A multiple award-winning writer, Ray has authored or co-authored 14 travel guides and his work has appeared in major magazines, newspapers, and websites. He likes golfing the world’s great courses, attending classical music and opera festivals, and cruising to regions he normally would never visit. Born in Montreal, he has lived in New York, Munich, Detroit, and Vancouver. He now lives in Kamloops, BC with his photographer/wife, Toshi.
The main North Okanagan town, and a focus for most visitors, is Vernon, but just up the road is Armstrong, where they make wonderful cheese. The city’s Old Towne pays tribute to this in its cheese museum and features antique and specialty stores and even an operating bee farm. Then, at the end of the valley, 59 km (36mi) from...
South Okanagan – roughly the region between Osoyoos and Penticton – is the driest part of the region, with the city of Osoyoos itself in the center of Canada’s only true desert. Osoyoos Lake is an oasis in the desert, rimmed with restaurants, B&Bs and small motels. If you want excursions into the United States, the border is just south of...
Highway-5 (Coquihala) provides high-altitude four-lane route as a time saver for many regional travelers heading to Kamloops or Vancouver. But unless you are in a hurry, avoid in favour of the 87km-long Hwy-5A, which runs roughly parallel and leads past a series of historic ranches en-route to the intriguing cowboy town of Merritt. Historic Ranches on Hwy-5A Kamloops and Merritt...
Spectacular mountains, unlimited water activity, a major Canadian historical site and one of the most unusual resorts in BC mark the 218km (135mile) drive from Revelstoke to Kamloops. Three Valley Gap Resort The Three Valley Lake Chateau, 34km west of Revelstoke, combines accommodations, hiking, helicopter rides, fine dining and a Heritage Ghost Town. This involves twenty-five restored and fully-furnished buildings...
Kelowna is the largest city in the Okanagan Valley with a population of 124,000. It has the amenities of a major city, yet has thriving fruit orchards and vineyards within a 10-minute drive of the downtown core. While firmly embraces and thrives on its vintner identity, it is the region’s cultural and economic heart, managing to combine the pleasures of...
British Columbia’s Thompson Okanagan region is named for the two great bodies of water that dominate it – The Thompson River and Lake Okanagan – but it’s every bit as impressive for its desert landscapes, evergreen mountains and low slung hills covered in a quilt of orchards, vineyards and golf courses. Like the Napa Valley in California, Bordeaux in France,...