A three-generation trip does not break on the destination. It breaks on the arithmetic: the grandfather does not want two hours uphill, the six-year-old cannot take four hours in the car, and the parents end up splitting the group and meeting again at dinner. A destination that works for all three has to solve that, not offer more things.
01 The problem of three rhythms
British Columbia has an unobvious advantage for this profile: much of what you come to see requires no physical effort. The animals appear from the deck of a boat or the edge of a river; the most impressive forests are walked on wooden boardwalks; the biggest waterfalls have a viewpoint beside the car park.
Add the climate to that. In summer the interior averages around 25 degrees and the coast stays below it: there is no need to plan around heat, which is what ruins trips with older people and small children in southern Europe. Here the enemy is rain, and rain is solved with a raincoat.
02 The boat solves the transfers
The detail that most changes this trip compared with others is that here part of the travelling is done by ferry. It is not an excursion: the boat network works as an extension of the roads, with scheduled timetables, and the vessels carry the cars inside.
For a three-generation group this is worth far more than it looks. A boat leg is not dead time: the children get up and move, the older ones sit comfortably with an enormous window in front of them, there are toilets and a cafeteria, and everyone looks at the same landscape at once. It is the one stretch of the day when nobody has to wait for anybody.
03 Nature at ground level
The coastal temperate rainforest has a curious practical advantage: because the ground is soft, waterlogged and full of roots, the most visited trails are built on wooden boardwalks. That, done to protect the ground, turns out to be exactly what a group with a walking stick and a pushchair needs.
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The same goes for the water. The big interior waterfalls are set up to be seen from viewpoints built on the canyon rim, with a railing and a few metres from the car park. You can arrive, look for ten minutes and go back to the car without anyone being left behind.
With three generations, the best plan is not the most spectacular. It is the one everyone can do together.
04 Two bases and no extra packing
The province covers 944,735 square kilometres. With a group like this, the temptation to see everything is the most expensive mistake available: every change of accommodation means packing, loading, driving and settling in again, and that operation multiplied by five people of three different ages eats the trip.
Two long bases work far better than five short ones. One on the big island, with the Pacific coast and its forests; another inland, with lakes, waterfalls and dry weather. Between the two there is a boat crossing, which becomes the transition day without anyone having to drive for six hours.
For accommodation, a house with a kitchen solves more problems than any hotel. The meal times of a six-year-old and a seventy-five-year-old rarely coincide with a restaurant's, and being able to have breakfast without going out saves a daily argument.
05 What to know beforehand
The first warning is price. This is an expensive destination and in July and August accommodation rises noticeably. May, June and September give a very similar climate with considerably fewer people, and in September the interior still averages highs of around 23 degrees.
The second is real distance. Maps mislead: between two points there may be a mountain range, an arm of sea, or both. Before fixing the itinerary, work out the times with the ferry timetables in front of you rather than with the kilometres.
The third is rain. It rains a fair amount on the coast even in summer, and with children and older people it pays to always have an indoor alternative for half a day. This is not a pool-and-towel destination; it is a raincoat-in-the-backpack one from day one.
06 How the trip ends up
With twelve nights, a split that works is six and six. The first half on the big island: forest boardwalks, long beaches, short boat trips to see wildlife and a small town as a base. The second half inland: lakes, waterfalls with viewpoints and dry sun to dry the clothes.
If the group can travel in October and it falls on a year of the big salmon run, swap the second half for the southern interior in the second or third week of the month. Watching a river full of red fish is one of the few things that impresses a six-year-old and a seventy-five-year-old equally.
And one last recommendation that has nothing to do with the destination and everything to do with the group: keep one day in three with no plan. Not to rest, but so each generation does its own thing for a few hours and everyone comes back in the afternoon wanting to tell the others about it. Long family trips hold together on that more than on the itinerary.
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Olivier Bruchez