This is not your usual coastal holiday spot, unless your idea of a getaway includes hiking through rainforests and spotting black bears from the trail. On Vancouver Island, the Pacific crashes into cliffs and the fog rolls in covering the long-standing trees. This rugged landmass off British Columbia's southwest coast has long been home to Indigenous communities, including the Nuu-chah-nulth, Coast Salish and Kwakwaka'wakw peoples. The island's colonial past began in the mid-1800s with the Hudson's Bay Company and the British Crown establishing settlements like Fort Victoria.

A walk through Pacific Rim National Park Reserve tells an interesting story. The West Coast Trail runs past shipwreck sites and rain-soaked headlands that once tested sailors' skills. Strathcona Provincial Park, the oldest in BC, offers alpine lakes and the island's highest peak, Golden Hinde, at 2,198 metres. The island's ecosystems support a range of species, many of which—like the Vancouver Island marmot, Roosevelt elk, coastal sea wolf and marbled murrelet—are found only in this corner of the country. Whether you're here for the trails or just to unplug, it's the kind of place that pulls you away from screens and keeps you out there longer than you planned.