We'll be in Whistler for several days in early autumn, with a car. We mostly plan to enjoy the mountain air and scenery right in town. However, a few day trip by car suggestions for north, east or west of Whistler would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Am I correctly getting the impression that daytrips from Whistler are not recommended? We will be there for 10 days, so were hoping for at least a couple of ideas.

I don't recall that question coming up before, so I was a bit taken aback. It seems most questions center on Whistler as a day trip from Vancouver. Whistler is a huge ski destination, of course. When we've gone there (normally as a day trip out of Vancouver), it's been in September almost always. And it's been pretty quiet - dead, actually. Now if you are into hiking, ziplining, and so forth, I believe there is a lot of that. Since I have no direct suggestions, let me share these two sites that may help:

Whistler Travel Guide: https://www.google.com/destination?q...-03,2019-06-10
HelloBC: https://www.hellobc.com/

One thing that does come to mind is to head towarad Lillooet. You'll run into some very interesting and beautiful scenery along the Fraser River. Have lunch in Lillooet. You could explore further, even as far as to Clinton.

Also, in Whistler, don't miss the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre for some exposure to First Nations culture. https://www.whistler.com/arts/squami...ltural-centre/

Nope, not all. What you're seeing is that the Fodor's Canada forum is really, really quiet, that's all.

There are plenty of day trips to do from Whistler, but the reality is that you're limited to heading north towards Pemberton and Lillooet, or heading south along Hwy 99 to Squamish and Vancouver - there is nowhere to go east or west without heading into the backcountry along some truly rough 4wd logging roads. Look at Whistler on Google Maps or Google Earth and you'll see what I mean.

Hwy 99 is known as the Sea-to-Sky Highway, and if you research Sea to Sky Highway, you'll find dozens of things to do. There are literally hundreds of articles published from media outlets around the world. The "Duffey Lake Road" section of Hwy 99 is basically the part between Pemberton and Lillooett, which is north and northeast of Whistler, so you can look that up as well. It's a winding bit of the highway but super scenic, especially as you go by Seton Lake.

If you're interested in alpine hiking, early autumn is prime alpine hiking in the Coast Mountains (the mountain range where Whistler is) and there are many provincial parks (managed by BC Parks) that surround Whistler like Nairn Falls, Garibaldi Provincial Park (home to challenging hikes like Black Tusk, Elfin Lakes, and Wedgemount Lake), Brandywine Falls, Shannon Falls Provincial Park, Stawamus Chief Provincial Park, Joffre Lakes, Birkenhead Lake, etc. The thing is that this part of BC is extremely popular, especially Joffre Lakes. VancouverTrails.com is an excellent resource for researching hikes in this area. But be aware, places like Joffre Lakes will be super crowded, and the others places, you really do need to come prepared with proper shoes, clothing, water, paper maps (there's little to no cell reception in the backcountry), etc. Being fit will be handy. But my point is, you can easily spend each of those 10 days doing a different hike in the region. That's how I would spend some of those days, anyway.

Speaking of which, a local NBA star hiked "The Chief" - the name of the granite monolith that towers over Squamish, a 45 minute drive south of Whistler village - a famous hike in Stawamus Provincial Park. He made a video of his experience, which you can watch here: https://globalnews.ca/news/5001012/j...-hiking-video/.

There are also plenty of cultural things to do if hiking's not your thing. It would be fun, for example, to head south to Squamish and visit the farmers market and then do a craft beer crawl - it has a great brewery scene and some good restaurants. Or head to Fergie's Cafe for breakfast one day and go white water rafting along the Cheakamus River, if they're still offering it then. The Sea-to-Sky Gondola is worth several hours too. Do the Takaya Tours tour if they're offering it to learn about Indigenous cultural connections to the region.

On another day, you could venture to Lillooet, where the climate begins to change and you move away from the rainforests of the coast and instead start to see Ponderosa pines and the semi-arid climate... and check out their Fort Berens Estate winery or head further all the way to Lytton for a real change in scenery, where the confluence of the Fraser River and Thompson Rivers are. Like California, the Fraser River was home to a big gold rush in the mid-1800s and so there's a lot of Gold Rush history. Look up "Gold Rush Trail" - they have a whole tourism organization devoted to attractions and things to see and do.

