Following in the footsteps of Shoguns and Samurais in Japan's Kiso Valley

 

 Echigoya Ryokan owner Yutaka serves dinner in our room in Narai

We couldn't decide what hurt most -our feet from hiking five miles on the Nakasendo trail once used by Samurai solders to trek between Edo, now Tokyo, and Kyoto - or our backs from sleeping on futons at a 200-year-old Japanese inn in the mountain town of Narai near Nagano.

Following in the footsteps of warriors has it challenges, but also plenty of 21st-century rewards: Think a long soak in a hot bath followed by a 17-dish dinner served in your room while you lounge around in your robe.

The original Nakasendo trail was 330 miles long with 69 post towns operating as resting stops for weary travelers. Today, most hikers walk a five-mile path along the Kiso Road between the towns of Magome and Tsumago, two of 11 local villages, then stay at a guest house at either end.

Narai's main street stretches one kilometer, making it the longest post town in Japan

Unable to find a vacancy in either town. we ventured further by bus and train to Narai, one of the best-preserved but least-visited of the towns with a streetscape filled with shrines and historical buildings now housing cafes, saki breweries, museums, shops and inns.

Yutaka Nagai, our host at the family-run Echigoya, the oldest ryokan (traditional inn) in Narai, showed us to two adjoining rooms furnished with tatami mats, and informed us that we would be his only guests.

The Echigoya Inn

Fetching yukatas (belted robes), he invited us to shower, then relax Japanese-style by soaking in deep tub filled with hot water. A couple of hours later, he served us a dinner of 17 different dishes including three types of fish, two soups, tempura vegetables, several kinds of mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, yams, a savory egg custard saki and beer. 

Creature comforts like this didn't exist in the Edo era (1603-1866) when the Samurai soldiers traveled between Kyoto (the imperial capital) and Edo or Tokyo (the political and economic center) favored by the Shogun military leaders, but the path and towns along the way evoke a feeling of Old Japan.

After a train ride from Nagano, site of the 1998 winter Olympics, we boarded a standing-room only bus to Magome. There we took advantage of a luggage transfer service to take our bags to the tourism office in Tsumago, and began the walk began along an uphill path paved with flat stones. 

Starting the walk along a path of flat stones

The view from Magome

At an elevation of 1,900 feet, Magome opens up views of a forested valley and the Japanese central Alps as the trail begins along a path of flat stones, then wends through the forest on a more rugged path along creeks and waterfalls, reaching a summit of 2,600 feet before descending across boardwalks and bridges to Tsumago. 

The tourist office recommends taking along a “bear bell” to alert the bears to your presence. We saw none, but there are bells tied to posts along the way to ring just in case.

Crossing a road with cars at different intervals, the trail takes walkers through small villages where a man named Owaki invites people to tour his garden, and a shopkeeper at Tateba Tea House pours cups green tea. Funded by the local community and visitor donations, the shop provides a welcome resting place as it would have centuries ago. 

Tatebla Tea House

The Kiso Valley is known for its traditional crafts, which developed partly due to restrictions on logging during the Edo period. The ban on mass logging led to the development of magemono (bentwood crafts), orokugushi (wooden combs), and lacquerware, all found in the shops in Magome, Tsumago and Narai.

Most everything at the Echigoya Inn was made of wooden materials, including the building itself, the cypress wooden bath tub and lacquerware dinner trays. Since Covid, Yutaka only books one party (no more than six people) nightly. The price for two with dinner and breakfast is $200.

Bedroom/dining room and sitting room

Our rooms were spacious - one area for sitting, pictured in the backround, and another for sleeping, in the foreground. The sleeping area was turned into a dining area for dinner and breakfast. The futons and pillows were actually more comfortable than we remember from our last visit to Japan 35 years ago.

