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British Columbia’s South Okanagan, a five-hour drive or 50-minute flight southeast from Vancouver, is a patchwork of pine forest threaded with rivers, sunbaked vineyards, and orchards bursting with an extravagance of peaches, cherries, and apples. The country roads that wind through the green valley are slow enough to leisurely pedal a bicycle down, dotted with faded fruit stand signs and boutique, family-run wineries.
While the entire Okanagan Valley spans nearly 125 miles from the top end to the border of Washington, this southernmost section, from the town of Naramata in the north to Osoyoos in the south, feels like it’s been plucked from a bygone era. “It’s peaceful and unhurried,” says Kaitlyn Domijan, co-founder of Similkameen Sip Cycle in the small town of Cawston. “It felt like a secret spot no one from the city really knew about and we found it.”
The region marks one of Canada’s few desert environments (semi-arid desert as opposed to rolling Sahara-like dunes), and the unique minerality of the soil in combination with extreme swings in temperature lend the varietals produced here a distinct flavor. The area is home to Oliver, the wine capital of Canada, as well as Cawston, the country’s organic farming capital—but when travelers aren’t sipping award-winning wine overlooking vineyards or savoring farm-to-table fare, there are plenty of other ways to explore. Hiking and horseback riding trails wind through fragrant ponderosa pine and wild sage, and visitors can learn about the rich Indigenous culture of the Syilx Okanagan First Nation at a state-of-the art cultural center and a winery helmed by Canada’s only Indigenous winemaker.
You can’t go more than a mile here without stumbling upon a scenic winery or restaurant, but here are some of the best places to stay, sip, eat, and explore in this bucolic haven.
Where to Stay
This contemporary property in Osoyoos is perched above a sloping vineyard cradled by the craggy peaks of the Okanagan Range, part of the Cascade Mountains. Adobe-style buildings echo the desert landscape and house suites with outdoor soaker tubs and sweeping views of the vines. Set on the traditional land of the Osoyoos Indian Band, part of the Syilx Okanagan First Nation, the resort operates in collaboration with the band and is also home to an innovative, Indigenous-inspired restaurant led by lauded chef Murray McDonald. The Bear, The Fish, The Root The Berry’s name draws on the creation story of the Four Food Chiefs, which informs the menu, including a salmon platter of perfectly cured, smoked, and candied salmon, and warm bannock (a traditional fried bread) with wojapi berry sauce.
Okanagan Falls is one of the quietest stretches of the South Okanagan, tucked away high up in the mountains and home to several small wineries. Just two stylish tented suites are perched above the vineyard and aptly named Green Lake at Nighthawk Vineyards. At this secluded escape, you’ll wake up to the melody of birdsong, including the nighthawk which finds its northern migratory reaches here. Outdoor soaker tubs and floor-to-ceiling windows make the most of the views and a stay includes a bottle of wine and daily breakfast of homemade, warm pain au chocolate, scones and jam, and French press coffee delivered to your door. A trail through the vineyard will bring you to the winery’s tasting room and outdoor terrace, where you can sip on cool-climate varietals such as chardonnay, pinot noir, and riesling that grow well at the higher elevation. Owned and operated by Daniel and Christy Bibby, it’s a true family affair here, and you won’t want to miss the three-course, wine-paired dinner crafted by the couple’s son and award-wining chef, Carson Bibby.
This storied, atmospheric inn dates back to 1908 and has been a cornerstone of life in Naramata since then. The 12-key inn will reopen under new management this June but retain the turn-of-the-century charm that has made it so beloved. Local restaurateurs Christopher Royal and Michael Ziff are welcoming travelers back to the historic inn and restaurant with Bistro Lapin Perdu, which will serve up an Okanagan wine list alongside French dishes such as beef tartare and duck confit. The restaurant and inn’s lawn will also host summer soirées such as “Rosé, Croquet a DJ” and sommelier collaborations under the starry country sky. Just a short drive or bike ride away is the Naramata Bench, which is dotted with world-class wineries including Poplar Grove, Tightrope, and JoieFarm.
