When to go: The southern Gulf Islands are a year round destination though June through early October is the dry warm season. Noteworthy events include Salt Spring Island's Saturday Market from April through October where local artists and farmers sell organic food fine woodwork pottery crafts and jewelry August's Galiano wine Festival and on the third weekend of September the classic Salt Spring Annual Fall Fair which has celebrated the harvest since 1896 with traditional favorites like fresh pressed apple juice lives tock competitions and an apple sting contest. How to get around: Take a BC Ferry from Vancouver Island or the mainland to bigger islands (Galiano Mayne Pender Salt Spring and Saturna) and a private boat or floatplane to smaller islands. Through not technically a Gulf Island is close enough to Vancouver that many residents commute downtown via ferry. On the smaller Gulf Islands it' s easy to walk or bike wherever you want to go. On Salt Spring the largest and most visid of the southern Gulf Islands rent a car or use public transit.
Where to stay: Accommodations on Salt Spring range from the Relais and Chateaux luxury of Hastings House an elegant 22 acre waterfront estate to the rustic charms of 120 acre Foxgve Farm where guests can prepare meals in their cottage or cabin using the organic farm's fruits vegetables and eggs. On Galiano book a cabin on the island's quiet north end at Bodega Ridge. On Bowen Island rent a cottage in Snug Cove so you can easily walk to the marina restaurants and shops.Where to eat drink: Pack a locally sourced lunch of Sturdies Bay Bakery organic spelt bread Moonstruck Organic Cheese and Laughing Apple Farm seasonal fruits and apple juice to picnic at Galiano's waterfront Bellhouse Provincial Park. On Salt Spring family run Auntie Pesto's serves up house made ravioli rice pasta topped with slow cooked tomato sauce and of course pesto made from local organic basil pine nuts and garlic.
What to read before you go: Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life (Greystone Books,2009) is Brian Brett's award winning narrative that uses a day on his Salt Spring Island farm to talk about our relationship with the rural world. Secret Beches of the Salish Sea: The Southern Gulf Islands (Heritage House, 2012) contains detailed profiles 93 beaches in the southern Gulf Islands including descriptions and histories hand drawn maps illustrations and photos. What to Buy: Shop Blue Horse Folk Art Gallery (open March December closed Sundays year round) for original folk art animal sculptures raku ceramis and encaustic or wax paintings by Salt Spring artists Paul Burke and Anna Gustafson. At Galiano Island Soap Works on Trincomali Farms stock up on artisan vegetable saps made with island grown ingredients like lavender and sea buckthorn.