What to do and see in Parksville, Vancouver Island: The Best Budget-friendly Things to do

March 17, 2022 Jacquiline Darosa

Established in 1910, Parksville is one of Canada's most popular summer destinations for families. Everyone loves Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park, with its beaches, tidal flats and pools, wildlife, and campgrounds; and several other provincial parks are within half an hour's drive. Follow Vancouver Island's Highway 19 (Island Highway) to reach nearby Qualicum Beach and the Comox Valley.
Restaurants in Parksville

1. Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours Inc

Excellent
89%
Good
10%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 82 reviews

Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours Inc

Established in 1999, Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours offers a variety of unique tours on Vancouver Island BC Canada, providing outstanding quality tours. Our tours are year-round, fully narrated, easy walking half day and full day Vancouver Island excursions for forest bathing, nature, sightseeing, rainforest, big trees, wildlife viewing, tide pool, eco tours and very special wine & craft beer tours with experienced knowledgeable guides. Shuttle service, charters, wedding shuttles and large group excursions are also available.

2. Englishman River

Parksville, British Columbia Canada http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/englishman_rv
Excellent
80%
Good
19%
Satisfactory
1%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 96 reviews

Englishman River

Reviewed By SandraK635

The beach is nice soft and sandy. The river is fun and can get quite deep. The kids love jumping from the rock ledges and if you are really brave you can try the rope swing into the river!!!

3. Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park

1240 Rath Rd, Parksville, British Columbia V9P 2E2 Canada +1 250-474-1336 [email protected] http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/rathtrevor/
Excellent
72%
Good
23%
Satisfactory
3%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 917 reviews

Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park

Reviewed By Gemma_Gilday - London, United Kingdom

The tide goes out on this beach to stretch for what feels like miles! There are many pouches of water to entertain little people who are learning about the creatures of our marine life, with micro-crabs and sea life. Perfect sand dollars can be found if you walk a little further out. The sand is wet though, we struggled to find a patch that wasn’t, so if you’re looking for sandy beaches to sun bathe, might not be the place (or could just be our experience?) In either case, we were very happy with our experience!

4. Little Qualicum Cheeseworks

403 Lowry's Rd, Parksville, British Columbia V9P 2B5 Canada +1 250-954-3931 [email protected] http://www.morningstarfarm.ca
Excellent
56%
Good
36%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 385 reviews

Little Qualicum Cheeseworks

Morningstar Farm is home to Little Qualicum Cheeseworks and Mooberry Winery. Guests can enjoy free self-guided tours, a farmgate store, seasonal "calfé", small and large animals to see, and Canada's first "milk on tap" dispenser. Open daily year-round.

Reviewed By oldtiredandretired - Ottawa, Canada

Nice selection of cheeses Wednesday is fresh curds day Great friendly staff This is a working farm and great to visit

5. Parksville Community Park and Skate Park

Corfield St N & Island Hwy E, Parksville, British Columbia V9P 2H3 Canada +1 250-248-5412 http://www.city.parksville.bc.ca/cms.asp?wpID=204
Excellent
74%
Good
22%
Satisfactory
3%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 439 reviews

Parksville Community Park and Skate Park

Reviewed By lindams - Parksville, Canada

Endless vistas of stunning ocean views, great seaside boardwalk, playground and water park for kids, tennis courts, sand volleyball courts, baseball fields, open air bandstand, washrooms, food trucks and more!

6. Parksville Museum

1245 Island Hwy E, Parksville, British Columbia V9P 2E5 Canada +1 250-248-6966 [email protected] http://www.parksvillemuseum.ca/
Excellent
67%
Good
28%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 43 reviews

Parksville Museum

The place to take a walk through local history, have a picnic at our picnic tables or visit our Summer Friday Farmers' Market for live music and fresh local food! Wheelchair accessible exhibits and grounds.

7. Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Centre

1275 East Island Highway, Parksville, British Columbia V9P 2G3 Canada +1 250-248-3613 [email protected] http://www.parksvillechamber.com
Excellent
77%
Good
17%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 48 reviews

Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Centre

Located at the entrance to Parksville, the Parksville Visitor Centre is conveniently located just off Highway 19A (Exit #46), between the Craig Heritage Park Museum and Rotary Peace Park. Our courteous and knowledgeable staff provide professional visitor counselling, customized itinerary planning, accommodation and activity reservations, helpful travel information including transportation and community information on all areas of British Columbia. The Visitor Centre is accessible.**COVID19 update: We assure you that our staff and visitors’ health and safety is a top priority. All entrance traffic will use the South Door (Northwest Bay Road side) and exit through the North Door (Island Highway side). A limit of two (2) visitor parties with no more than two (2) people per party will be imposed until further notice. Contactless delivery area will be at the North Door. Waiting space outside the South Door will be marked to ensure physical distancing of a minimum of 2 metres (6 feet).

Reviewed By haroldw148 - Parksville, Canada

We stopped by to ask a few questions about what is good to see in the Parksville area. The young lady at the counter was excellent. Very friendly and knowledgeable. If you have questions this is the place to get some back ground info. If they don't know, they can find. Ask away.

8. Top Bridge Park

Industrial Way, Parksville, British Columbia Canada http://www.rdn.bc.ca/cms.asp?wpID=2614
Excellent
60%
Good
28%
Satisfactory
9%
Poor
0%
Terrible
3%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 90 reviews

Top Bridge Park

Reviewed By rlmptl - Lloydminster, Canada

we got directions from parksville recreation number on how to get to the interesting suspension bridge without the super long hike. they have paved the road the directions say it is unpaved which threw us off and there are NO SIGNS you have to know how to get there on this back way. There was lots of people there with fair amount of parking. People with blow up rafts floating and kids jumping off cliffs...if you go to the right its quieter and there are low rocks to jump off ...only complaint was the picnic tables obviously in dissuse for years with moss all over them cause we wanted a picnic and no bathrooms but maybe i was not paying attention. Its nice on the right hand side close to the river which felt cold ...most people on the other side of the bridge with the high cliffs

9. Fast Time Amusements

1460 Springhill Rd, Parksville, British Columbia V9P 2T2 Canada +1 250-668-9135 [email protected] http://www.fasttime.ca
Excellent
73%
Good
21%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
6%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 33 reviews

Fast Time Amusements

Reviewed By susiegirl22 - Nanaimo, Canada

From booking to on-site, I was impressed by this experience. Took my son and a friend for my son's 13th birthday. Every effort was made to ensure that the boys had an awesome time. Norm (owner) in the office was awesome, and Rob and Shamus on the track were friendly, knowledgable and invested in helping the boys get the most out of their 3 races. It makes a huge difference when the staff are passionate about what they do, and it showed! We will be back for sure this summer!

10. Mount Arrowsmith Brewing Company

109-425 Stanford Ave E, Parksville, British Columbia V9P 2N4 Canada +1 250-951-0125 [email protected] http://www.arrowsmithbrewing.com/
Excellent
59%
Good
37%
Satisfactory
2%
Poor
2%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 41 reviews

Mount Arrowsmith Brewing Company

Join us in our tasting room for a flight, sleeve, or pint of fresh, local, Mount Arrowsmith beer. Fill your Growler for the upcoming weekend or take home a mixed pack of bottles or cans. You can expect all of our delicious core beers to be available fresh and cold, as well as limited release brews that will be available exclusively in our tasting room! Arrowsmith Pizzeria is now open Tuesday - Saturday's from 2 - 8pm!

Reviewed By 872carliej - Vancouver, Canada

We stopped here for a flight while staying in Parksville and we were not disappointed. The beers were great and they had a good selection. We enjoyed the Pumpkin Spice Porter, the pineapple sour and the Hefeweizen the best. We also were lucky enough to buy a growler that happened to be a beautiful limited addition design. They do serve food but not on Sunday/Monday so we didn’t try it but the menu looked great. We would highly recommend this place if you are in the area.

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