A Weekend in Penticton: Galleries, Breweries, the Naramata Bench and a Sauna

Plan my Penticton weekend · What's on this weekend

Find a place to stay in Penticton

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Two days in Penticton fit a museum, a lakeside gallery and garden, three downtown breweries, a winery in an old movie theatre, a Naramata Bench tasting and an outdoor sauna. Day 1 stays downtown, where each stop is a walk from the last. Day 2 heads up Naramata Road and back down Skaha Lake Road. It suits a couple or a group of friends, in any weather from now to spring.

Start with brunch at Yellow Dog Brewing Co on Estabrook Avenue. The family-run brewery's Penticton taproom serves a brunch menu as well as a full food menu.

Walk to the Penticton Museum & Archives on Main Street for the city's own story.

Head to the waterfront for the Penticton Art Gallery on Marina Way, which hangs changing exhibitions across three galleries and runs a film series and a shop. Beside it, the Ikeda Japanese Garden is a Japanese-style garden on the Okanagan Lake shore, created through Penticton's sister-city link with Ikeda, Japan, and kept by volunteers.

Follow the shore to Rotary Park at Lakeshore Drive West and Martin Street, a lawn with benches right on Okanagan Lake.

For lunch, go up to Westminster Avenue and Neighbourhood Brewing. The independent downtown brewery runs its own kitchen, with a menu that leans Mexican.

Spend the afternoon at Cannery Brewing on Ellis Street, a family-friendly taproom that pours its own beer and sends out food from its kitchen.

Finish at Chronos Winery on Martin Street, an urban winery whose tasting room shares the old PenMar movie theatre with OROLO, a restaurant and cocktail bar. Taste first, then take a table for dinner in the same building. OROLO takes reservations on its site.

Find a place to stay in Penticton

Drive out Naramata Road to Moraine Estate Winery, a family-owned winery and vineyard above Okanagan Lake. Its tasting room pours all year.

Lunch is pizza at Abandoned Rail Brewing Co. on Davenport Avenue, a farm brewery that grows its own barley beside the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. Walk a stretch of the old railway grade after you eat.

Come back down to Skaha Lake Road for Skaha Nordic Sauna & Ice Bath: an outdoor sauna, a cold plunge, an outdoor shower and a firepit, private for up to four guests at a time. The Nordic cycle is hot, cold, rest, repeat.

Dinner is also on Skaha Lake Road at Barley Mill Brew Pub, a neighbourhood pub in a Tudor-style building. The menu runs from burgers and sandwiches to steak, ribs and fish, and families are welcome.

• Day 1 is a walking day. Day 2 needs a car or a ride: the winery is on Naramata Road, and the sauna and the pub are on Skaha Lake Road.
• The Penticton Art Gallery changes its exhibitions through the year, so it is a different visit each season.
• The Kettle Valley Rail Trail runs past Abandoned Rail's taproom. Bring shoes for a walk.

Got another weekend? Drive north for a weekend in Summerland or a weekend in Kelowna.

Start from this plan, set your dates and swap any stop you like.

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