Tradition calls for bundling up in a heavy robe for an after-dinner stroll outside, but the mountain air was tool cold the night we stayed, so we tucked ourselves into our futons, and looked forward to breakfast in the morning. Yutaka came at 8:30 a.m. with a hot green tea and 10 different dishes including a Japanese omelette, toasted sea kelp, black beans, sweet potatoes, miso soup cucumbers and spinach

The Cafe Tanakaya

Shops and cafes close early and open late. We were hoping to find coffee before our train back to Tokyo, but even at 9 a.m. nothing was open. When we asked at the tourist office next our inn, the manager offered to call the owner of the cafe across the street. "Good news," he said. "She open for you."  

Happy camper

Passengers should benefit from Sea-Tac's new international competition

 

Cathay Pacific's announcement that it will restore non-stop flights between Seattle and Hong Kong next year is icing on the cake for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport where airlines added six new international services this year, and have plans for at least another six in 2026.

Cathay Pacific ended its Seattle-Hong Kong service during the Covid pandemic. When it resumes on March 30, 2026, it will fly five times per week on the 250-seat Airbus A350-900, offering another new gateway to mainland China, Southeast Asia and India.

This comes on top of new non-stops to Seoul and Tokyo added by Alaska Airlines this year as well as a new Edelweiss Air flight to Zurich and an SAS flight to Copenhagen.  Delta will add new non-stops to Barcelona and Rome next year while Alaska will also add a non-stop to Rome as well as Reykjavik and London. 

Seattle now has service to 36 international destinations on 30 different airlines, a major advantage given the 750,000 visitors expected for next year's FIFA Men's World Cup. Seattle will host six matches June 11-July 18th, also the height of the Alaska cruise season. 

Anyone who has traveled through the airport recently has experienced the long back-ups at arrivals and departures, long lines for rental car buses and long waits for loved-ones in a cramped international arrivals area.

One might wonder, "Is Sea-Tac up to the job of accommodating all the extra flights and passengers?''

And how about the airlines? Delta and Alaska are the airport's primary carriers. Delta has loads of experience with international flights, but Alaska is just getting started with international expansion plans that have been taking shape since it acquired new long-haul aircraft in its merger with Hawaiian Airlines.

Let's look at the airport first, then talk about how passengers might be affected by the growing competition.

Sea-Tac is undergoing major renovations to improve its baggage claim area and screening equipment; roadways leading into the airport; and amenities in its C concourse. The goal is to complete most of the work by the time FIFA fans arrive. 

With limited ability to expand outward, Sea-Tac is building up, adding three new stories atop the existing C concourse. 

A rendering of new Concourse C

The  main floor will include a shopping area called Marketplace at C.  Dining and retail will frame a tiered, open amphitheater with a stage for live music. The upper level will house new restaurants, and provide views of the airfield and Olympic Mountains via a lookout deck.

The road improvements, with dedicated lanes for rental car buses, should alleviate the long waits for buses that now get stuck in general airport traffic.

Working with the Transportation Security Administration, the Port of Seattle is optimizing the outbound baggage handling system (BHS). A new system will replace the current aging conveyor system, and position the airport for future growth.

With the number of additional international passengers due to arrive this year and next, Sea-Tac would do well to tweak recent changes at the international arrivals waiting area, called the Gina Marie Lindsey Arrivals Hall on the baggage claim level.

Baggage claim level TSA checkpoint

A recently-opened new security checkpoint on that level (the others are upstairs on the ticketing level) is convenient for passengers being dropped off with only carry-ons, but has added to the general congestion in an already packed waiting area furnished with uncomfortable cube furniture resembling concrete blocks and lacking phone chargers. 

International arrivals waiting area

The wait times are long for arriving international travelers due to an experimental system (to be revisited during a one-month trial starting this month) that requires them to pick up their checked bags before going through Customs and Immigration. Those waiting to meet their loved-ones deserve a more comfortable seating area. 

When it comes to flights, passengers can look forward to more competition which should translate into more competitve fares. Delta and Alaska will be going head-to-head on the new Rome flight as well as flights to Tokyo, London and Seoul.

