The Okanagan Valley

The Okanagan runs for well over a hundred kilometres down the interior of British Columbia, a valley of long lakes with dry, almost desert benches above them, and the combination of hot summers, cold nights and a long growing season made it Canada's wine country. Around Kelowna the plantings lean to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling; further south towards Oliver and Osoyoos the valley gets genuinely hot and Bordeaux varieties and Syrah ripen. The region is best known abroad for icewine, made from grapes left on the vine until they freeze solid and pressed while frozen, which concentrates the sugars enormously. Beyond wine there are orchards, lake beaches, a rail trail through the Myra Canyon trestles, and one of the country's warmest lakes at Osoyoos.

What you actually see

• The cellar doors - well over a hundred wineries down the length of the valley.
• Icewine - the frozen-harvest wine the region is known for internationally.
• The Myra Canyon trestles - the rail trail over restored wooden trestle bridges.
• The lakes - swimming and beaches at Okanagan and Osoyoos.

When to go

May to October is the season, with the harvest in September and October the liveliest; icewine is picked in the deep cold of December or January, which very few visitors see. Summer is hot and the lakes are busy with Canadian holidaymakers, so book ahead.

Honest expectations

Tasting means driving between wineries spread over a long valley, and British Columbia enforces drink-driving law strictly, so use a tour or a driver. Tasting fees are now standard and add up. Summer wildfire smoke has affected the valley in recent years, sometimes badly, and can obscure the views and close roads.

Nearby

Kelowna is the main base; Osoyoos and the desert south are at the valley's end.