Having grown up in the rural, largely agricultural end of southwestern British Columbia, I had, by a very young age, grown quite tired of the province. Oh, sure, I could concede it was beautiful, but no one seemed quite so deserving of mockery as tourists who had actually paid to visit the areas that I so desperately wanted to leave.

These days, I don’t have much opportunity to travel, and my idea of an ideal vacation involves air travel and a fistful of theatre tickets, not kayaking from remote outport to remote outport, or driving for hours to look at, of all things, the scenery. Several new books have, however, been instrumental in shifting my attitude toward my home province. Ostensibly travel titles, they each in their own way offer unique and occasionally revelatory perspectives on Canada’s westernmost province, and almost all have introduced me to aspects of the province that I had rarely before considered.

The B.C. explored in Andrew Scott’s Secret Coastline: Journeys and Discoveries Along B.C.’s Shores is as fascinating, mysterious, and historically rich as any other spot on the globe. An account of journeys, outports, and the rugged individuals and rich natural heritage of the misty coast, Secret Coastline collects expanded versions of Scott’s regular essays for Vancouver’s alternative weekly The Georgia Straight. It’s a vivid account of the province at sea level, as Scott travels the little-ventured coastal waterways via kayak, B.C. Ferries, supply boat, and rental yacht. He has a tremendous sense of detail and story, fully rendering the landscape and characters he encounters with a deft touch and just enough detail to bring them to life. Particularly striking is his account of travel aboard the ferry Queen of Chilliwack, through the Inside Passage to Bella Coola – a journey accessible to most travellers.

Not surprisingly, there is a strong conservationist streak in Scott’s writing. His descriptions of flora and fauna include references to extinctions both looming and sadly achieved, while his travels take him through history, through the ruins of native villages and deserted settlements to the few remaining boardwalk villages, reminders of a time when timber was king.

If there is a weakness to Secret Coastline, it may be deliberate: the only map in the book is perfunctory at best, and there is limited guidance for other travellers who’d like to follow in Scott’s footsteps. It is as if Scott wanted to reveal this world to his readers while simultaneously keeping access to it secret, for its own protection. Thankfully, the book is vivid enough to evoke the hidden world Scott so clearly loves.

If Scott’s coast seems largely unapproachable, the roadside B.C. described in Scenic Driving British Columbia, the first Canadian foray by American guide publishers Falcon, is almost ridiculously accessible. Author Scott Pick, B.C.-born and
-raised, drove over 12,000 kilometres of the province’s highways and back roads for research, compiling 26 scenic driving routes that take visitors away from urban development and into some of the most beautiful terrain on the planet. These routes include three circle tours that incorporate driving and ferry travel.

B.C. residents will be familiar with most of these drives: Pick’s strength is not in novelty, but in his relentless detail and unrestrained zeal, which combine to give new insight and exposure to the commonplace. The Vancouver Island drives, to give an example from my own backyard, include routes from Sooke to Port Renfrew, from Parksville to Campbell River along the Old Island Highway, and from Port Alberni to Tofino on the Pacific Rim Highway. Most Islanders will have driven these routes many times, eyes firmly set on the destination signs and on the look-out for photo radar vans.

A suggestion: if you’re driving with Pick as your guide, be sure to bring a navigator. Scenic Driving British Columbia is very dense on the page, making it difficult, if not dangerous, to use while driving. It’s worth the risk, though – Pick’s detailed kilometre-by-kilometre notes, interspersed with appropriate historical commentary, bring to life the natural beauty that draws millions of tourists to B.C. each year.

Many of those tourists, whether from within Canada or abroad, will make it no further into B.C. than the Lower Mainland and Vancouver. For travellers visiting Vancouver for the first time, I can recommend the Ulysses Travel Guide to the city. The third edition of this Montreal-published guide builds on and updates the second, cramming essential travel information into a very slim, truly pocket-sized volume. While residents may quibble with some of the selections, and there are a few curious omissions – where, for example, are listings for home-grown mini-chains A&B Sound and Book Warehouse? – the information is generally solid, and complemented by clear, carefully annotated maps. The guide includes perfunctory sketches and informative sidebars throughout, along with cultural background and listings of helpful addresses and phone numbers, for everything from consulates to health clubs.

The Ulysses Travel Guide to Vancouver is a suitable pick for the weekend traveller. For those who spend more time in the Lower Mainland, though, the Ulysses guide will fall short. Two other books, Vancouver: Secrets of the City and Great Vancouver, will satisfy the most curious regular visitor to, or resident of, Vancouver.

Great Vancouver is a compilation of the “Ten Great” lists, written by readers, that appear regularly in The Province, Vancouver’s daily birdcage liner. Many of these lists are too cute: “Ten Great Cities in the Lower Mainland,” for example, draws attention to areas of Vancouver that look like other places. To say that Kingsway “capture(s) the feel … that’s everywhere in L.A.” is a bit of a stretch. Still, there is a lot of valuable information and some terrific ideas for spending time in Vancouver. The authors are mostly residents of the Lower Mainland, and the lists are filled with the sort of inside information that only people who live in, and love, a city can provide. Obvious entries include “Ten Great Coffee Places,” which ignores the ubiquitous Starbucks in favour of places like Whitby’s Bookstore and Coffeehouse and Torrefazione Italia, and “Ten Great Beaches,” which includes the wonderful Cultus Lake (although it fails to mention the hour-plus that you’ll spend in a scorching hot car on the freeway to get to it). Among the more quirky listings are “Ten Great Pumpkin Patches” and “Ten Great Places to Clear Your Mind.”

One shortcoming of Great Vancouver is that, with its family focus and its newspaper roots, it lacks inside information on more adult interests. There is very little about restaurants, and nothing about bars, nightclubs, dance clubs, or strip clubs. (I add the latter not, I must note, out of any prurient interest of my own, but because Vancouver is notorious worldwide for its “gentlemen’s clubs.”) For information of this sort, one must turn to Vancouver: Secrets of the City, by Shawn Blore and the editors of Vancouver Magazine.

Although a couple of years old (and in need of an update – a second edition is due this fall), Vancouver: Secrets of the City is an essential guide and coffee-table book for residents and visitors alike. Though it’s filled with listings of suggestions (including where to eat, shop, dance, and look at naked dancers, both male and female), the main strength of Secrets of the City is the selection of anecdotes and factoids throughout – covering everything from architectural history to visiting celebrities, from local cultural heroes to homegrown scandals. Vancouver: Secrets of the City is a guide that can be pleasurably read from cover to cover, and referred to often. I’m looking forward to the follow-up, Victoria: Secrets of the City (by Kevin Barefoot and the editors of Monday Magazine), also set for release this fall. The quality of the Vancouver title, and an early glance at the Victoria manuscript, suggests a stripping away of my adopted city’s faux-British propriety to reveal the throbbing underbelly of B.C.’s capital. Who says you need to travel to have a good time?