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Once the summer crowds have packed up and moved on, B.C.’s Okanagan Valley seemingly breathes a collective sigh of contentment and relief. While summer in paradise is a delight for many, a trip to Kelowna during the quieter fall months offers a bounty of experiences and culinary delights.
Enjoy some lakeside charm
The Royal Kelowna is perched at the edge of Lake Okanagan, providing easy walkability to a broad range of restaurants and experiences in downtown Kelowna. Stroll up from the hotel to Sprout Bread for a brewed coffee and bakery treat before continuing to the Knox Mountain trailhead, located within a 20 minute walk of the hotel. From there, the Apex trail is a straight shot up the slope to rewarding valley views, with the option of going straight back down or meandering down along a wider access road.
Back at The Royal, a hidden gem is its rooftop recreational area. Enjoy a soak in their heated pool and indoor and outdoor hot tubs, or roll out a yoga mat for a stretch al fresco before carrying on with your day.
Go full throttle through wine country
Eager to explore the wineries during harvest season, but want to get a little exercise at the same time? A short walk from The Royal is Lakeside Eco Sports, offering e-bike rentals and tours. Owned by Gareth Brown, Lakeside has only been in business for three years but has built up a strong selection of tour and rental options.
Brown spent years working in hospitality on cruise ships. When the pandemic hit, Brown and his wife found themselves grounded, and ready for a career pivot. Using the time to develop a business plan, Brown and his wife landed in Kelowna and launched the business. Since then, the company has become well-known for its unique winery tours and top-of-the-line e-bike rentals, making pedaling up and down the valley a breeze. The bikes even have a “throttle” button for extra power on big hills, or just for fun.
Our particular tour included a warm-up on the city’s bike lanes, getting used to the bike controls and power assist, before making our way to two wineries (Sperling and SpearHead) and a meadery (Meadow Vista), all located in East Kelowna.
Lakeside offers guided tours or self-guided options, complete with a handy app that provides visitors easy directions delivered through a mobile phone (and yes, the bikes include a phone mount for convenient and safe navigation).
Embrace the harvest season
Later on, across the bridge in West Kelowna, I ventured into the orchard at Paynter’s Fruit Market in West Kelowna, a family-owned farm since 1919, while getting a farm tour from Jennay Oliver, great-granddaughter of farm founder Edwin Paynter.
Among the apple trees, I reached up towards a branch, gently pulled it down with a free hand, and, as I went onto my tippy toes, reached towards a perfect red apple that I had spied from several feet away. I gently pulled, gave it a quick wipe with my sweater sleeve, and bit down. A loud, satisfying crunch sound, and there it was — the best apple I’d ever tasted.
With 40 acres and more than 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables, the long-standing farm had to deal with a tricky summer this year, like all growers in the Kelowna area.
Says Oliver, “We had four days in January where temperatures dropped below -20, destroying buds and entire trees, which means we had no stone fruit available this summer”. Ever the optimist, Oliver and her team adjusted their plan, and started growing new varieties of food. She said, “It gave us a chance to see what was working and pivot. For example, we had great success with European plums”.
The farm offers tours, educational opportunities and you-pick fruit and veggies, in addition to fresh food sales in its fruit market. The team at Paynter’s plans their gardens so they can harvest daily for 130 days a year.
A fall visit to Paynter’s is a bounty of you-pick pumpkins and several varieties of apples. Prefer your apples squeezed? Check out Soma Cider, which exclusively uses Okanagan apples in its small-batch ciders, thanks to a “field to tap” philosophy.
Delight your taste buds
Back in downtown Kelowna it was time to get cooking. Lakehouse Kitchens Cooking School is home to top instructors, ready to teach their trade secrets through hands-on workshops and demonstration events.
Throughout our Pad Thai workshop experience, I was able to refine my knife skills, learn how to make perfect rice noodles, gain some practical kitchen wisdom and created a lunch masterpiece to share with my comrades. Their cooking classes range anywhere from one to six hours, and the school has 85 class types on offer.
Relax with the perfect “Finnish” to your day
That evening, back at the lakeshore, all was quiet, save for the raindrops from a brief evening shower. A welcoming light coming from the Löyly cabin perched at the end of a floating slip guided us towards an escape from the cool evening drizzle. Löyly is Kelowna’s first floating sauna, located this fall on Kelowna’s downtown docks. The summer crowds long-gone, Löyly provides an urban escape, through a three-step, hot-cold-warm-up experience.
First, relax in Löyly’s traditional Finnish sauna, complete with a picture window looking out onto the lake (aim for a sunset time if you can swing it). Second, head for the outdoor plunge pool, and try to stay submerged up to your neck, anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes. Third, rest and let your body warm up. Then repeat! Löyly offers community or private sessions starting from $45 per person.
Ready to exhale? Embrace the cozy harvest season and enjoy a slower pace in the Okanagan Valley.