Other sights in Vancouver
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Fort Langley National Historic Site
A fortified trading post since 1827, this is where James Douglas announced the creation of British Columbia in 1858, giving the site a legitimate claim to being the province’s birthplace. With costumed re-enacters, re-created artisan workshops and a gold-panning area that’s very popular with kids – they also enjoy charging around the wooden battlements – this is an ideal place for families who want to add a little education to their trips.
reviewed
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Stanley Park Seawall
Built between 1917 and 1980, the 8.8km seawall trail is Vancouver’s favorite outdoor hangout. Encircling the entire park, it offers spectacular waterfront mountain-fringed vistas on one side and dense, forest canopy on the other. You can walk the whole thing in two or three blister-triggering hours. Alternatively, consider renting a bike from Spokes near the park entrance; once on two wheels you’ll be able to cover the route in about an hour. Keep in mind that cyclists and rollerbladers must travel counterclockwise on the seawall, so there’s no going back once you start rolling. If you enjoy yourself, consider dipping into the 24km of trails that crisscross the park’s i…
reviewed
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Science World
Nestled under the city’s favorite geodesic dome (OK, it’s only one), the two levels of hands-on science and natural history exhibits here bring out the kid in almost everyone. It’s an ideal place to entertain the family – the gallery exploring sustainability issues is especially recommended, along with the water course of ball cannons and bridges. Expect to spend a half-day here as your sprogs run themselves ragged. Level three holds the 400-seat Omnimax Theatre, screening large-format documentary movies to those who need a sit down. If you fancy exploring without the kids, check out the adults-only After Dark events (entry $19.75). During research, a revamp of th…
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Gulf of Georgia Cannery
Once you’ve perused the boats hawking the day’s fresh catch, check out Steveston’s excellent cannery museum, illuminating the sights and sounds (and smells) of the region’s bygone era of labor-intensive fish processing. Most of the machinery remains – polished and cleaned of its permanent film of blood and fish oil – and there’s an evocative focus on the people who used to work here before the plant closed in 1979. You’ll hear recorded testimonies from old workers percolating through the air like ghosts and see large black-and-white blow-ups of some of the staff who spent their days immersed in entrails in order to roll thousands of cans down the production line. Take one…
reviewed
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West Vancouver Seawall
Take bus 250 from downtown Vancouver and hop off on Marine Dr at the intersection with 24th St. Peruse the charming clutch of stores and coffee shops in Dundarave Village here, then stroll downhill to the waterfront. Drink in the panoramic coastline views from Dundarave Pier, then weave eastwards along the shore-hugging Centennial Seawalk route. West Van’s favorite promenade, you’ll pass joggers, blue herons and public artworks before the 2km paved walkway comes to a stop. From here, head back up to the Marine Dr shops or weave over to Ambleside Park where you’ll find a dramatic First Nations welcome figure facing the water.
reviewed
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Maple Tree Square
Vancouver’s historic heart, this brick-cobbled area is now lined with convivial bars and restaurants but it’s also still full of heritage charm. Check out the flatiron-style Hotel Europe and peer along Blood Alley (reputedly named for the butcher shops that once were here). The jaunty Gassy Jack statue, perched atop a whiskey barrel, dominates the square. It sits near the spot of his first saloon and the development that kick-started the modern-day city. Nearby is the red-painted Byrnes Block. One of the first structures built after the 1886 Great Fire, it’s the oldest Vancouver building still in its original location.
reviewed
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Woodward’s
The development that aims to revitalize the long-troubled Downtown Eastside, this former department-store building was a derelict, paint-peeled shell after closing in the early 1990s. Successive plans to renovate and transform it failed until, in 2010, it was finally reopened as a new hub for the community and a trigger for neighborhood gentrification. Combining new condos, shops and a university campus (plus a shiny new reproduction of the iconic neon ‘W’ that sat on the roof for decades), duck inside the atrium and check out the giant ‘Gastown Riot’ artwork. And consider coming back for a performance at the Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre.
