British Columbia’s dynamic cities serve as the gateways to this wow-factor wilderness and each have their own character that visitors will surely enjoy getting to know. Victoria, the province’s capital on Vancouver Island, is filled with gardens and seafront parks, stately hotels and museums, bohemian restaurants and craft breweries, and the isle is the perfect base for food and wine touring, whale watching and ocean adventures.

Arrivals to Vancouver can soak up the city’s culture on street art and craft beer walking tours, inside multiple fascinating museums and within its eclectic neighbourhoods, from the glitzy financial centre of Downtown to the historic heart of Gastown. Visiting the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Granville Island and Grouse Mountain are also must-dos, while Hotel Belmont and Skwachays Lodge – Canada’s first indigenous arts hotel – are both perfect choices for those seeking a quirky place to sleep.

Whistler completes the trio of British Columbia’s most visited cities. A five-day stay here allows guests to tick off its best experiences, from mountain biking, canoeing, kayaking, zip lining and wildlife watching, to completing the Whistler Ale Trail, boarding a helicopter to get a bird’s-eye view of the resort and learning about Canada’s indigenous culture at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. This isn’t the only place visitors can learn about British Columbia’s First Nations, though, with galleries, studios, live performances, traditional feasts and guided explorations of traditional lands available across the province.

Exploring British Columbia is hungry work, so there’s no surprise the destination has developed a delectable food scene. Fine-dining restaurants, artisan bakeries and independent bistros, as well as wineries, distilleries and breweries, can be found dotted all over the province, but Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Fraser Valley and Thompson Okanagan are hotspots for a culinary-focused holiday.

Many wintertime visitors to British Columbia come for the sports, because with majestic mountains, forest-laden valleys and clear-blue skies, the destination is a skier’s and snowboarder’s paradise. There are 13 resorts that span 10 mountain ranges dusted with powdery white snow, all promising fresh tracks, even fresher air and a lively apres-ski scene. But whatever time of year a holidaymaker chooses to visit British Columbia, there are plenty of outdoor adventures to be discovered.