Victoria. I chose to stay for two nights. If your stomach gets queasy on boats, check out my post, Simple Ginger Drink Recipe to Heal Your Gut.

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Sightseeing Solo and Group Tours

After sleeping in, I hit the ground running and did a walking food tour of Victoria. For 45 USD, you go on a 2-hour culinary journey.

Other places I recommend visiting are:

• The Butchart Gardens

• Royal BC Museum

• Beacon Hill Park

• Craigdarroch Castle

• Victoria Butterfly Gardens

Depending on how much time you have, you can visit these places separately or save yourself some time and book a tour through Viator.

Looking for more adventure? Take another ferry and go island hopping around the San Islands before returning by ferry back to Seattle Washington.