Everyday Tourist’s Walkers Guide To Vancouver And Beyond

I have been visiting Vancouver every few years since the early ‘80s and never get tired of visiting this vibrant and ever-changing city. While I am not your typical tourist as I like to find off-the-beaten-path hidden gems, this guide will look at the quintessential Vancouver experiences for tourists.

Stanley Park

No trip to Vancouver is complete without a visit to Stanley Park or should I say forest. I have visited hundreds of urban parks around the world and Stanley park with its 200 foot Douglas Fir trees is amazing. The walking paths have a sacredness to them like walking into one of Europe’s great cathedrals. You could easily spend a day, certainly a half day wandering the trails.

Insert map of trails

I can supply photo

Sea Wall

While you are at Stanley Park, you should also walk at least a segment of the 20+ km sea wall that surrounds the peninsula that is Vancouver City Centre. The 9 km portion around Stanley Park takes about two to three hours to walk, much less if you decide to cycle it.  There are lots of bike rental shops at the corner of Denman and West Georgia Streets on the edge of the park. 

Hot Tip: Be sure to check out A-maz-ing Laughter a public artwork that is just off the sea wall at English Bay (Denman and Davies Streets). Look for the 14 patinated cast-bronze cartoon-like figures. You can’t miss it.

Granville Island

Granville Island is as a “must see” for tourist.  Vancouver was in fact called Granville until renamed in 1886. The island is in fact a tidal flat and sandbar that was stabilized to become Industrial Island as part of the port of Vancouver’s expansion early in the 20th century.  It was mostly corrugated-tin factories until the 1970s when a major urban revitalization initiative  commenced that transformed the island into a tourist attraction and the surrounding land into one of North America’s best new urban villages.   

Today Granville Island to one of North America’s best farmers’ markets, dozens of shops and artists’ studios and several theatre companies.

Aquabus  / False Creek Ferries  

The best way to get to the island is by one of the small ferry boats that leaves from various point in the harbour on the edge of downtown. Navigating the harbour in one of these boats is a uniquely Vancouver experience not to be missed. Yes, one of the stops is at Granville Island.

Vancouver Art Gallery

Every city has its signature art gallery or museum, in Vancouver it is their art gallery currently located in a heritage courthouse building, but there are plans for a contemporary building in the near future. 

The Gallery not only offers thought provoking contemporary exhibitions but also a collection of historically significant Canadian art, including works by British Columbia’s most famous artists Emily Carr and one of Canada’s iconic 20th century painters.

Hot Tip: If you like to bring home a work of art as a souvenir of your travels, the Vancouver Art Gallery has a great art rental/purchase gallery where you can find hundreds of artworks by British Columbia artists. Many are small enough to fit in a suitcase. 

Gastown

Many cities around the world have an “old town” district, in Vancouver it is called “Gastown,” named after “Gassy” Jack Deighton, a Yorkshire seaman, steamboat captain and barkeep who arrived in 1867 to open the first saloon.

Gastown is famous for its early 20th century buildings and a steam clock, (one of only a few in the world) located at the corner Cambie and Water Streets. It is built to cover a steam vent as part of the city’s steam heating system. The whistle chime plays the Westminster Quarters melody every 15 minutes.

Today Gastown is home to numerous local shops (fashion and souvenirs), art galleries, restaurants, and the circular Vancouver Lookout on the roof of the Harbour Centre offering 360-degree views of the harbour, Inlet, mountains and city skyline.

Sports Fans

Vancouver’s arena and stadium are  both downtown, so depending on what time of the year you are visiting you might want to catch a Vancouver Canucks NHL hockey game, or Whitecaps soccer game or even a BC Lions Canadian Football game.

Shop-aholics

The best shopping is downtown at Hudson’s Bay, Holt Renfrew, luxury boutiques along Alberni and more main stream boutiques along Robson. If you want to shop with the locals your best bet is South Granville which is just a short taxi or drive from downtown.

Beyond Vancouver

Just for the fun of it you can take a 35-minute sea plane trip from Vancouver’s harbour to Victoria’s harbour. Once there you can wander the charming streets of downtown Victoria and then return the same day if you wish. Or spend a night at Victoria’s Fairmont Empress Hotel and experience an authentic afternoon English tea and explore the world famous Butchart Gardens the next day.

If you have more time, why not book a train ride on the Rocky Mountaineer to Banff and Calgary so you can experience the majestic Canadian Rockies. Banff is one of the most beautiful mountain towns in the world dating back to the 1880s.  Calgary offers 7,000+ parks (two larger than Stanley Park) to explore or and 1,000+ km of cycling and walking pathways including a 16-km indoor walkway comprised of 85 skybridges connecting 100+ buildings in the downtown and its Bow River Walk is as long as Vancouver’s sea wall.

Looking for a custom Canadian rail tour? Canada Rail Vacations specializes in putting together custom rail tours throughout Canada, many include Vancouver.

Last Word

Downtown Vancouver is considered to be one of the most pedestrian friendly places in the world, so bring good shoes and explore the city’s diversity of neighbourhoods as well as its parks and public spaces. You should have no problem getting in your 10,000 steps every day.