Vancouver
Canada’s Scenic West Coast Hub
Story by David Burke | Images By Joern Rohde
Vancouver’s summer and fall event schedule is full of all manner of street fairs, cultural cavalcades, sporting events, food-and-drink extravaganzas and music festivals to keep your toes tapping, your palate sated and your brain stimulated all summer long.
Many people start their tour of the city near the distinctive white sails of the Vancouver Convention Centre and Canada Place cruise ship terminal. The Flyover Canada flying theatre is where visitors can experience original immersive journeys such as “Awaken Canada” this summer (flyovercanada.com). From here it’s a short walk to the Vancouver Lookout at Harbour Centre. This is a great place to get the lay of the land and stunning views of Stanley Park and the North Shore mountains from the 169-metre (553-foot) observation deck. vancouverlookout.com
Vancouver Scenic Views
Vancouver West End
Stanley Park Seawall
For most first-time visitors, it takes at least a day to tour the downtown peninsula, sandwiched between Burrard Inlet to the north and False Creek to the south.
The 405-hectare (1,001-acre) Stanley Park, one of the world’s best-known urban oases, fills much of the peninsula’s western end. Here you’ll find several beaches, the Vancouver Aquarium (vanaqua.org), a stand of totems celebrating the vibrant cultures of British Columbia’s Indigenous peoples (which includes First Nations, Inuit, and Métis), and the popular Stanley Park Seawall walking/biking path. vancouver.ca
Summertime in Vancouver is filled with festivals and special events. Bard on the Beach, in Vanier Park just south of False Creek, in its 35th season, runs until Sept. 21, showcasing adaptations of Shakespeare’s popular plays and more — this year including “Hamlet.” bardonthebeach.org
The Honda Celebration of Light is the longest-running offshore fireworks competition in the world, welcoming more than 1.25 million people to the shores of English Bay for three nights of breathtaking fireworks by the world’s top pyrotechnic teams. This year’s displays occur on July 20, 24 and 27. hondacelebrationoflight.com
Vanier Park
In addition to great shopping and dining, the downtown peninsula includes two of the city’s most fascinating neighbourhoods: Chinatown and Gastown. Chinatown, the centre of which is at Main and West Pender streets, is one of North America’s largest Chinatowns. Highlights include the Sam Kee Building, one of the world’s narrowest buildings, and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.
The recently opened Chinese Canadian Museum features exhibits like “The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act,” running until the end of 2024, commemorating 100 years since the act’s passage. The museum’s new exhibition, “Odysseys and Migration,” opens July 1. chinesecanadianmuseum.ca
Gastown, just east of the Vancouver Convention Centre along Coal Harbour, is marked by Victorian-style buildings and punctuated by the famed Gastown Steam Clock, one of only a handful of functioning steam clocks in the world. gastown.org
Gastown with the steam clock
The pathway along False Creek is an excellent place for a stroll or a jog. At the eastern end of the “creek” — it’s really an inlet, not a creek — is a geodesic dome that houses Science World, a great place for the whole family, particularly on a rainy day. It includes interactive, hands-on displays and demonstrations, larger-than-life Omnimax films showcasing the physical and natural world and galleries focusing on life sciences and the animal kingdom. Visit their current exhibition, “Earth Matters: Rethink the Future,” until Jan. 9, 2025. scienceworld.ca
Science World
Museum of Anthropology
The Granville Island Market on the southern shore of False Creek is Vancouver’s public market and meeting place. Here, you can browse among the market stalls and cafés, pick up that one-of-a-kind souvenir, and meet the creators of unique arts and crafts in their shops and studios. granvilleisland.com
Granville Island Market
Art lovers will find numerous galleries in the city. The Vancouver Art Gallery is home to both permanent and visiting exhibitions of great art (vanartgallery.bc.ca). Nearby is the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, which includes a collection of creations by Reid, who is best known for his two- and three-dimensional depictions of Haida legends (billreidgallery.ca). Those with a keen interest in local art and culture should visit the recently reopened and reimagined Museum of Anthropology on the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus at the western end of the city. Reid’s famed sculpture “The Raven and the First Men” is among the great works housed here. moa.ubc.ca
Slow by Zhang Huan
Plant lovers have a few options. The UBC Botanical Garden, which includes the Nitobe Memorial Garden, is a traditional Japanese garden dedicated to the memory of Dr. Inazo Nitobe, whose wish was to foster world peace (botanicalgarden.ubc.ca). South of the downtown core, you’ll find the VanDusen Botanical Garden, a 22-hectare (54-acre) paradise of gardens, forests, ponds and even a hedge maze (vandusengarden.org). In Queen Elizabeth Park, the Bloedel Conservatory houses a lush tropical forest complete with abundant bird life under a climate-controlled, translucent dome. vancouver.ca
Queen Elizabeth Park
Questions about Vancouver-area sights and attractions can be directed to Tourism Vancouver’s Virtual Visitor Centre via live chat at direct.lc.chat/7943841 or phone 604-683-2000, email visitvancouver@destinationvancouver.com, or visit destinationvancouver.com. Alternatively, visit each location’s website.