When I visited Whistler last month, the drive took us along a spectacular road that snaked alongside mountains and the sea, views of islands ever-changing as the land drew towards us until we were completely inland. The best part of the drive culminated in Squamish, and I immediately made a mental note to go back.
Cut to a month later, and I unexpectedly found myself there on a tour as part of Vancouver’s tourism challenge. It was the perfect excuse to welcome myself to this little part of Canada that I hadn’t even heard of.
As you might have gathered from my last post, I was totally blown away by it.
Squamish, less than an hour north of Vancouver, was originally a First Nations community, and even road signs for it are “Sḵwx̱wú7mesh”. My favourite thing about this is the fact there’s a 7 in it and this fascinated me for weeks, although I haven’t managed to take a photo of the signs yet. Well I found out on the tour that the 7 indicates a break in the word, so you would say it “squa-mish”.
Our first stop, though, wasn’t in Squamish. It was just outside Vancouver in a little place called Horseshoe Bay. I’ve been to a few Horseshoe Bays before (mostly in Australia) but this one was different… because it’s not exactly a beach.
Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver is a cute little town surrounded by huge great mountains, and serves as a port for some of the western islands. It was a stunning stop off for half an hour and made for a nice start to the tour.
Our next stop, just inside Squamish, was one of my most anticipated activities of the day: Shannon Falls.
Shannon Falls is the third largest waterfall in BC – making it hard to get a photo that actually justifies its size. Seeing it from afar, it looks amazing, but you don’t get an idea of just how big it is until you’re standing right in front of it and tilting your head back as far as it will go.
I actually think it’s the biggest waterfall I’ve ever seen, so God knows what the other two are like!! I was especially lucky with the time of year because all the rainfall that I managed to miss has made for a lot of water. Our guide told us that towards the end of summer the waterfall reduces to little more than a trickle. So if I have one piece of advice, definitely go in April or May.
And also don’t go mid-morning, because the lighting was horrific for photos.
Then we left because there were bears. (I’m kidding, there was just a sign)
My tour included a ride up in the Sea To Sky gondola, which I would probably never have got around to doing because it’s about $50. Getting to do it for free meant that I could find out for myself whether it’s worth paying for next time.
Spoiler: it is.
The ride up is a whopping 15 minutes (not quite as long as the gondola we took in Hong Kong, but still a sizeable chunk of time!) and it’s pretty mindblowing.
You also get fantastic views of the Chief, which is a popular hike that I will never do because I’d probably die.
Once we got to the top, I did go for a little hike. It was more of a walk. A whole 1.6km walk for one of the best views I’ve ever seen in my life.
It was… sweeping.
I had to take a panorama of course, and I got a successful one! (I am the world’s worst panorama-photo-taker)
It’s just unreal. I don’t really have any words for it, to be honest, because the photos are telling you more than I ever could.
Needless to say, I spent most of my time up there in this spot. It’s on the Panorama Trail which is well signposted when you get to the top in the gondola.
But there is a lot that you can explore up there. There’s the basic tourist “walk” which is 400m and barely even counts. It takes you across a cool suspension bridge (seriously, what is Canada’s obsession with suspension bridges?) and to a viewpoint that’s nowhere near as impressive as the other one. Which is funny because it’s still bloody stunning.
There’s some interesting history scattered along the short trail though, including legends of the Squamish people around the mountains.
The only problem with a tour? You can’t spend all day in the places you love. So this is definitely one that I’ll have to come back to, and next time I’m thinking of attempting the Sea to Summit hike (we’ll see!!).
Next up was our final stop on the tour. The Britannia Mine Museum is somewhere that I would never have considered visiting in a million years, but a) it was included on the tour and b) I got a stamp in the tourism challenge book for visiting.
It’s actually a pretty good museum. I can’t say I was that interested in it, but I was excited about riding the underground train!
…which lasted all of five minutes.
Here’s my look of terror as I boarded the train.
We were shown around part of a mine and had to cover our ears when the guide demonstrated the drills. He actually made it interesting and informative, and if I’m honest it was something I knew nothing about, so I did learn quite a bit of useless info.
What really surprised me – in a good way, I think? – was how much they talked afterwards about the negative impact on the environment and the steps they’re taking to reverse the damage done. In the past ten years, marine life has started coming back into the area, which means Howe Sound is no longer toxic.
They also had a fun little panning for gold section, and I found two little pieces that I got to keep! They even provide little baggies to put them in.
I also saw a snake!!! I thought the guy was joking when he shouted “THERE’S A SNAKE!”
This means I have now seen three times the amount of snakes in Canada than I did in a year in Australia. So whatevz Australia. Who said you were scary?
With that, it was time to head back.
Along a beautiful highway that I don’t think I will ever tire of (seriously – imagine COMMUTING along here!).
Squamish makes for a FANTASTIC day out from Vancouver, and I way preferred it to Whistler. Where Whistler is a fun zone for snow lovers, Squamish is just out of this world. It’s far less touristy and totally underrated – after all, how many of you have heard of Squamish?! Because I hadn’t. And while I liked Whistler and had a really good time there, nothing about it totally blew me away like Squamish did.
Have you ever stumbled across a great alternative to somewhere tourists flock to?
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Huge thanks to Landsea tours for a great day out! This isn’t a sponsored post – it was part of the Vancouver tourism challenge which heavily subsidised the tour for anyone working in the tourist industry. A very special thank you to my supervisor for gifting me the tour, too!!