Both airlines are adding to and improving their lounges at Sea-Tac. Delta customers, unhappy with its requirements for elite status, could decide to switch their elite status to Alaska, given a wider selection of international options that can be booked directly with the airline. 

Delta requires a minimum yearly spend of $5,000 to maintain Silver Elite status while Alaska's requirements for MVP Gold center on the number of miles or segments flown, bars easier to reach with the addition of longer, international routes.

Flight amenities and comfort will depend on the specific route. Delta has the superior in-flight seat-back entertainment system while Alaska passengers must stream movies and TV shows on their own devices. Delta seems to have lowered the quality of its food service on international flights in recent years, so it will be interesting to see if Alaska can do better.

To play in the big leagues, Alaska will have to up its game when it comes to the level of customer service and staffing that international flights require. 

Sea-Tac customers often complain of long waits to reach someone on the phone or long lines at its airport service desks when problems occur. 

Alaska's integration with Hawaiian is progressing in stages, causing confusion and frustration among passengers who go to agents at each airline expecting help, only to be referred to the other.

Beat of Hawaii Travel News lays out the problems in a lengthy post.

"Until the airlines are fully integrated, passengers may need to double-check everything from mileage earning, upgrade eligibility, and seat selection rules. This requires extra work at booking and again before departure, especially for those booking through Hawaiian’s platform but ending up on Alaska metal," it advises.

Alaska Airlines vs. Delta: Game on

 

Alaska Airlines purchased Hawaiian Airlines in September

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is hoping its loyal base of Northwest customers will no longer have to look to competing airlines when booking international travel.

"This is our city to serve," said CCO Andrew Harrison, laying down the gauntlet primarily to Delta Airlines which flies 25 percent of international passengers out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport compared to Alaska's 16 percent.

Alaska, which flies 57 percent of Seattle's domestic passengers, uses partner airlines for international connections. Now with a fleet of wide-body Boeing 787 Dreamliners acquired through its purchase of Hawaiian Airlines last September, it has been one-upping the much-larger Delta with a series of announcements aimed at including flights to 12 international cities by 2030. 

 Alaska will be flying non-stop between Seattle and London Heathrow; Rome; and Reykjavik, Iceland (seasonal flights aboard the 737-8 MAX) starting in the spring of 2026. It began non-stops to Tokyo-Narita in May, and will add non-stops for Seoul (using the Airbus A330-200) in September. 

Delta, which flies non-stop to Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, Shanghai, London, Amsterdam and Paris from Seattle, relies on partners KLM and Air France for onward connections in Europe. It answered Alaska's moves by announcing plans of its own for a new non-stops to Rome and Barcelona next May, cutting out the need to connect through Paris or Amsterdam.

What will all of this mean for passengers? Hopefully some price competition. Alaska will now be competing with its current partner, Iceland Air, on flights to Reykjavik;  British Air on flights to London; and Japan Airlines on flights to Tokyo. 

Delta customers, unhappy with its requirements for elite status, could decide to switch their elite status to Alaska, given a wider selection of international options that can be booked directly with the airline. Delta requires a minimum yearly spend of $5,000 to maintain Silver Elite status while Alaska's requirements for MVP Gold center on the number of miles or segments flown, bars easier to reach with the addition of longer, international routes.

Flight amenities and comfort will depend on the specific route. Delta has the superior in-flight seat-back entertainment system while Alaska passengers must stream movies and TV shows on their own devices. Delta seems to have lowered the quality of its food service on international flights in recent years, so it will be interesting to see if Alaska can do better.

Alaska‘s newest lounge at Sea-Tac Airport

Both airlines have high-end lounges in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, a busy airport getting busier with the number of new international routes being added by Alaska, Delta another airlines. 

To play in the big leagues, Alaska will have to up its game when it comes to the level of customer service and staffing that international flights require. Sea-Tac customers often complain of long waits to reach someone on the phone or long lines at its airport service desks when problems occur. 

