If you are a big fan of the Netflix drama Virgin River, this day-long guided tour to different Sea to Sky and Lower Mainland filming locations may be for you.
The show follows nurse practitioner Mel Monroe (played by Alexandra Breckenridge), who leaves Los Angeles for the remote and sleepy Californian town of Virgin River. She falls for U.S. Marine Jack Sheridan (played by Martin Henderson), who owns Jack’s Bar.
Having made its premiere in 2019, the show is now in its fifth season.
Tour guide Mahara Sinclaire offers the seven-hour private expedition that includes stops at filming locations in Squamish, the North Shore, New Westminster and Burnaby, among others.
A typical tour involves about 350 kilometres of driving.
She picks clients up and drives them to each spot where a scene or scenes have been shot. For example, she stops at the fictional Jack's Bar, which is actually the WaterShed Grill on the Squamish River and where the tour stops for lunch.
There's a stop at Shannon Falls, where "a ton of footage" for the show is shot, Sinclaire said.
There's a stop on the North Shore to visit the fictional Mel's Cabin, the lake and forest, and one at Doc's house in New Westminster.
Sinclaire said to avoid any possible traffic snarls, she heads up the Sea to Sky Highway early in the day's itinerary.
Sinclaire has been a tour guide since 2016 and first received a request for a Virgin River addition to her offerings about two or three years ago.
Of course, there weren't opportunities for such things during the pandemic.
She has done about 20 Virgin River tours, so far.
There have been clients from as far as the U.K., Australia and various parts of the U.S., she said.
Sinclaire acknowledges this is a luxury activity, at US$850 (about $1,000 Canadian) per tour (so, per group of people).
But she is sure to give clients a day customized to their needs and interests.
"It is a very customized, high-end service," she said.
She added that some clients are picked up from cruise ships or their Vancouver hotel. About 100 regional locations have made appearances in the show, and Sinclaire is willing to take clients to specific ones they are interested in.
"The main thing is that they're feeling wonderful because I really find out their interests."
She said there is a whole industry of 'set-jetting,' a play on jet-setting, that sees fans fly to see locations of their favourite shows.
Find out more about the tour on the Virgin River Movie: Full Day Private Tour webpage.
**Please note that this story has been corrected since it was first posted to say that the tour costs US$850. per group/or tour, not per person as originally stated. The Squamish Chief apologizes for this error.
