Parksville Weekend Trip from Vancouver

The best thing about Vancouver is all the different weekend trips you can take. We are blessed to be so close to nature and you can escape to the mountains, ocean, lakes, or cute small towns in just a few hours. This post will feature a 3 day guide to Parksville, an iconic Vancouver Island destination for a family friendly beachy escape.

How to Get to Parksville from Vancouver

BC Ferry is the main provider ofb transportation between Vancouver and Vancouver Island. It’s the fastest to take the Horseshoe Bay -> Nanaimo ferry but you can also take the ferry to Victoria if you want to tack on a side trip to Victoria. The ferry costs about $130 for a vehicle with two adults one way.

Day 1 – Roadtrip to Parksville

If you have a reservation to a ferry, you can show up about 45 minutes before departure time. If not, you’ll want to head about 2 hours early. We wanted to make our road trip to Parksville fun so we made a few stops after arriving in Nanaimo! But you can easily drive straight into Parksville from Nanaimo in just over an hour. The pitstop we made was at Neck Point Park, which was even more beautiful than I thought. It’s a great spot for a short walk, or a lunch time picnic.

Where to stay in Parksville?

For our long weekend trip in Parksville, we booked our stay at Bayside Resort, which is a great value alternative to the popular Beach Club. This hotel is still right by the beach with a beautiful view. Their onsite restaurant also has an amazing happy hour which we went to twice over the weekend.

Day 2: Beach Boardwalk + Grotto Spa

One of the highlights of the trip is the Spa & Sip package at Grotto Spa! But before we get to that, we took a nice early morning walk along the Parksville boardwalk. You can access this free activity via Parksville Community Park and there are lots of parking available!

And then do not miss the most incredible brunch at Eggie Cafe! It’s a small restaurant owned by a Korean couple. Their dishes feature local ingredients and the flavor combinations were amazing! They also have the cutest drinks so we also ordered a strawberry matcha and an ube latte.

Next, we headed to Grotto Spa for their Dip & Dine package! Normally $210, it is $175 during weekdays which makes this a fabulous deal. The package includes a 2 hour access to their spa area as well as unlimited tapas in their restaurant. I loved the variety of areas in the spa, you can choose to sit in the indoor mineral pool, or there are outdoor saunas, firepits, and of course cold plunge showers! I was pregnant when I went so unfortunately couldn’t fully enjoy the saunas but I still had a very relaxing time.

The unlimited tapas sounds amazing but I probably wouldn’t do the experience again. You get to dine in your bathrobe and slippers which is a fun experience. But the restaurant itself was small and not that aesthetic, and all the tapas themselves were only so so in taste. Once we went through all 9, I was actually too full to reorder. But I loved the spa itself and would add on a massage next time.

Day 3: Qualicum Beach + Low Tide

What makes Parksville famous is the low tide on Parksville beach. You can walk out over a kilometer on the sandy ocean bottom during a low tide. Since tide time changes daily, make sure to check this ahead of time and plan your day around it.

We also took a side trip to Qualicum Beach about 30 minutes north of Parksville. It’s a quaint beach town with a cute city center. We actually bought our very first baby item here at a boutique called Hatch. I’d definitely recommend a stroll and maybe coffee/lunch.

On the way home, you can drive by Coombs (goats on the roof). I don’t really enjoy this place as it feels over priced and touristy. But if you’ve never been to Parksville/this part of Vancouver Island, it’s worth just stopping by for an hour or so. I had a $15 sandwich from Old Country Market and it was the coldest, most flavorless sandwich.

Where to eat in Parksville?

Here are some good dining options in Parksville:

• The Bayside Lounge (views + happy hour)
• Salt Pizzeria (casual pizza)
• Kalvas (fine dining in a log house)
• Eggies (brunch)
• Rusted Rake (brewery/casual, a bit of a drive)

Who Should Visit Parksville

Parksville is a fantastic destination for families, couples, or even friends. For us, it was a peaceful oceanfront weekend away with a relaxing spa experience. But you can easily make it more adventures with a cave tour at Horne Lakes or water activities. Parksville is also very popular during the summer time and we came during shoulder season in April. During summer time, you can spend more time outdoors in the parks and the beach.

Hope this post gives you some inspo for a relaxing Parksville weekend trip from Vancouver! Check out all my other BC travel guides like Whistler and Vancouver Island wine tasting!