Had a data center hardware failure that caused a three-hour, system-wide ground stop here recently occurred on a flight originating in Europe, customers would have been entitled to major cash compensation under European laws.

EC Regulation 261 grants passengers the right to seek compensation when they have experienced delays (two to four hours or more), cancelled, or overbooked flights, with few exceptions. Those include weather, strikes, security risks etc. but not technical problems.

All carriers, including U.S.-based airlines, are subject to the rules when flying inside or out of the EU. 

 

Planning travel in Japan? Here's how to bridge the cultural gap and connect with locals

 

Sunamachi Ginza market in Tokyo‘s Koto City

When my husband and I first visited Japan 35 years ago, we searched for ways to bridge the cultural gap  by setting up a two-day home stay with a family living in a Tokyo suburb.

Our hosts took us out to dinner the first night, and on the second, they hosted an "American-style" dinner party, meaning they invited friends over to dine with us in their home, rare in Japan due to   small living spaces and a desire for privacy.

Over the sukiyaki we helped prepare in their kitchen, we cracked open cans of Stroh's beer and enjoyed after-dinner musical entertainment performed by their daughters. They complimented us on our chopstick skills as we poked at cubes of steamed tofu. We kept in touch for many years by exchanging cards at Christmas.

Fast forward to 2026. With three airlines flying non-stop to Toyko from Seattle in nine hours and the dollar strong against the yen, we decided to return this fall and visit places we missed on the first trip.

Tokyo itself has changed and grown enormously, so we will spend five or six days there on either end of our trip, plus travel to Kanazawa, a historical town known for its art and culture; Nagano, the site of the 1998 winter Olympics; and a hike on the Nakasendo trail walked by the Samurai soldiers on their way from Tokyo to Kyoto in the 1600s-1800s.

I wondered if we could still find ways to connect with locals the way we did on our first trip, and the way we do when we visit places in Europe where cultural traditions and languages are more familiar. 

The answer came the other day in an e-mail came from Akira, a volunteer guide for the Koto English-speaking Volunteer Guide Association.

Koto City waterfront

Anxious to show off their waterfront city east of downtown Tokyo, the Koto City guides offer to meet visitors for  half-day walking tours exploring daily life, historical sites or a wholesale seafood market.

Akira told me he and his wife visited Seattle a few years back, and were in Colorado for two weeks last month. We set up a time and date to meet and explore Sunamachi Ginza, Koto City's traditional shopping street filled with the types of family-owned food stalls and shops that are rapidly disappearing in Tokyo. As an added bonus, Akira offered to show us some traditional Izakaya (neighborhood bars) close to our Airbnb where he happens to live.

His note left me with the comforting feeling of having a friend in Tokyo even before we arrive.

All over Japan it seems, the Japanese are working hard to welcome English-speaking visitors.

We won't do a homestay this time, but we may take advantage of a program called Nagomi Visit that offers opportunities to have lunch or dinner with an English-speaking Japanese family in Tokyo and other cities throughout Japan. Since 2011, the organization has hosted 8,000 visitors from around the world.

We are waiting now to hear from hosts in Tokyo and Kanazawa. Once accepted, we will forward 5,500 yen ($37) to defray food costs etc. and make arrangements to meet our hosts at a designated subway or train station for either an afternoon or evening get-together of around 2-3 hours. Depending the host, we might help prepare the meal or stop at a local grocery store to do the shopping. 

Keying off the idea that having local experiences are more memorable than seeking out famous restaurants or tourist sites, Tokyo Localized offers free two-to-three hour walking tours around various parts of Tokyo with local guides who volunteer their time. 

Tokyo Localized offers a free nighttime walking tour through Shinjuku

Walks can be booked in other parts of Japan as well through Kyoto Localized, Hiroshima Localized and Osaka Localized. Japan has no tipping culture, but in this case, guides accept and appreciate tips.

