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Practicalities
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The
bus terminal
is at the east end of town at 2366 Leckie Rd on the corner of Harvey (Hwy 97), and sees off two buses daily to Calgary, Banff, Cache Creek and Kamloops respectively (tel 860-3835). The
infocentre
(daily: June-Aug 8am-8pm; Sept-May 8am-5pm; tel 861-1515 or 1-800/663-4345,
www.kelownachamber.org
), five blocks back from the lake at 544 Harvey, has all the information you could possibly need. To
rent a bike
, try Sports Rent at 3000 Pandosy St.
As in Penticton, there's an enormous number of motels and campsites in and around town. However, accommodation can still be a major headache in the height of summer unless you can get to one of the motels on northbound Hwy 97 early in the morning, but it's a neon- and traffic-infested area well away from downtown and the lake (prices drop the further out you go). The HI-affiliated youth hostel , the SameSun International Motel-Hostel , is at 245 Harvey St (tel 763-9814 or 1-877/562-2783; up to $40) - from the bus station take bus #10 to Queensway. There's also an unofficial hostel downtown, the Kelowna International Hostel , 2343 Pandosy St (tel 763-6024; up to $40): both hostels fill quickly in summer, in which case you may go for the Okanagan University College , 3180 College Way (tel 762-5445; $40-60), who let out their campus rooms from May through August. The most affordable central downtown hotel is the perfectly placed and very comfortable Willow Inn at 235 Queensway (tel 762-2122 or 1-800/268-1055; $60-80) - ring or book very early for summer vacancies, and don't be deterred by the adjoining bar/strip-joint, which appears to be the headquarters of the Kelowna chapter of the Hell's Angels. Another slightly more expensive option is the Royal-Anne at 348 Bernard Ave (tel 763-2277 or 1-888/811-3400; $80-100). As ever, the chain hotels also come up trumps: the reasonably central Sandman Hotel , 2130 Harvey Ave (tel 860-6409 or 1-800/726-3626, www.sandman.ca ; $60-80), is a good mid-range bet. More expensive are three highly rated B&Bs : the Casa Rio Lakeside , 485 Casa Rio Drive, turn off Hwy 97 at Campbell Road (tel 769-0076 or 1-800/313-1033; $125-175), which has a private sandy beach and hottub; the Cedars , 278 Beach Ave (tel 763-1208 or 1-800/822-7100; $125-175), in a beautiful house just outside Kelowna; or the outlying Grapevine , 2621 Longhill Rd (tel 860-5580; $60-80; phone for directions). If you're camping , all sites are pretty expensive, and in high season some places may only accept reservations for three days or more: mosquitoes can also be a problem. If you want to stay reasonably close to the action, two campsites conveniently back onto Lakeshore Road: the Willow Creek Family Campground , 3316 Lakeshore Rd (tel 762-6302; $18-22; year-round), which has free showers and a grassy tenting area flanking a sandy beach; and the Hiawatha RV Park , 3787 Lakeshore Rd, with separate tenting area, laundry, heated pool and free hot showers (tel 861-4837 or 1-888/784-7275; $29-39; March-Oct). To be sure of camping space, try the Bear Creek Provincial Park , 9km west of town on Westside Road off Hwy 97 on the west side of the lake (showers and most facilities; $15.50; March-Nov), or the new Fintry Provincial Park , once a working orchard, 34km north of town with similar facilities ($12; April-Oct) - reservations are accepted for both . Most of the other campsites are on the other side of the lake at Westbank, a left turn off Hwy 97 on Boucherie Road just over the pontoon bridge (but really only accessible by car) - try West Bay Beach , 3745 West Bay Rd (tel 768-3004; $24-28; March-Oct), with its adjoining alpaca and llama farm.
Most
eating
places are crammed into the small downtown area. The variety is large, and a short walk should offer something to suit most tastes and budgets. Many travellers and young locals head for
Kelly O'Brian's
on Bernard Street, opposite the cinema, which has an "Irish" bar atmosphere and reasonable food. Despite its rather slick cocktail-lounge ambience,
Earl's Hollywood on Top
, 211 Bernard Ave at the corner of Abbott (tel 763-2777), is good for ribs, seafood and steaks; go early to get a table on the upstairs patio. For pasta,
Joey Tomato's Kitchen
in the shopping mall at the junction of hwys 97 and 33 is a fun and inexpensive option. At the top of the food tree you could splurge at
De Montreuil
, 368 Bernard Ave (tel 860-5508), widely considered the best restaurant in the Okanagan and serving local produce, beef from Alberta and Pacific salmon. A three-course meal costs around $35. Also excellent in the top range is the
Williams Inn
, 526 Laurence Ave (tel 763-5136), with an early evening set menu of salads and soups for $12.95 available 5-6.30pm and later an a la carte menu that includes Pacific salmon, weiner schnitzel, venison, quail and sometimes caribou and bison. Dinner for two, with drinks, will set you back about $75. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Canada,
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