Fill Your Fall Basket in British Columbia’s Valleys & Vineyards

Harvest season in Valleys & Vineyards invites you to fill your basket—and your cup. As orchards glow gold and grapes ripen on the vine, gather experiences that nourish both body and spirit: a restorative lake plunge, al fresco feasts with local chefs, and opportunities to learn from Indigenous hosts who have stewarded these lands for generations. This is fall in the Okanagan: abundant, unhurried, and uniquely influenced by place.

Fill Your Basket with Wellbeing

Wellness comes naturally in a region that welcomes over 2,000 hours of sunshine each year:

• Lake therapy: Two floating saunas bring a new wellness ritual to downtown Kelowna. Löyly Floating Sauna and Kuva Floating Sauna allow guests to sweat in cedar-scented heat before plunging into Okanagan Lake—a restorative practice for those seeking balance amid an inspiring tableau of water and mountains. Both businesses operate from fall through early spring.
• Stories that heal: New in 2026, Whispers of the Trickster at the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre brings to life syilx Okanagan captíkʷɬ (oral storytelling) through a multisensory theatre experience guided by Coyote, Eagle, and Bear. Owned and operated by the Osoyoos Indian Band, the award-winning centre also houses a Living Lands exhibit and sage-lined trails within a 647-hectare (1,600-acre) desert conservation area.
• A new outlook: Opening in April 2027, the $100 million Okanagan Gondola brings a new perspective to the region. Set across 115 hectares (285 acres) overlooking Kalamalka Lake—known as the “Lake of Many Colors” for its cyan and turquoise waters—the year-round attraction will feature panoramic viewpoints, extensive trails, and regional dining, with a design that integrates seamlessly into the landscape.

How to get there: Fly into Kelowna International Airport (YLW), where a $108 million terminal expansion completed in 2026 doubled passenger capacity and added direct service from Los Angeles and Seattle. From YLW, it’s a 45-minute drive to West Kelowna, 30 minutes to Kalamalka Lake, and less than two hours to Osoyoos.

Fill Your Basket with Flavour

The Okanagan harvest is a symphony of seasonal ingredients, chef-driven menus, and flavours that sing the stories of the valley:

• A UNESCO bite: The Market at Quails’ Gate Winery is dishing up an ode to Kelowna’s designation as Canada’s first UNESCO City of Gastronomy. The UNESCO burger is crafted entirely from Okanagan ingredients—including iceberg lettuce from Okanagan Herb Patch and a sesame bun from Alchemy Bread Company—offering a juicy reminder that Kelowna’s world-class dining is seeded by local farms.
• Penticton’s newest flavours: Penticton’s dining scene is flourishing, with a wave of new openings. Recent arrivals include The Forest, a nature-inspired cocktail bar tucked behind Black Antler (look for the light to know it’s open); Sister Bodega, serving Asian-inspired dumplings, noodles, and sandwiches; and Different Desserts, a Skaha Lake stop for cold fusion ice cream and baked goods.
• Taste the land: Harvest is best experienced at its source. As the season shifts from peaches and plums to crisp apples and pears, fill a basket at a U-pick orchard; wander the award-winning Kelowna Farmer’s and Crafter’s Market, where nearly 300 vendors showcase local bounty; or dine under the stars at Backyard Farm or Okanagan Table, where seasonal menus connect every feast back to the land.
• Drive the harvest highway: Follow Highway 3 through the Similkameen Valley, stopping in Cawston – Canada’s Organic Farming Capital – for farm-fresh produce at places like Klippers Organics. Then continue to Keremeos, where dozens of roadside fruit and veggie stands offer roadtrippers a sample of the season’s bounty.

How to get there: Fly into Kelowna International Airport for Kelowna’s markets and UNESCO dining, or take advantage of WestJet’s new Vancouver–Penticton service—launched in May 2026—for direct access to the South Okanagan. It takes 50 minutes to drive between Penticton and Kelowna.

Fill Your Basket with Wine and Wonder

Across the Okanagan, wine is becoming a gateway to art, music, and cultural connection:

• Inside Oculus: Named Winery of the Year at the 2025 WineAlign National Wine Awards—making it the most awarded winery in the competition’s 25-year history—and ranked among the world’s top 50 vineyards, Mission Hill Family Estate in West Kelowna has unveiled the Iconic Oculus Experience. For the first time, guests can enter the estate’s private Chagall Room to taste its flagship wine, surrounded by a museum-like gallery featuring a rare Chagall tapestry and a Yamaha grand piano signed by more than 60 music legends, including Barbra Streisand and Sting.
• Harvest, reimagined: The newly opened TULA Restaurant at Little Straw Vineyards is already earning international acclaim after being named one of National Geographic’s “15 best places in the world for food right now.” Chef Bhawna Tandon marries aromatic Indian cuisine with Okanagan ingredients in a menu that showcases the local harvest through a global lens.
• People and place: See a new side of wine country through Indigenous-led experiences that emphasize people and place. In West Kelowna, Niche Wine Co.’s new Taste Wine with the Winemaker’s Wife experience takes guests behind the scenes of a family-run estate. In Penticton, Métis-owned Grape Savvy weaves together wine tastings, charcuterie, and vineyard visits with stories that offer a deeper connection to South Okanagan wine country.
• Elevated estates: Lake Country’s newest wineries pour exceptional wines in extraordinary settings. Azhadi Vineyards, opened in 2026, offers estate wine, Persian-inspired cuisine, and an onsite gallery featuring Group of Seven originals alongside rare Persian masterpieces. Nearby, O’Rourke Family Estate enters its first full season, inviting guests to sample Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in its 12,000-square-foot underground wine caves, stay in luxury accommodations, and enjoy open-air performances by The Bahamas (Aug. 8) and The Tenors (Sept. 5).
• Walk the vines: At CedarCreek Estate Winery in Kelowna, The Home Block Vineyard Experience guides guests through regenerative vineyards supported by beehives, compost systems, and grazing pastures. It concludes with a tasting of Aspect and Platinum wines paired with seasonal tapas.

How to get there: Fly into Kelowna Airport (YLW); Lake Country is a 10-minute drive from YLW. For South Okanagan experiences, Penticton is an hour away by car or directly accessible via WestJet’s Vancouver–Penticton flights.