Walks with local volunteer can also be arranged through Tokyo Greeters which works with Tokyo Free Guide. The Greeters offer free strolls of two or three hours, while Tokyo Free Guides offer half-day or full-day tours. There is no charge for the longer tours, but guests pay for the cost of transportation, entrance fees and meals.  

Kanazawa

In Kanazawa, a historical town with a castle, gardens and neighborhoods dating to the Edo period ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate (1600-1868), the Kanazawa Goodwill Guide Network offers personalized walking tours with a local volunteer. Applications are accepted from two months to two weeks in advance of a visit.  Volunteers guide visitors through historic areas and introduce them to traditional arts such as pottery, gold leaf and silk dying.

Nagano's Zenkoji temple

In Nagano, site of the 1998 winter Olympics, guides from the Nagano City Guide Association organize walking tours in English (500 yen donation - about $3.50) which began at the tourist information office at the train station and proceed to the  Zenkoji temple built 1,400 years ago. Two people from the tourism information office answered me personally when I inquired. One said she spent several years in Seattle and Olympia while in college. They arranged for a guide to meet us for a two-hour walk the day we arrive.

 Other tips for Japan visitors:

 *Airbnbs can offer more room than standard hotels where space is always at a premium , no matter in what price range. We rented a one-bedroom (Western style beds) with a small kitchen and private bath for around $140 in a newish apartment building near the Tokyo Skytree, a broadcasting tower and major tourist attraction in the Sumida neighborhood with easy connections to subway lines and direct access to Hanida Airport. 

Tokyo Skytree

* Don't be surprised if hotels don't ask for a deposit or credit card to hold a room. I booked directly with two hotels, one part of the Super chain in the Asakusa neighborhood and the other a small, family hotel in Kanazawa. Neither asked for payment beforehand. Nor did the traditional Japanese-style ryokan we booked in the oldest town of  Narai after our hike in the Kiso Valley. The family-run inn is usually fully booked, but the owner asked only that we let her know if we have to cancel.

Kiso Valley

Book a ryokan or less-expensive minshuku if you want to experience a traditional Japanese inn with futons and tatami mats for sleeping and Japanese baths, breakfasts and dinners. Book a Western-style hotel or Airbnb if you want a regular bed and Western-style bathroom. 

* Almost any form of train or bus transport can be booked on Klook.com. Reservations are required for the Shinkansen (bullet) trains. Booking online can be less stress than going to a machine or ticket window in a crowded station.

* Embrace cultural quirks. One attraction noted that it requires the original bar code you receive when booking as opposed to a screen shot.  

In an effort to drum up early-morning business, coffee shops will often offer "morning sets" which include a small breakfast for the price of coffee other times during the day.

Morning set: Breakfast for the price of coffee

Hotels often throw in free snacks. Our hotel in Nagano offers ice cream in the lobby 24-7. The Super hotel in Asakusa advertises free drinks from 5 -8 p.m. Other hotels offer a free late-snack of ramen after 9 p.m.

*Learn a little Japanese. Words are pronounced exactly as they look, with no accent on any syllable. I like the SpeakEasy app for usefull phrases and audio pronunciation.

Travelers looking for value, new experiences should pivot to Asia

 

Taipei  night market

Remember when the phrase "Pivot to Asia" stood for a U.S. foreign policy strategy of shifting our focus away from Europe and the Middle East?

Politically that never happened. Instead, we became involved in a war in Europe and two wars in the Middle East. But with overcrowding and anti-tourism sentiment rising in some parts of Europe. and the euro rising in value against the dollar, adapting the "pivot to Asia" concept to travel makes sense

Experienced travelers know that nearly every Asian country offers great value, safe travel and unique experiences, but for whatever reason- most likely perceived language and cultural unfamiliarity - Americans are more apt to focus on Europe, Mexico or the Caribbean.