Note to add [May 2020]: I’ve had to turn off commenting on this post as I’m getting 100 spam comments a DAY just on this post for some reason. I’ll try turning them back on at some point and hope that they’ve stopped.
An Orcadian Abroad 
Lovely photos. Been to Vancouver couple of times but have not done this tour.
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Thank you! 🙂 You can get there on a shuttle bus too – but the tour is a really good way to do it if you’re short on time!
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No plan now but may drive up in couple of years.
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Oh – wow!!!
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Haha! That was pretty much my reaction the entire time I was there! I struggled to write this post actually because I wasn’t sure what to write except that!
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Yes – I can imagine my vocabulary failing; in fact, it did…
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Fabulous photos. Squamish is beautiful, indeed!
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Thank you! Isn’t it lovely?? I’m so excited to go back.
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I’ve been many Tim need as I lived in van.
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Those views are amazing!! You’ve definitely sold me on Squamish! 🙂
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Thank you! If you make it to Vancouver, it’s totally worth a visit!
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I’ve never heard of Squamish. I loved your description.👍
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Neither had I! I love it when that happens though. 🙂 Thank you!
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This place looks and sounds incredible. You said the photos don’t do it justice but they still look amazing so can’t really imagine what a true impression would be like. I guess you can’t really go off trail in these places? One of the luxuries I’ve had when exploring the British Isles is not having to worry about getting eaten by a bear; as long as you’re careful and considerate you can wander most places. Great post though, really enjoyed the read.
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Ah thank you! 🙂 Yeah that’s true, that’s the only problem with Canada, and if it’s not bears, it’s cougars or coyotes! Haven’t seen any yet, but I’d rather not see one too close!!! Absolutely incredible places to see though. 🙂
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Wow it looks so beautiful. I am a huge Whistler fan so I definitely need to check Squamish out next time.
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Yes! 🙂 Everyone heads to Whistler (myself included!) but lots of people miss Squamish (almost myself included!!!). Definitely worth a visit!
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This is sooooooo pretty!
I’ve been meaning to go and peek at Shannon falls for aaaaages, but we didn’t as I thought the shuttle bus seems so blooming expensive! We bought a car this weekend, so if the weather is okay next weekend I will HAVE to go there! Thank you for this epic inspiration!!
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Ooooh that’s awesome news! If you go on Saturday I’d be well up for joining you! (Or if you go anywhere else, too!)
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I can’t decide! It looks like this weekend the weather will be hideous, so I’m not sure if it’s better to save it for a less rainy day!?
I’ll let you know if we do head that way though, you are welcome to join us.
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Oh God I just looked, it does look like the rain is finally going to hit us! Dammit.
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You can experience some real Vancouver!!
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love the photos of the Shannon Falls
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Thanks so much! It was surprisingly hard to photograph with the sun right above it lol.
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I wish I saw this post a few days ago! My husband and I just visited Vancouver, and we decided to to the Grouse mountain cable car, and the Gondola ride you took looks like it was much more worthwhile. Grouse Mountain did not have much to do at the top, and it felt like a tourist trap. I’ll have to do the Seat to Sky Gondola next time!
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Awww no! That’s typical. I STILL haven’t done Grouse Mountain, even though it’s touristy I want to hike the Grouse Grind rather than go up in the gondola, but apparently it’s closed at the moment! So – I have to make it to Grouse and you have to make it to Squamish! 😉
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Squamish seems like paradise on Earth! Seeing your pictures made me fall in love with this place and I am definitely adding it to my bucket list. Is it possible to find accommodation nearby?
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Thanks so much for your comment! 🙂 I think there is actually a hostel in Squamish as well as hotels, but it’s really easy to get to just an hour out of Vancouver! Hope you make it there, I really loved it. 🙂
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I need to explore both Squamish and Whistler, and Horseshoe Bay for that matter! There’s just so much to see and do in Vancouver, I’m overwhelmed haha 😂
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Haha right?!?? I don’t think I’ll ever see everything! Whistler is really nice but feels pretty resorty which I think is a big part of why I preferred Squamish. Horseshoe Bay is lovely but there’s not much to do there so it’s good for a little pit stop. 🙂
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I always thought of Whistler as a winter place and only recently heard people go in the summer too! The ferry to Bowen Island leaves from Horseshoe Bay so I suppose that would be a good chance to see it ☺️
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Oh yes, that’s a good shout! lol. I’m not really a winter person (like I don’t do any winter sports etc) so Whistler never really appealed to me for that. I did a ziplining tour there though, and that was a lot of fun!
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Great photos and video, such a cool city and you’ve captured it so well.
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Excellent Article! Such a nice information I am bookmarking your article so I can revisit and review more of your content
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Squamish is where I do my grocery shopping every month haha, because Whistler is far too expensive. I tried the tourism challenge in 2017 through my work, but sadly only did the sea to sky gondola. The views of Howe Sound are so amazing. I’m hoping to hike the chief this summer, but need to join a gym first!
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Oh gosh, isn’t it?! Aww that’s a shame but the sea to sky gondola is one of the most expensive things on there, so you got some value out of it! 😉 Good luck hiking the Chief, I don’t think I’m ready to do that one!! Another one I’d love to do is St Mark’s Summit, the views over Howe Sound from there look INCREDIBLE!
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