Watch Global Matches By Night, Explore Nature By Day

When the 2026 FIFA World Cup of soccer kicks off on June 11, where will you be? The planet’s biggest sporting event only comes around once every four years. And Canada will be in the mix for the first time ever this summer, with13 games co-hosted between Toronto and Vancouver.

If you’re planning a visit to Vancouver to catch any or all of the seven matches scheduled between June 13 or July 07, consider that it’s also the perfect occasion to tack on a trip to Nelson and Kootenay Lake. We’ve got a raft of viewing options to celebrate in full force with both the local and global community. Plus much more.

Dovetailing your travels with an aptly timed visit to our coveted corner of B.C. has the potential to tick off multiple bucket-list items in one go. While the world’s best will be scissor kicking and head butting for history, you could be knocking off recreational goals of your own.

Here’s our short list of the best ways to experience Nelson and Kootenay Lake before, during or after the FIFA World Cup.

Hiking

Blow off your nervous energy with an early morning jaunt before the kickoff, or escape for days between matches. Winter’s last whispers are just beginning to fade from the hilltops in early June, and our best hikes start to open up. Some of them, like Pulpit Rock and the Lyon’s Bluff Trail, are mere minutes from downtown Nelson.

There are routes short enough to make into midday burns, and itineraries long enough to overnight on. Kokanee Creek Provincial Park offers a bonanza of paths into the world’s rarest inland temperate rainforest, while Kaslo, Meadow Creek, Crawford Bay and Pilot Bay also have plentiful offerings in the easy to expert range, like the Kaslo River Trail—to name just one of hundreds.

Golf

While your team is warming up or winding down, there’s plenty of time to work on your slice. Hemmed by two mountain ranges, our region hosts some of the most scenic and well-designed courses in the Canadian Mountain West. We’ve got championship-level challenges for the seasoned, and a raft of forgiving fairways just as satisfying for recreational golfers.

Catch the world’s longest free scenic ferry to the artisan community of Crawford Bay to visit Kokanee Springs Golf Resort, the region’s flagship course. Or the adjacent East Shore enclave of Riondel, where you’ll find the self-proclaimed “friendliest golf course in the Kootenays,” The Riondel Golf Club.

Balfour Golf & Recreation has 18 more holes in the evergreen fetch of the cedar and hemlock forest, while Nelson’s Granite Pointe Golf Club dates back to 1919 and is built right into the city’s historic hillside.

Higher up the lake, the 125-year-old Kaslo Golf Club offers nine beautiful holes capped by the Selkirk and Purcell mountains.

Mountain Biking

Spain may reign at soccer, but the best mountain biking in the world is in B.C. Full stop. There’s a reason why renowned professional mountain biker, Remy Métailler, quipped about moving to Nelson after the first time he visited. The Queen City alone has 700 kilometres of riding spread over 417 trails. Everything from gentle grades like the Rail Trail, to classic gravity tracks like Powerslave, with epic climb trails and shuttle access a plenty. Slabs, jumps, flow and alpine vistas—it’s all here in spades.

The secluded East Shore also has a newly up-and-coming scene expanding around Crawford Bay. But one of the biggest highlights in our region is the Friendly Giant, a marquee 18-kilometre green trail flowing up and down Kaslo’s Mount Buchanan. It spans 1,327 vertical metres above glimmering Kaslo Bay. Link up with old-school classics like the Monster, or new-school blue singletrack like High Commander.

Lake Life

Even watching soccer can work up a sweat. Thankfully Kootenay Lake is one of the largest in British Columbia—its cooling West Arm alone spanning 33 kilometres. Whether it be by sailing, paddling, fishing, SUPing, swimming or just chilling on the beach, you’ll find time on the water is the most staple pastime of our region.

Hidden coves and sandy beaches are our signature landscape, with tributaries like the Kaslo River spilling into the main thoroughfare under reliably blue skies summer long. There are dozens of beaches and multiple marinas up and down the lake. Kaslo Bay Park and Taghum Beach Regional Park are among our favourites, with boat and SUP rentals available in several easy locations.

Wellness

Soccer fans, like everybody, sometimes need to calm down and come back to centre. It’s handy then that we are a world hub for wellness. Whether you’re into practical mindfulness or spiritual transcendence, there’s every opportunity to slow down and dive deep here. From Bambu Hot Yoga to a stay at Tara Shanti Accommodation and Retreats.

A stine at Ainsworth Hot Springs Resort will soothe anything that ails you. This is a historically healing locale that the Ktunaxa first people have been visiting since time immemorial. The onsite Spirit Water Spa is owned and operated by the Lower Kootenay Band, and will loosen up even the tightest knots.

Visit the Yasodhara Ashram to experience an architecturally arresting retreat, or get your ohm on at the Kootenay Shambhala Meditation Centre. There’s even a Himalaya Salt Cave in downtown Nelson, or you can forest bathe in places like the Great Northern Rail Trail extending to Cottonwood Lake.

Getting Here

Summer is an easy time to fly, with local flights into nearby Castlegar and Trail. Each is within an hour’s flight from Vancouver or Calgary, and then only a 30-minute drive to Nelson. You can pick up a rental car upon landing, and be here in a jiffy.

The bigger airport in Cranbrook is just under three hours from Nelson, and joins the same pastoral drive from Calgary. Kelowna is just over four hours away and Spokane is about three.

Summer is also an easy time to drive if you’re visiting domestically with your own wheels or hauling an RV. Nelson is an 8.5-hour drive from Vancouver along one of the most beautiful highways in the world, very worthy of a road trip. Calgary is seven hours to Nelson, cutting through the spellbinding Canadian Rockies. As always, check Drivebc.ca for up-to-date road conditions and keep an eye on the weather.