Maybe it's time for a change.

While attending a celebration in Seattle recently for the opening of the Taiwan Tourism Administration's first  U.S. information center, I was reminded of the delightful week my husband and I spent a few years ago in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, the independent island off the coast of mainland China. 

Unused to seeing many Western visitors, people gave us the thumbs up sign on the subway, offered us extra free samples at the markets, chased us down the street asking if we need directions, and always asked where we are from and how long we plan to stay.

This amazing city is popular with other Asians, but Taiwan remains off-the-radar for most Americans - the reason for the recent West Coast tourism push.

Four airlines now fly non-stop between Seattle and Taipei. There are also non-stops to Tokyo, Singapore, Mainland China, Manilla and Seoul and South Korea, with connections onto Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and other Asian and Southeast Asian countries.

Why go? Competitive airfares, Inexpensive hotels and transportation; great food and friendly people are a few reasons. 

Dishing out a lemon jelly drink 

In Taipei, we spent the week walking an average 8 miles a day while eating our way through the night markets, exploring tea plantations, dipping our toes in thermal hot springs and just soaking up life in a high-energy city where street vendors dishing out 30-cent dumplings do business next door to New York and Tokyo-style shopping malls. The suburb of Beitou, a town known for its thermal hot springs, is just 20 minutes out on Taipei's efficient metro. 

If safety is one of your concerns, add that to the list of reasons to visit Asia. Syndicated travel consumer columnist Christopher Elliott loves to yammer about "travel fears," mainly it seems to generate a good headline or scary cartoon. Not that anyone should feel over-confident about not being pick-pocketed, ripped-off or harassed, but the chances of having to worry about these things is minimal compared to big cities in Europe. 

Steam rises from Beitou's thermal valley 

Last year, we visited Cambodia and Hanoi for the second time. This  year we are planning a return trip to Japan. Our first was more than 20 years ago. Given the 9-hour flight from Seattle is no longer than it takes us to get to Amsterdam or Paris, why not return? 

Japan is one of the few countries where the value of the dollar remains strong (Canada is another), meaning that what was once an expensive country for Americans now represents good value.

I rented a full apartment in Tokyo on Airbnb for about $140 a night, booked a $115-a-night hotel in Nagano that includes breakfast and free ice cream 24-7, and am now sorting through offers from free volunteer guide services to meet locals and see what's new.

I'll use klook.com, an easy-to-use booking site, to find time tables and book tickets for bullet trains online. ChatGPT helped me research the many coffee shops that offer breakfast in the morning (called "morning sets") for the price of coffee in the afternoon.

The two Western-style hotels I booked outside of Tokyo required no credit card deposit or advance payments. Neither did the ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) I booked in the charming Kiso Valley, an ancient trade route mapped during the Edo Period (1603-1868) when Samuri soldiers walked from Tokyo to Kyoto.  Accommodations there are often booked a year ahead, but the family-owned Echigoya-Ryokan in old post town of Narai simply took my name and dates, and asked that I let them know if plans change. 

English is not as widely spoken in Japan as in some other Asian countries, but learning to pronounce key words and phrases is easy. This is because Japanese words are pronounced exactly the way they look, with no accents on any syllables. Language apps can help.

While Europeans protest over-tourism due to suffocating crowds ruining their cities and Airbnbs driving up rents,  Asian countries are hungry for more American visitors.

Taiwan's new Seattle headquarters will serve as a central resource for travelers, media, and tourism professionals throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond — including cities such as Portland, Salt Lake City, and Denver. 

While American companies are pulling their support for DEI initiatives and PRIDE events, Taiwan (the first country in Asia to leagalize same-sex marriage) plans to be a sponsor of Seattle's PRIDE parade in 2026.

And while U.S. airlines oppose new rules making it easier for those with special needs to travel with wheelchairs, Taiwan has taken steps to welcome older adults and travelers with mobility needs.