Another thing to look up would be the Callaghan Valley which is just southwest of Whistler village. Alexander Falls is there, which is worth a look, but typically off the typical tourist path, unlike Shannon Falls or Brandywine Falls. I think there are also some Olympic sports you can try (biathlon? skeleton? bobsled) which they might offer a summer version of for tourists - look that up.

If you haven't looked at it already, Tourism Whistler's website lists all the activities and itinerary ideas for summer visitors (early fall will still be counted as summer on their website - summer basically means not the ski season, haha). One day you can go canoeing along the local rivers. On another day, you can chill at Scandinave Spa. On another day, go Zip Trekking or take the gondola to the top of the mountain and explore on foot. I'd also recommend the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre and a visit to the Audain Art Gallery is an absolute must.

In addition to the Tourism Whistler website, look up Tourism Squamish, Tourism Pemberton, Tourism Lillooet as well for things to see and do in those communities.

If you like craft beer, look up the BC Ale Trail - they have ale trails for Squamish and Whistler... and of course Vancouver.

If you're ambitious, one day you can drive down to Horseshoe Bay and take the 20-minute ferry across to Bowen Island as a day-trip destination and check out the cute Snug Cove village (with restaurants, a cute dock with an ice cream shop, etc.) and walk around Crippen Regional Park through the temperate rainforest. Tourism Bowen Island has a website with info. If you're into kayaking, or even if you've never kayaked in your life, you can take a guided kayak trip for an hour or two from Bowen Island, right where you walk off the ferry. That's a fun way to spend an afternoon and see the scenery.

If you like boating, drive down to Horseshoe Bay and park the car and then rent a boat from Sewell's Marina - that's a fun way to spend the day. They also have a boat tour of Howe Sound if you're not interested in renting a boat yourself.

If you're extremely ambitious, you could take the 40-minute ferry from Horseshoe Bay across to Langdale on the Sunshine Coast and visit the towns of Gibsons and Roberts Creek. There are a lot of rainforest parks and beaches on the Sunshine Coast, as well as quirky shops, restaurants and breweries. There's a mix of blue collar mill town and hippy artsy spirit on the Sunshine Coast. This would be a full day's outing, but it is an option.

And of course, Vancouver's only 90 minutes away from Whistler, so you easily have 10 days worth of activities there when you start to look at all the surrounding beaches, parks, city attractions and outlying neighbourhoods, heritage sites, markets, etc.

Hope this helps!

BC_Robyn, I bow before you. You are awesome.

BC_Robyn, I will second sludick's comment and I want to say thank you for putting so much information into your reply! We will definitely use it. We have traveled often throughout the years, have visited Vancouver in the past and will be in Squamish for a few days on this trip as well. We like to find the undiscovered places and the road less traveled. That said, we are not good with white knuckle drives and cliffside ledges with sharp drop-offs and no guardrails. We like easy flat walks with beautiful scenery, including mountain views as seen from below and relatively easy roads. We will not likely have 4 wheel drive on this trip. We are just hoping to see a little more of the real BC and its people. We will likely venture north, as you suggest. Thanks so much!

if weather your interest points you indoors the stunning (architecturally) Audain Museum of Art is a winner. the collection is all about BC except for visiting shows i believe and is a mix of both indigenous and non indigenous artists

Thank you, Andrew!

meggies, we found the Lilloet river valley area fascinating. I think you might enjoy the mountain views around Pemberton: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pe...4d-122.8050498

Thank you, sludick! That is just the kind of idea we are looking for! Hoping the hotel or inn will be open for lunch. I am seeing that this is just a half hour's drive. May we assume this is an easy drive, without daredevil turns, steep drop-offs from sides of highway, etc.? The scenery looks gorgeous, with water views along the way.

Only a short distance way from Whistler but would check out Nairn Falls to the North (about 10mins drive). Then carry on into Pemberton and check out Joffre Lakes as there is 3 lakes there so depending on how far you fancy going you can also just walk to the first lake. It's all pretty sweet!

Thank you, d-a, for the suggestions. Sounds good!

Note that Joffre Lakes is SUPER popular and in fact, has been experiencing capacity issues to the point that it's been making the news: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...ment-1.4992097

I'm not saying avoid Joffre Lakes, but know what you're getting yourself into. BC Parks (who manages Joffre Lakes) posted this photo last summer, which paints the reality of the situation:

Thanks For Sharing.