Where to Drink
Canada’s first Indigenous-owned winery also boasts the country’s only Indigenous winemaker, Justin Hall, and the experience at Nk’Mip is as much about embracing the culture and traditional land of the Osoyoos Indian Band as it is about the award-winning wines. Enjoy a flight under soaring ceilings in the tasting room or open a bottle and savor a slow lunch on the breezy patio of the winery restaurant, Sweetgrass. Named after a plant sacred in many Indigenous cultures, the menu marries traditional Indigenous cuisine with contemporary flavors.
Red Barn in Oliver is newer to the scene and offers a fun, approachable tasting experience and a delicious roster of wines, including their best-selling Lost Art Semillon, a varietal usually seen in white blends but with creamy, fresh, and fruit-forward notes that are a perfect match for a summer patio on their own. The winery’s own outdoor space hosts live music throughout the summer months.
Perched on a hillside in lower Okanagan Falls with yawning views of green vineyards and mountains, a couple of hours slip by easily on the patio of this elegant and modern winery. Sip a glass of the smoky, chocolaty 2022 Reserve Cabernet Franc while nibbling on seasonal tapas. There’s also a sleek two-bedroom loft suite you can book to fully immerse yourself in the winery and its surrounds for a couple of days.
Set along a quiet road in Keremeos, known for its orchards and organic farms, Clos du Soleil is a small artisan winery producing refined, premium wines. Floral, fruit-forward rosé, honeyed, mineral sauvignon blanc, and peppery syrah marry a Bordeaux aesthetic with the flavors and aromas unique to the rocky terroir of the Similkameen Valley. French for “an enclosed vineyard of the sun”, Clos du Soleil wines capture the rocks, soil, and sun of this unique microclimate.
While the sipping experience undoubtedly focuses on wine in the South Okanagan, in Cawston, the Organic Farming Capital of Canada, and neighboring Keremeos, apples and stone fruits plucked from sun-drenched orchards make for delicious dry cider. Pop into the newly opened Lass Chance Cider House for a flight crafted from “rescued fruit”—which otherwise would have gone to waste—in their airy, minimalist tasting room. Untangled and Twisted Hills are two other spots serving up seasonal ciders like lavender nectarine and black plum basil in cozy, intimate spaces.
Where to Eat
Dinner at Phantom Creek Estates is one of the most refined dining experiences in the South Okanagan. Guests savor dishes made from locally grown, raised, and foraged ingredients in the intimate dining room, where picture windows frame a view of the vineyard-studded valley. The wines are just as divine, crafted by wine maker Mark Beringer of Napa Valley fame in collaboration with Alsatian winemaker Oliver Humbrecht, who acts as a consultant. The summer 2025 season is focused on collaborating with guest chefs for private dining and winemaker’s dinners, and the jaw-dropping tasting room is also worth stopping by if you only have time for a drink.
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With a beautiful lakeside setting in Penticton on the Naramata Bench, lunch and dinner are served in a light-flooded dining room at this beloved winery. Chef Stacy Johnston creates a seasonal menu grounded in produce sourced exclusively from local farmers, and sustainably caught seasonal seafood. Tuck into plates like scallops with truffled pea cream and crispy prosciutto, pumpkin seed, chive and ricotta agnolotti, and wild B.C. sablefish and salmon.
Savor a taste of India in the South Okanagan at Manzil in Oliver, part of Kismet Winery. Meaning “home,” the plates at Manzil are meant to be shared and offer a fresh take on regional Indian cuisine, including steamed dhokla bites, blue cod pakoras, and ghee tempered achari prawns. “You don’t traditionally think of wine paired with Indian food, but we’re trying to change that,” says Manpreet Dhaliwal, head winemaker and the first South Asian female winemaker in Canada. Dhaliwal, along with her sister, general manager Neelam Dhaliwal, has shepherded the restaurant’s development, offering a warm dining experience grounded in culture and community.
