Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada.
Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts, and grassy plains. British Columbia borders the province of Alberta to the east; the territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories to the north; the US states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana to the south; and Alaska to the northwest. With an estimated population of 5.68 million in 2025, it is Canada's third-most populous province. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, while the province's largest city is Vancouver. Vancouver and its suburbs together make up the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, with the 2021 census recording 2.6 million people in Metro Vancouver. British Columbia is Canada's third-largest province by total area, after Quebec and Ontario.
Getting to Columbia
Vancouver International Airport (YVR IATA) is the province's major international airport and the second busiest airport in Canada, which is served by most major international airlines and has direct flights from much of North America, and larger airports in Asia and Europe.
- 01Alaska Marine Highway System
- 02Black Ball Ferry Line
- 03Victoria Clipper
Belleville St, Victoria (Belleville St just west of Oswego St), toll-free: +1-800-888-2535.
Worth seeing
Vancouver, as the province's largest city, has the biggest concentration of cultural institutions, including the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Museum of Anthropology, and Science World. It has live theater, shopping, nightlife and casinos, in a spectacular setting. Vancouver's massive Stanley Park, which covers a peninsula attached to the city's downtown, is not just your average urban park!
Things to do
British Columbia has an abundance of riches when in comes to outdoor activities in every season. Go skiing at Whistler-Blackcomb, North America's largest ski area, or the other excellent ski areas throughout the province in destinations near Kimberley, Fernie, Nelson, Kelowna or Rossland. If skiing's not your thing, there's winter surfing in Tofino.
Where to eat
Due to British Columbia's diverse population, the province has a large variety of food available. BC's extensive coastline is home to some of the freshest fish in the world and the province's main specialties are salmon and geoduck. Vancouver is home to diverse, cosmopolitan dining options and one can find Japanese and Chinese restaurants on practically every commercial block.
Getting around Columbia the local way
- Go nextThey might also want to go north on Parrott's Ferry Road and cross the bridge over the Stanislaus River to Calaveras County and Highway 4.
From Wikivoyage: Columbia (California), CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. That article was last edited 2022-12, so a service it names may have changed or stopped.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Michal Klajban (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.