BMW Car Camping on Vancouver Island
We took car camping to another level on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada! Heavy emphasis on the CAR part.
First things first, Vancouver Island is a beautiful getaway destination. This island is the largest island in North American, sitting off the coast of British Columbia, Canada in the Pacific ocean. Popular cities on the island include Victoria, Sooke, Tofino, and Nanaimo.
To get to the island from Vancouver B.C., drive about 45 minutes south (about 2.5 hours north of Seattle) to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. Make sure to reserve a spot on the ferry ahead of time for you and your car for either Victoria or Nanaimo. In just about 1.5 or hours you’ll be cruising around the island near Victoria, or in 2 hours and you’ll be exploring the coastal shores of Nanaimo.
Now, onto the car camping details. When I went to test drive this BMW, I asked to put the seats down and lay in the back. I think the sales guy, Tommy, thought I was crazy (and maybe I am), but I had to test it out. We wanted to have the ability to lay the seats down flat so we could make a bed to sleep in, but still have it on the smaller side, while being cool to drive and take to nice events.
The X1 checked all the boxes so that’s what we picked. To set up the back, I placed a twin mattress from IKEA, which fit really well, and piled loads of linen blankets and fluffy pillows. Surprisingly it was SO comfortable, even with two people! The lights are from Big Agnes and normally go on the top of our tent.
Next time I think I’ll try adding a twin air mattress and put the IKEA cotton thin mattress on top. And if it’s not so hot like this trip, I’ll add lots of extra blankets.
I love having the car as an option to sleep in when visiting natural attractions. Sometimes there aren’t a ton of nice places to stay or any at all. I’d rather stay in the back of my car with luxurious linen than a subpar expensive hotel.
Our car was featured on the BMW collective memory website to represent all X1’s! It’s pretty cool, you should check it out. Some of the car models aren’t represented, so if you own one of the models that isn’t spoken for add your photo!