Taiwan and other Asian countries are clearly pivoting to the U.S. It's time for us to return the favor.

Fraser Country: City life gives way to rural adventures 30 miles from Vancouver B.C.

 

A winery and vineyard on the Langley self-guided farm tour

With spring flowers in bloom and summer approaching, those crossing the Canadian border towards Vancouver B.C. might want to bypass the usual urban adventures for a rural getaway.

Think visits to wineries and breweries; farm stores; and walks or bike rides along scenic river paths.

They call it Fraser Country, a fertile valley formed by the Lower Fraser River, running 90 miles between Vancouver and Hope B.C.

Build along a floodplain just 30 miles east of Vancouver are berry and dairy farms, dikes for biking or walking and outdoor tasting rooms surrounded by soaring mountains in an area commonly called the Lower Fraser Valley. 

Agriculture is the main focus, but visitors will also find golf courses, opportunities for sturgeon and salmon fishing; kyaking and mountain hikes, all within a short drive of the historic town of Fort Langley on south side of the river, and the suburban towns of Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge to the north.

Downtown Fort Langley

Quaint Fort Langley brims with locally-owned cafes, restaurants, antique shops and bakeries.  It’s best-known as the home to the Fort Langley National Historic Site,  the former Hudson Bay Company's fur trading post declared by the British as the birthplace of British Columbia in 1858.   

Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, at first glance mostly  housing developments and strip malls, are hidden corners of tranquility nestled between the Pitt, Alouette and Fraser Rivers in the foothills of the Golden Ears mountains.

 Both sides, connected by the Golden Ears Bridge in what's known as the Lower Fraser River Valley, have their advantages. Fort Langley has more lodging. Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge have fewer tourists.

Farm tours

Wherever you base, start your explorations by following the Langely Self-Guided Circle Farm tour, a roadmap to 16 farm stores, U-pick farms, wineries, breweries and more.      

Milner Valley Cheese

Among the many worthy stops is Milner Valley Cheese, a producer of farmstead cheeses made with pasteurized goat milk from the family’s herd of long-eared Nubian and Alpine goats. Visitors can pick up cheeses and ice cream in the farm store, then picnic in the garden while the goats are in the pasture, or peak into the milking parlor.

U-pick berry farms welcome visitors

The biggest farm store and U-pick farm in the area is Krause Berry Farms.  A tent set up next to a huge blue barn fills year-round with regulars who line up for freshly-made waffles pilled with strawberries or seasonal berries. Visit in the summer for U-pick strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. 

Krause Berry Farms' strawberry waffle

Set in a wooded area overlooking a pond is Locality Brewing, a farm-to-glass brewery that grows its hops and barley in fields next to its rural taproom. Chairs and picnic tables are strewn around a  dog-friendly outdoor tasting room where a food truck with bison burgers pulls up in the afternoons.

Locality Brewing

Views of the Golden Ears mountains set the scene for relaxing  with a cocktail on a shaded patio at Roots & Wings Distillery, the first craft distillery in Langley Township. 

The tasting room is a single-wide trailer resembling a cabin in the hills of Kentucky. Inside are shelves filled with vodka, gin and whiskey bottles decorated with colorful labels picturing the mountains and a vintage tractor the owners once used to plow their fields. 

Partners Rebekah Crowley and Rob Rindt do  everything on Rob's family farm, from planting, growing and harvesting the potatoes and botanicals used in their spirits, to fermenting and distilling. 

Biking the dikes

With about 40 miles of interconnected trails, the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows dike system, seven miles across the Fraser from Fort Langley,  offers bikers many choices for rides along flat, mostly hard-packed gravel paths. 

Bike and walking path along the Pitt River

Built by Dutch settlers in the 1950s as a method of flood control, the dikes form an interconnected system of walking and bicycling trails along the Pitt, Alouette CQ and Fraser Rivers.

Let's go Biking, a website dedicated to easy rides around metro Vancouver, outlines a variety of rides of varying lengths with access points, directions and sights marked on printable maps. 

