Great Activities for Summer Weekends in and Around Vancouver

Credit: Andy C

Don’t spend your summer in front of a TV—get out and be active!

There’s something about summer and sunshine that makes it almost too easy to be lazy. A weekend afternoon can easily be spent in the neighbourhood park or at the beach, sitting in the sun, doing just about nothing.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m a huge fan of doing nothing. But I’m also a little goal oriented, and come the end of the summer I like to feel like I’ve accomplished something with my weekends.

Summer activities

Checkout these ideas for unique ways to spend your summer weekends:

Plant a container garden: If you haven’t gardened before, lettuce is a great place to start, as it’s easy and remarkably fun to snip your own romaine for your sandwich or your dinner salad. So hop on down to whatever organic nursery is nearby and pick up a couple of six packs of whichever lettuce catches your eye. Then plant the little guys in organic soil in some shallow, wide pots (container planting keeps the local cats out). Keep the soil moist. Cut leaves from the bottom as soon as the plant starts growing.

Take a farm tour: Once you’ve become excited by your brilliant gardening skills you’ll want to rub shoulders with a few more farmers. Check out these circle tours (from Abbotsford to Mission) to learn about (and sample) artisan cheeses, hazelnuts, wines and honey as well as your typical fruits and veggies.

Take a hike: Check out the map at Vancouver Trails to find a trail near your home (or one in a region you’ve never visited before). If you are not familiar with this excellent website be sure to bookmark it. Each trail report includes a map, a difficulty rating, information about the availability of public transit as well as a detailed description of the trail.

Build your own guitar: Did you know there is a luthier school on Vancouver Island that offers workshops in guitar building? Well now you do, and over a 3-day weekend you can learn to build your own guitar at the Summit School in Qualicum.

Head to the Park: With 22 regional parks, over a dozen swimming pools and a variety of historic sites (from First Nations sites to gold rush pioneers), there is more to the park than a shady place to picnic. Check out one of BC’s Provincial Parks (the Provincial Park system turns 100 this year!) or seek out a neighbourhood park that you may never have noticed before (Vancouver has more than 200).

Retreat: Okay this is sort of like doing nothing, but it is a peaceful way to do nothing. Head to a well-established retreat like the gorgeous Hollyhock on Cortez Island for a restorative getaway that includes yoga, meditation and kayaking, or choose Salt Spring Island for a yoga retreat at the well-regarded Salt Spring Centre of Yoga or simply pick a quiet cabin somewhere beautiful to recharge your batteries.