Road trip to the Okanagan Valley

Because the greatest part of a road trip isn't arriving at your destination. It's all the wild stuff that happens along the way. 

It is time for another travel recommendation from my side. Today I want to tell you about our road trip to the Okanagan valley – the wine region of Canada to the east of Vancouver. If you’re in Europe, it’s not just around the corner but if you ever come to Canada, it is definitely worth a visit.

What do you need for this trip: A car

• Sunglasses
• Sun cream 
• Swimsuit
• A good playlist (I will recommend you some song at the end of this article)

So that’s what we did: On Monday we had the idea to go for a trip, on Tuesday we booked the car and the motels, on Wednesday I flew to Vancouver and on Thursday we started our road trip. Long live spontaneity. :)

Our first destination: Harrison Lake, one and a half hour away from Vancouver. On our way there we stopped at the beautiful Bridal Falls.

Harrison Lake is not more than one street along the lake with some restaurants and hotels. But it’s absolutely beautiful and peaceful out there. Our motel was really cute and directly at the lake (here is the link to it). We arrived Thursday night and went for a quick dinner at a German restaurant at the lakeside. My boyfriend is really into German food.

The next day we had some exciting plans because it was my birthday. Wohooooee!! (I’m such a birthday girl). We went to the water park at Harrison Lake. It was so much fun and we both felt like 10 years old again. Exhausted, sun burnt (me) and happy, we continued our road trip to the Southern Okanagan Valley, to a small village called Oliver.

The road from Harrison Lake to Oliver was amazing and we didn’t even realize that we spent almost four hours in the car. Our whole ride went through untouched nature, we barely passed any town. Getting closer to Oliver, we passed dozens of fruit stands and wineries, farms and fields with horses.

And can you believe it?? We saw a bear with the baby!!! They were crossing the street in front of us. I almost caused a car accident as I was soo excited. Unfortunately we couldn't take a picture. 

Finally, we reached our destination, the Maple Leaf Motel Inn Towne in Oliver (Here is the link to it). A cute little motel in the middle of a 4000-inhabitants-village.

We just dropped our bags, changed and left for Osoyoos for my birthday dinner. Our first stop on our way to the neighbour town was on the top of a mountain with a stunning view.

In Osoyoos, a beautiful town at the American boarder, we had an amazing dinner at an Italian restaurant called Marina. Thank you Eduardo for that great dinner!!

But the day wasn’t over yet. Forecast promised a night full of shooting stars and that’s what we got. Standing at the Lake Osoyoos, we enjoyed the beauty of the shooting stars on this clear summer night.

On the next day, we decided to do a city trip to Kelowna, a little bit more north. Once again the drive from Oliver to Kelowna was amazing and we had a great view on the lakes on our way.

In Kelowna we checked out the city because there was a lot going on. But we still didn’t do the most important thing that you have to do when you’re in the Okanagan Valley: Wine tasting. So we decided to go to a winery and we had an amazing wine tasting followed by a great dinner.

Back to Oliver, we went to have a beer at the only pub in town. It looked like a local party was going on and we were obviously the only “non-locals”. :)

Sunday was already our last day of the trip. We spent some relaxing hours at the Osoyoos lake. A beautiful scenery and for Canadian conditions the water wasn’t even that cold. ;)

Shortly after we headed back to Vancouver as we still had a 4.5 hours drive in front of us.

6pm, Sunday evening we arrived in Vancouver. With 1200km of road trip behind us, amazing memories, a good tan and the promise that we have to go back to the Okanagan Valley. We had a great time together!!

Some of our favorite songs for the road trip:

SIA - Cheap Thrills

Natasha Bedingfield - Pocket Full of Sunshine

Tracy Chapman - Fast Cars Remix

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk

Lana Del Rey - Summertimes Sadness

Kid Rock - All Summer Long

The Proclaimers - 500 miles

Bryan Adams - Summer of 69

By the way, I will be another month in Vancouver. Follow me on Instagram (@whataboutnina) to stay updated and to enjoy more pictures!