Coombs Travel Guide

Welcome to Coombs, BC!

There’s an adage that says, “Good things come in small packages.” So it is with the village of Coombs, British Columbia. Situated along the Alberni Highway 44 km (27 mi) north of Nanaimo, the tiny community is widely known throughout all of Vancouver Island and by all who pass through it for its famous market. The Coombs Old Country Market is not only celebrated for what is under its roof—everything from freshly-baked desserts and a huge ice cream bar to fresh produce and specialty foods—but also for what is on top of it—friendly goats happily posing for photographs as they graze on the market’s sod roof.

Outgoing as the goats may be, they are not the only species in Coombs to draw attention. At the Butterfly World and Gardens, an indoor tropical rainforest houses hundreds of free-flying, exotic butterflies, while the nearby World Parrot Refuge is home to over 700 brightly-coloured, previously-owned parrots, who live out their lives and enthrall visitors in huge indoor and outdoor aviaries. In July through September, the flapping of wings is replaced by another kind of activity. The Coombs Rodeo Ground hosts a bevy of annual summer events—including the Coombs Rodeo, a bluegrass festival and a yearly Old Time Fiddle Jamboree.

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