Look between the Okanagan Valley’s mountainous peaks, fruit orchards and breathtaking lake and you’re sure to find world-class wineries, known internationally for producing excellent fruit and hybrid wines.

Today, the Okanagan Valley is British Columbia’s foremost winemaking region, and is home to over 172 wineries and counting. Spanning over 2,400 hectares, this winemaking area is spilt into sub regions that each have their own distinctive climates and soil varieties, allowing a greater range of wines to be produced here.

The Okanagan Valley has been used for winemaking since the 19th century; the first winery opened here in the mid 1800s, producing only communion wine. However, the Prohibition of the early 20th century put a stop to any development of wine production in the area until the 1930s. By the 1970s, the Okanagan Valley’s winemakers had started production in earnest and today the region is home to over 60 grape varieties, from rich Merlot to aromatic Riesling.

Andrea Dionne, AKA “Happy Feather”, hails from Quebec and has been a Travelling Concierge for 29 years. The talented multilinguist is a huge fan of anthropology and it shows: the first thing she likes to do as Insight Vacations’ Western Canada Travelling Concierge is indulge visitors in the history, art and wisdom of the indigenous cultures of North America. But comprising perhaps an even larger part of her travel philosophy is a devotion to placing other people’s happiness at the center of her trips. Gallivanting around the Great White North she seeks, in her own words, to “fill every heart with the beauty of Canada [and] treat every day as a new adventure.” We caught up with Andrea to find out a little more about her beloved home country.

May means different things for the two hemispheres. In the northern half, spring melts into summer, and in the southern, autumn, with all its virtues, gets into full swing. The Far East has its own climatic system, while in North America the weather becomes more clement. From the sun-baked streets of Santorini to vast expanses of untamed wilderness in Canada and the historic isles of the Inner Hebrides, here are some of our favourite locations for travellers wondering where to visit in May.