A meal at Row Fourteen is the closest you’ll get to dining in the home of one of Cawston’s organic farmers (unless you befriend one of the gregarious locals, which is a real possibility). Opened in 2019 by Kevin and Annamarie Klippenstein, the restaurant is part of Klippers Organic Acres and is nestled in the 14th row of an apple orchard, part of the family’s 60-acre regenerative farm. “Everything comes straight from our land,” says Kevin Klippenstein. If anything doesn’t, it’s sourced from local producers and suppliers. That means a healthy, fresh, and hyper-seasonal menu that can change daily. Think ethically raised, tender roasted chicken, glazed roasted carrots, fresh kale salad, and warm sourdough with whipped tomato cherry butter. There’s also a cidery, Untangled, on site, and a marketplace down the road that sells preserves, honey, and lighter fare for a grab-and-go lunch.
What to Do
The interpretive trail at the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre weaves through an aromatic landscape of herbaceous sage, cinnamon-scented antelope brush, and shaggy ponderosa pine trees. Dedicated to enlightening visitors about the history and living culture of the Osoyoos Indian Band, the trail is dotted with sculpture gardens that depict traditional ways of life, such as root harvesting, as well as an original village site alongside newly built tipis and pit houses. Daily guided tours begin inside the state-of-the art center, which is wrapped with a striking rammed earth wall (the longest in North America) that blends into the desert backdrop. The non-profit organization supports conservation of the South Okanagan’s endangered desert ecosystem as well as an initiative to conserve the Nsyilxcn language.
Hopping on a bicycle and pedaling down bucolic roads between wineries in Cawston and Keremeos is a heavenly way to while away a sunny afternoon. Similkameen Sip Cycle offers classic cruiser bikes or e-bikes, each outfitted with front and rear baskets to store the bottles of wine you’ll collect along the way. Owners Joe and Kaitlyn Domijan created three mapped routes visitors can follow based on their years of experience and relationship-building with local wine and cider makers in the area.
“You’re cruising past orchards and vineyards with mountains in the background, and it’s also mostly flat when compared to other nearby wine regions, making it an easy ride,” says Kaitlyn Domijan. Travelers can opt for a shorter route that maximizes winery stops, including the aforementioned Clos du Soleil and other standouts such as Orofino, Corcelettes, and Hugging Tree, or a longer stretch that incorporates part of the Gran Fondo route and skirts the sparkling Similkameen River.
For travelers after a sober ride, there are countless biking, horseback riding, and hiking trails that snake through the South Okanagan’s forested hills. For a quiet hike or mountain bike ride, head to the White Lakes Grasslands Protected Area, which offers various routes through swaying grasslands and ponderosa pine forest ranging from easy-going strolls to challenging climbs. Multiple hiking and climbing routes carve through Skaha Bluffs Park south of Naramata, McIntyre Bluff is a rigorous 11-mile trek with sweeping views of Oliver, and a stretch of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail—a decommissioned railway route—winds above the Naramata Bench and Okanagan Lake.
For a multi-day wilderness experience, a jeep transfer rumbles up into the mountains at Cathedral Lakes Provincial Park and Cathedral Lakes Lodge, a spectacular hiking and fishing area that is set to reopen this summer after 2023’s devastating wildfire. Visitors can also saddle up at Sun Hills Riding Centre, which is dedicated to humane horseback riding with rescued horses, and trace the hillside trails above Lake Osoyoos. To learn more about the threatened desert ecosystem before heading out into nature, walk an interpretive boardwalk trail at the Osoyoos Desert Centre.
The District Wine Village in Oliver began as an incubator for small-batch wineries in the South Okanagan, such as Canter Cellars, and has grown to include 16 businesses, including Gather Bookshop, which stocks a curated selection of books and housewares, Artisan Bakehouse, and Ward’s Kitchen, which marries elevated pub-style fare with Korean flavors. But one of the main draws here in the summer is enjoying the village’s food and wine set to the sound of live music when outdoor concerts transform the venue into a fun, wine-fueled (or non-alcoholic wine) party.