Doable in a half-day is the Ridge Meadows Circle route, a 20-mile ride along all three rivers, mostly on dikes and and a few roads with dedicated bike lanes.  

Starting at the planned community of Osprey Village in Pitt Meadows, cyclists pedal first along the banks of the Fraser, then along a narrow path in the forested Pitt River Greenway. The trail widens as it leaves the woods, and continues past a small airport, a cedar mill, blueberry farms and cranberry bogs along the Fraser and Pitt Rivers. 

Most scenic is at leg of the trail along the south side of the Alouette, the most peaceful of the three rivers, with views of Golden Ears in the late afternoon light. 

Cycling the dikes

Before or after a ride, take time to stop in Osprey Village for coffee and a snack at the Stomping Grounds Cafe & Bistro, or a gelato at Sweet Tooth Creamery. Stop in at the Pitt Meadows Art Gallery, a free community gallery supporting the work of local and regional artists.

Osprey Village 

 Hiking in Grant Narrows Provincial Park

Twelve miles from Osprey Village is Grant Narrows Provincial  Park, a dog-friendly wilderness area and wildlife habitat where the Pitt River meets the 16-mile-long Pitt Lake. 

A four-mile walk along the Katzie Marsh Loop starts in the Pitt-Addington Marsh Wildlife Management Area which supports more than 200 bird and 29 mammal species.

Along the Katzie Marsh Loop

The walk incorporates a hike along the Pitt River dike trail, a flat, wide trail of packed gravel, flanked on one side by the Pitt River, and the other by a marsh filled with watershields, rooted plants that float on the surface similar to water lilies, but smaller. 

To make the most of the scenery, be sure to take climb the wooden lookout towers to spot ducks, geese, herons and osprey.

Lookout tower for spotting wildlife

On the way to or from the park, plan a stop for breakfast, lunch or picnic supplies at Golden Ears Cheescrafters https://cheesecrafters.ca CQ where two Maple Ridge sisters make cheeses, curds and butter using milk from their dairy next door.

If this trip wets your appetite for more, consider exploring further east to Harrison Hot Springs, B.C.'s  resort community on the shore of Harrison Lake. 

From there, the Fraser River narrows at the town of Hope, the gateway to B.C.’s interior. Once a fur trade and gold rush town, it is known as the “Chainsaw Carving Capital” with 20 giant wooden sculptures scattered around town.

If you go:

Expect good value:  Fewer Canadians are coming to the U.S.  due to political concerns, but American visitors are being welcomed as usual.

Travel in Canada is an especially good value right now. Something priced at $1 Canadian costs just 71 cents U.S. based on current exchange rates.

Getting there: If Vancouver isn't on your itinerary, bypass the  Blaine/Peach Arch border crossing, and detour from Interstate- 5 to the Lynden / Aldergrove crossing. Fort Langley is 15 miles from the border. Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge are a few miles north of Fort Langley, across the Fraser River via the Golden Ears Bridge.  

For general tourism and lodging information: See https://www.thefraservalley.ca  

Tourism Langley has info at https://www.tourism-langley.ca 

For Maple Ridge and Pitt meadows info, see https://www.travel-british-columbia.com/vancouver-coast-mountains/vancouver-area/maple-ridge-pitt-meadows/ CQ

Farm tours: Download a map for the Langley Self-Guided Farm Tour at https://www.thefraservalley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Langley-Circle-Farm-Tour-2025-Guide.pdf CQ Seasonal hours vary so check websites before venturing out.

Trail maps: Let's Go Biking has suggested routes along the dike trails, along with maps and trail descriptions. See also http://www.alltrails.com  

Park info: The City of Pitt Meadows has information on Grant Narrows Regional Park at https://www.pittmeadows.ca/parks-recreation/parks-fields-facilities/parks-list/pitt-addington-marshgrant-narrows CQ