Brechin Hill

The Brechin Hill area of Nanaimo is a neighbourhood that primarily looks over the ocean, with views of Departure Bay and Newcastle Island. This neighbourhood is walking distance to downtown Nanaimo with lots of restaurants, shopping, and pubs.

Brechin Hill is an established part of Nanaimo and is known for its variety of unique character homes. Some of these are traditional larger character homes and some smaller houses that have a mid-century modern feel to them. Many homes in this neighbourhood offer spectacular views of the ocean, Newcastle Island, and BC Ferries. Though Brechin Hill is an older area of the city, many of these homes have been redesigned to take advantage of these spectacular views, while others have maintained their original character look.

Protection Island can also be seen from the Hill with ferry access from the Downtown inner harbour Port Authority. The Dinghy Dock Pub on Protection is a must visit for tourists and locals alike. This floating pub looks back at Nanaimo and Mount Benson with fantastic southern exposure. A treasure of Nanaimo for sure!

Brechin Hill is in close proximity to Nanaimo’s downtown core and waterfront promenade. This enhances this quaint area, making it even more appealing to those looking to be close to local downtown shopping, amenities, and restaurants. Options for dinning downtown are diverse and include, Mexican at Gina’s on the hill or the Penny’s Palapa’s floating restaurant in the inner harbour. Crepes at Ironworks, the LightHouse Pub, Greek at Asteras, The Modern Cafe, or dine at either the popular Dorchester or Coast Bastion hotels.

Residents of the Brechin Hill neighbourhood have easy access to Bowen Park where they can enjoy the forested walking and biking trails, an outdoor pool, tennis, beach volleyball courts, a disc golf course, and beautiful creek ideal for picnics and dog swims. Bowen Park also offers a community centre as well as two large picnic shelters, making this an ideal location for events.