It is no doubt going to take many, many years to try and see all that Canada has to offer, from the coastal tides of the east coast to the French villages of Quebec, the polar bears in Manitoba and the wide open prairies, the soaring Rocky Mountains, the wild northern territories, and remote rain forests.

Getting around this behemoth of a country is no easy feat either – you could drive nonstop for more than 20 hours and still be inside Ontario. When you come from a small island like me, this is simply mind boggling (and not my idea of fun!).

Canada also lacks a good high speed train system which means if you want to go across the country, you either have to pay for expensive flights from the Air Canada / West Jet monopoly, or drive for multiple days. I’m still not ready to attempt that kind of cross-continent trip by car, so I’m always on the lookout for cheap flights and ticket sales.

This is why I’m SO grateful that a fresh new upstart came along to try to help solve these problems. Flair Airlines launched three years ago, and without a doubt has opened up a world of possibility for frequent fliers who don’t want to break the bank. Yes, they are sneaky about things like baggage fees and other snafus that you need to be aware of, and you need to be careful when using their website, but really, when the flights are this cheap, you still save.

In the past Air Canada was the only airline with a daily direct daily flight to Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island (and the capital of the province of British Columbia), and those tickets were not cheap. As a result, most people would instead fly to Vancouver, and then take a ferry to Victoria. So when Flair launched their direct Toronto-Victoria flights, I jumped on that golden opportunity. The three of us flew return for less than CAD $1000!

And how incredible to fly over the majestic Rocky Mountains that divide Alberta and BC, soar down over the skyscraper city of Vancouver, and pass so many tiny idyllic islands that dot the coastline of BC and Washington State. From the window seat we looked down at boats and bays, and in the distance saw so many snow capped mountains. It was surely the most scenic flight I’ve taken in Canada so far.

This trip was quite short — only five days — so we split it up with two nights in Victoria and two nights in Nanaimo. Here’s what we did with the little time we had.

Two Days in Victoria, BC

Victoria has the reputation of being “the most British” city in all of Canada, but I found it to have a really quirky mix of crunchy west coast vibes and classic colonial character. From the second we got off the plane we noticed lots of hippie types wearing the island life wardrobe of yachties and sailors, plus lots of tattooed sun baked retirees basking in the glow of never having to shovel snow again as they enjoy their twilight years in the only place in Canada with an almost non-existent winter. This, of course, has made Victoria a very expensive place to live too. Who wouldn’t want to live here, after all?

We got the rental car and drove half an hour south from the airport to Victoria, finding our Airbnb in the second oldest Chinatown in North America (the oldest being in San Francisco). Victoria’s Chinatown is small but has lots of fun little attractions, like the super narrow Fan Tan Alley (below), souvenir shops, bubble tea, and a Chinese Museum that you can pop in to and learn about the history of the area. Victoria’s Chinatown is a really great location to stay as you head out the door and within a few minutes you’re in the heart of all the action, and it’s very easy to get around.

What is very cool about Victoria is that because it’s such a small, condensed city, as you explore you are always aware that you’re on the water or near the sea. Walking along the waterfront we watched as tiny floatplanes came in for landing, and tourists in bulky waterproof bodysuits headed out for whale watching tours. God how I missed the scent of salty air and marine life! I’m sorry – I know Canadians loooooove their cottage on the lake – but give me the sea any day!

Two days isn’t very long, but the Fisherman’s Wharf is a must-see in Victoria. Packed with loads of little restaurants and patios selling fish and chips or ice cream, while paddlers pass by in their kayaks and even dogs get a ride on their owner’s SUPs, this is the perfect place to grab lunch and take a break from your meandering. There are signs everywhere reminding people that people actually do live in the float homes, as I imagine it’s pretty annoying having tourists trying to look into your windows and take pictures all the time!

The next day was rain (of course – it’s BC!), so we chose an indoor activity at the Victoria Butterfly Gardens which was surprisingly good, and later in the day walked on one of the many beaches. When I dipped my toes in the Pacific Ocean, I finally understood why you can’t swim. Even in July the water is freezing! And, when in BC, make sure to enjoy some amazing sushi. I know we did!

Two Days in Nanaimo

From Victoria it’s an easy drive of about an hour and a half up the winding coastline to Nanaimo. The highway takes you soaring up through the mountains so be sure to pull over at the lookout spots to take pictures of those fantastic viewpoints. Victoria was really fun but we fell in love with Nanaimo. The vibe is really different; perhaps because it’s more remote and further away it lacks the pretentiousness of cool-capital Victoria, and because it’s a lot smaller it feels more chilled. Nanaimo definitely does not have all the attractions that Victoria has to offer, but in my opinion the scenery was somehow more spectacular.

We stayed at the Best Western Dorchester right in the heart of downtown. This was a perfect location thanks to its proximity to the incredible Nanaimo waterfront. Right across the road was the floatplane harbour and marina, with views in the background of Protection Island and Newcastle Island. We moseyed down the waterfront promenade watching kayaks, ferries and floatplanes buzzing about, and reached the Swy-a-Lana lagoon and fishing pier. Families were putting bait into crab catchers and bringing up the bounty of the sea, presumably to be eaten that night. At the Mafeo Sutton Playground kids were ziplining and climbing and playing. The sun was shining, the sea breeze was blowing, and everything felt so peaceful, and fresh, and clean. This was the Canada I had dreamed of. I already did not want to go back to Ontario’s flat, land-locked, endless suburban sprawl.

Again, two days anywhere is barely enough to scrape the surface, but we did the best we could. The next day we drove half an hour north up to Parksville to enjoy the huge playground and expansive beach, and then worked our way south, checking out the coastline along the way. It was all absolutely gorgeous, especially Neck Point Park which is known for lovely walking trails that lead to a scenic spit that juts out into the sea.

Alas, these short jaunts are always over too soon, leaving you wanting more and making plans to return. There was so much more to see and do, five days barely even nicked the surface. We sadly said goodbye to the natural beauty of Nanaimo, drove back down the highway through Victoria, and carried on north to the airport.

But we did manage to squeeze in one more place, because we had some time to kill before the flight. Victoria International Airport is not in the city itself – it’s a half hour north in the town of Sidney, which is nestled between the airport and the ocean. Known as a bit of a retirement community, it reminded me of Collingwood, except for sailors and salty dogs. There were lots of cute ocean view condos in the charming little downtown area. We went hunting for sea glass at Glass Beach, and were told by a friendly local that the reason there’s so much sea glass washing ashore is because of a glass factory that burned down and got bulldozed into the sea. Look closely in the shallow water and you’re guaranteed to find some of all shapes and colours.

It was with great reluctance that we returned the rental car, checked in to our flight, and flew back to the flat, dull, orange glow that is the GTA. Yuck! Where did the whales go? What happened to the Rocky Mountains in the distance? Where were the floatplanes? Now it was back to highways and sub-divisions and road rage and Amazon warehouses. Again, yuck!

But for sure, Vancouver Island is a place I will most definitely return to and explore more.