A Budget Friendly Girl’s Trip To Kelowna

Disclaimer – This trip happened in August 2020 so this might not be a true reflection of how much things cost at the moment. 

I had been meaning to do a girls trip to the Okanagan (read: Canadian Napa Valley) and found a few girlfriends who were also willing to go on this trip so we chose the best long weekend that worked for us all and set sail. It was the best summer getaway in Canada considering we could not travel internationally. The drive from Vancouver to Kelowna is about 4 hours one way and we left on a Friday and came back on a Monday – yaay to Long weekends. 

Let’s start with how much it cost. 

The main cost here was the hotel room – this cost us $135/pp and included complimentary breakfast. When looking for hotels, while others look for views, the bathrooms etc- I’m checking to see if they have complimentary breakfast. I have found that a filling breakfast can take me till late lunch/dinner time and helps me cut down on my feeding costs. We got a room that slept 4 people and had 2 double beds. 

What we got up to: 

Day 1 

• Road trip from Vancouver to Kelowna (the drive took us about 5 hours because there was a lot of traffic).
• For dinner, we got something from Boston Pizza and some drinks, this probably cost me $20. 

 Day 2

• A mini hike by a mountain that was close to our hotel. 
• Visited Quail’s Gate and did a wine tasting – this cost about $30 and then we had a discount on a bottle of wine so I believe I got one which maybe came to $10 ish. (Total spent – $40 – $45)
• Visited Grizzli and did an ice wine tasting – this cost about $20 then but seems to be $25/pp at this time. 
• In the evening we went to a lake to swim. This was free!
• For dinner, we got pizza, wings and some wine and stayed indoors and played games. (This probably cost me $25) 

Day 3

• Horse back riding: This was for a really scenic ride on a horse for about an hour plus and cost $65.
• Tubing down the Penticton river channel – We missed our time slot and had to cancel it but we had already paid for it ($20)  
• Substituted tubing with Kayaking by the Marina ($20)
• At night, we used the pool and hot tub in our hotel and just relaxed. We were pretty exhausted from the horse back riding and all the drives around town.
• For dinner, we got takeout from Boston Pizza, I think I ate my leftovers from night 1 so I didn’t get anything.

Day 4

After breakfast, we made our way back to the city and I went straight to bed. 

In total, that trip cost me $380 and was perfect for a budget friendly girl’s trip. The breakdown for the trip was: 

• Accommodation – $135
• Gas – $40
• Food – $45
• Activities – $105
• Winery Visits – $60

Time management tip: The Okanagan is pretty big and things could be an hour or two apart so I’d say keep this is mind as you plan your activities. If possible, map where things are before you making a booking. On day 3, we missed the tubing in Penticton because it was an hour away from our hotel which was in Kelowna, the horseback riding went longer than we anticipated and was an hour away from Kelowna. By the time we did all the back and forth and drives to and from the city, it was already too late and we missed this.

Have you been to the Okanagan lately or in the past? How did you find the trip and what did you get up to? Please share with me. Would love to hear from you.

Chat soon,