Vancouver travel guide: where to start, how to get around, and what to see

Vancouver has miles of coastline and lush vegetation, crowned by the North Shore Mountains, and it is hard not to stop and be amazed. Behind the scenery is a cosmopolitan city, a mix of old and new and a stopping place for immigrants who have infused its neighbourhoods, festivals and food. Greater Vancouver is the third largest metropolitan area in Canada, the second biggest destination for visitors to the country and the economic hub of British Columbia. It has hosted the 1986 World Exposition and the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Lions Gate Bridge from the Stanley Park Seawall path. Photo: Keely Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Many nicknames

Some call it "city of glass towers"; others "Vansterdam," for its laid-back, socially progressive outlook and easygoing attitude to marijuana. With its Asian heritage and closeness to China and Japan it is a "gateway to Asia," and "Hongcouver" because of the many immigrants and political refugees from Hong Kong. It is a haven for outdoor lovers: you could, in theory, ski in the mountains, play a round of golf and hit a sandy beach in one day. Just under half of its residents were born outside Canada.

The city in three parts

Locals split the City of Vancouver into the Westside (everything west of Ontario Street), the Eastside or East Van (everything east) and the city centre (everything north of False Creek).

A short history

The Coast Salish peoples have lived in the area for at least 6,000 years. Captain George Vancouver sailed through the First Narrows on 13 June 1792 and named Burrard Inlet after his friend Sir Harry Burrard. The first settlement on the downtown peninsula was Granville, on the site of today's Gastown. In 1867, the year of Canada's confederation, a saloon was built there and a small shantytown of bars and stores grew next to the mill, with endless lumber logged and shipped from Gastown and Moodyville. Selection of Vancouver as the western terminus of the transcontinental railway, which arrived in 1885, secured its dominance over cargo moving between the Pacific and the rest of Canada. By 1892 it had over 20,000 residents. In the 1980s and 1990s many immigrants arrived from Hong Kong. Greater Vancouver now has more than 2,600,000 residents, more than half of British Columbia's population. Expo 86 put the city on the world stage, though gentrification pushed many Downtown Eastside residents out of their homes.

Weather

Late fall and winter are damp and gray, which explains the nickname "Wet Coast," but it usually does not snow and spring arrives with blossoms in early March. Summers are long, sunny and not humid, with daylight from 5:15 a.m. to as late as 9:15 p.m. in late June. Average daytime highs peak around 23 °C (73 °F) in late July and early August, with overnight lows around 15 °C (59 °F). From November to March, daytime highs run around 5–8 °C (40–50 °F) and lows near 0 °C (32 °F), with the most rain in December and January.

Getting there and around

• By air: Vancouver International Airport (YVR), on Sea Island in Richmond, is the second busiest airport in Canada and the only Canadian airport with direct flights to Australia and New Zealand. The Canada Line SkyTrain reaches downtown in 25 minutes, and a taxi takes 20–30 minutes at zone-fixed fares.
• Other routes: seaplane, helicopter, bus, train, ferry and cruise ship.
• In town: TransLink runs buses, the driverless SkyTrain, the SeaBus across the harbor and the West Coast Express commuter rail. Small False Creek ferries run too. There are also bike and scooter share, car sharing, taxis and ride hailing.

What to see

The Central Library of the Vancouver Public Library. Photo: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0.

• Landmarks: Canada Place with its sails, the Olympic Cauldron, the Art Deco Marine Building and Hotel Vancouver downtown. Gastown has restored buildings and a popular steam clock. The Central Library is modeled after the Roman Colosseum.
• Museums: the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, with several thousand objects from BC's First Nations; the Vancouver Art Gallery, with a permanent collection focused on Emily Carr; Science World's geodesic dome; and the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.
• Parks: Stanley Park, the most popular attraction, with trails, beaches, totem poles and the Vancouver Aquarium. Its Seawall paved path now joins the Coal Harbour and Kitsilano seawalls, 22 km in all. VanDusen Botanical Garden and Queen Elizabeth Park are among others.
• Views: the skyline and Coast Mountains from Stanley Park, Harbour Centre, Spanish Banks, Jericho Beach and Lonsdale Quay.

The Seawall in Stanley Park, with Lions Gate Bridge behind. Photo: InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Do, eat and buy

Outdoor activities, live music, comedy and festivals fill the calendar, and spectator sports include hockey, football, soccer, rugby, roller derby and baseball. Gastown is the best place for Vancouver kitsch, and Chinatown is a draw for shopping and food.

Stay safe

Common sense is enough: watch your belongings, know where you are going and avoid alleys and unfamiliar areas at night. Violent crime is unlikely unless you are involved in illegal activity. Take care in the Downtown Eastside, notably Hastings Street between Abbott and Gore, known for homelessness, drug use and violence, and on Friday and Saturday nights in the Granville Mall bar district, where disorder is common but police presence is strong. Theft from vehicles is a problem, and cars with foreign or out-of-province plates are often targeted, so leave nothing valuable in view. For emergency help dial 911.

Adults over 19 may possess up to 30 grams of cannabis, but taking it across the border into Washington State, or the reverse, is illegal. Driving under the influence of drugs is a crime.

Sources

• Wikivoyage, "Vancouver", https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Vancouver, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photos: Keely Hill (CC BY-SA 4.0), Another Believer (CC BY-SA 3.0), InSapphoWeTrust (CC BY-SA 2.0). Changed here: shortened, reorganized and rewritten; phone numbers, opening hours and fares left out; shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; rewritten in hubnx's own words.