The Nanaimo Bar, famous for its layers of chocolate, custard, and coconut, is the inspiration for the Nanaimo Bar Trail throughout downtown Nanaimo. This tour, envisioned by Tourism Nanaimo’s Chelsea Barr three years ago, engages local businesses to remix the famous bar into drinks, cakes, and various other concoctions. Their innovative creations are featured on [...]

Westwood Lake in Nanaimo is a man-made recreational oasis with 5.5km of hiking and walking trails, a playground, a dog off-leash area, and a sandy beach. It’s located just up the hill from the Harbour City, across the highway and at the base of Mount Benson. On its shores you’ll also find the Westwood Lake [...]

Chelsea Barr from the City of Nanaimo has been promoting the city’s latest (and sweetest) attraction. She’s put together the “Nanaimo Bar Trail” in honor of the famous 3-layer chocolate dessert invented in (and named after) Nanaimo. Photo credit: edwardkimuk on Flickr Normally served up in bar form with a layer of vanilla custard between [...]

For most of my life, the only time I had ever spent in the Nanaimo are was either at Departure Bay or Duke Point ferry terminals. Nanaimo is a port for vessels carrying tourists, travellers and commuters however in recent years its own downtown core has become known as a great place to eat, shop, [...]