Culinary tours in the Vancouver, Coast and Mountains region are centred in the Fraser Valley, where farms and orchards offer sweet Chilliwack corn, organic hazelnuts, fresh blueberries and much more.
Join Swallow Tail Tours for guided culinary tours that combine gourmet meals with activities such as hiking or cycling. Prefer self-guided tours? Circle Farm Tours are foodie road maps that lead to farm-gate vendors, open-air markets and eateries in six Fraser Valley communities.
Ready to enhance your cooking skills? Then take some cooking classes at Fraser Valley favourites like Limbert Mountain Farm and Well Seasoned.
Farmers markets and food festivals, such as Feast of Fields or the Slow Food Cycle, are wonderful places to sample local foods and meet the growers.
Guided Tours
Swallow Tail Tours' culinary trips pair outdoor activities with gourmet food. Hike to mountain viewpoints, take a cycling trip that includes hunting for wild edible foods, or snowshoe through pristine forests – and then sit down for a four-course meal and BC wine.
Self-Guided Tours
Drive a Circle Farm Tour in Abbotsford, Agassiz-Harrison Mills, Chilliwack, Langley or Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge. Tours vary by community; try fruit wines at a winery, pick up fresh produce at a stand, visit a dairy farm or sample craft beer at a brewery.
Short on time? Farmers markets are scattered throughout the region and are an easy way to enjoy local food in one place. Find markets in communities from Steveston (Richmond) and Gibsons to Squamish and Mission. Or head to Well Seasoned in Langley, a gourmet retail shop that carries hard-to-find specialty foods and hosts cooking classes.
The Green Banner Tour is a directory of farmers markets spanning the Sunshine Coast (a brochure is available at local Visitor Centres). Pick up fruit in Gibsons, catch a performance in Sechelt or buy hand-made soap in Powell River.
Cooking Classes
It’s rewarding to tie on an apron and discover how to make delectable meals using ingredients from Fraser Valley markets, farms and wineries.
Love herbs and want to learn how to use them? Then sign up for an evening cooking class at Limbert Mountain Farm in Agassiz (south of Harrison Hot Springs) to explore the art of combining fresh ingredients with some of the 60 herbs grown on the farm. Try one of the interactive classes, which have included topics such as making homemade soup and rustic herb bread, Mediterranean tapas, and New Orleans style cooking.
Cooking classes at Well Seasoned, a gourmet food store in Langley, are so popular that a second professional kitchen had to be added! Sign up to watch and learn from local chefs in a classroom environment. Classes cover everything from Greek, Thai and Japanese dishes to cooking with poultry, seafood, garlic or beer. Practical lessons, such as knife skills or kids’ cooking classes, are also available.
Festivals and Events
Don't miss EAT! Fraser Valley, a three-day food and wine extravaganza in Abbotsford (September). Watch cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, snack on canapés and appetizers by local restaurants, and sip flavourful wine, beer and spirits.
Check out the Lower Mainland Feast of Fields – a summer gastronomic picnic that's held outdoors and features some of BC's best chefs, farmers, wineries and microbreweries.
Work up an appetite on a Slow Food Cycle Tour in Agassiz or Chilliwack. Pedal 25km/15.5mi along country roads to farms, orchards and wineries and enjoy food right at its source.
Chocolate takes on a BC spin at the West Coast Chocolate Festival (October/November, various Lower Mainland locations) where this favourite ingredient is cooked, paired and savoured with wines from around the province.
Practical Points
- The peak season for culinary touring in the Vancouver, Coast & Mountains region is between March and October, although some tours are offered year-round.
- Tours may require advance booking.
- Check with local Visitor Centres for maps, information on transportation and trip ideas.
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