If you’d rather spend an afternoon admiring oil paintings than trekking through backcountry trails, then take a 40-minute ferry ride from West Vancouver to Gibsons, a coastal community on the southern end of the sunshine coast. Affectionately known as the Gateway to the Sunshine Coast, this quaint hillside town is known for its thriving arts scene. The Gibsons Public Art Gallery is a great place to start, but there are plenty of smaller pottery workshops, glasswork studios and independent galleries for art lovers and collectors to enjoy. The town also hosts music and arts festivals and farmer’s markets throughout the summer.