reviewed
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Roedde House Museum
For a glimpse of what the West End looked like before the apartment blocks arrived, drop by this handsome 1893 Queen Anne–style mansion, now a lovingly preserved museum. Designed by infamous BC architect Francis Rattenbury, the house is packed with antiques and the surrounding gardens are planted in period style. Sunday entry – including tour, tea and cookies – costs $1 extra. The abode is the showpiece of Barclay Heritage Sq, a one-block site containing nine historic West End houses dating from 1890 to 1908. If you don your top hat, monocle and twirly waxed moustache, you’ll fit right in. Pick up a free map covering the square’s history highlights from Roedde House…
reviewed
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Coal Harbour Seawall
An idyllic waterfront stroll from Canada Place to Stanley Park (it’s about 2km), this is a perfect way to spend a sunny afternoon. You’ll pass the new convention center expansion, a gaggle of bobbling floatplanes and the grassy nook of Harbour Green Park, where you can stop for a bistro bite at Mill Marine and catch a breathtaking mountain-framed vista. Continue past the handsome Light Shed artwork – a replica of one of the many marine sheds that once lined this area – then look out for the cozy houseboats in the marina and the Westin Bayshore hotel, where Howard Hughes holed up for three months in 1972. You’ll soon be on the doorstep of Stanley Park.
reviewed
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David Lam Park
A crooked elbow of landscaped waterfront at the neck of False Creek, this 15-year-old park is Yaletown’s main green space. A popular spot for free shows at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and also sometimes used for free alfresco summer movie screenings, this is the perfect launch point for a 2km seawall walk along the north bank of False Creek to Science World. You’ll pass intriguing public artworks, glass condo towers foresting the old Expo ’86 site and the stadium where the Vancouver Canucks NHL hockey team plays. Look out for birdlife along the route and ask the locals about the unexpected 2010 visit from a grey whale in these waters.
reviewed
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Grandview Park
Commercial’s alfresco neighborhood hub is named after its smashing views: to the north are the looming mountains of the North Shore, while to the west you’ll have a great cityscape vista of twinkling towers.
Grandview isn’t just about good looks, however. Undergoing a refurb on our visit, this narrow band of sun-baked grass and busy playgrounds has a surprising amount of history. It originally housed the drill hall of the local Irish Fusiliers and is now home to a slender granite war memorial. Wreaths are still laid here on Remembrance Day. The rest of the year, you’ll find buskers, impromptu garage sales and a waft or two of illicit substances.
reviewed
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Kuan Yin Temple
Called simply the ‘Buddhist Temple’ by most, this attractive classical Chinese complex is an intriguing stop. The highlight is the sumptuous Gracious Hall, complete with deep-red exterior walls and a gently flaring orange porcelain roof. Check out the colorful 100m Buddha mural and the golden, multi-armed Bodhisattva figure here. The surrounding landscaped garden with its sculptures and bonsai trees is another highlight, but allow yourself time to enjoy a lip-smacking veggie lunch in the ground-floor cafeteria. You don’t have to be a Buddhist to visit and the monks are highly welcoming if you just want to have a look around.
reviewed
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Robson Street
Locals, international tourists and recent immigrants – count the number of accents you catch as you stroll along here – throng the hotels, eateries and shops of Robson St, Vancouver’s de facto urban promenade. While most shops are of the ubiquitous chain-store variety, it’s also worth heading to the Stanley Park end of the strip, where you’ll find a modern ‘mini-Asia’ of internet cafés, authentic izakayas (Japanese neighborhood pubs) and discreet karaoke bars populated by homesick Japanese and Korean language students. It’s a great area for a cheap-and-cheerful, authentically south Asian lunch.
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Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Named after BC’s most famous historic painter (Emily Carr, 1871–1945), Vancouver’s leading art school occupies a corrugated-metal factory complex near a cement plant. Nip into the Charles H Scott Gallery ([tel] 604-844-3811; www.chscott.ecuad.ca; admission free; [hrs] noon-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun) on your right for a glimpse of student and graduate work. There’s also a portfolio show every May, where challenging photography, multimedia and the occasional oddball installation go on display. If you’re an art lover, you’ll also enjoy the school’s excellent bookstore.
reviewed
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Britannia Shipyard
Steveston’s waterfront boardwalk – complete with art installations evoking the area’s bustling fishing sector – is lovely and within 15 minutes you’ll stroll into one of the area’s national historic site. It’s a fascinating complex of creaky old sheds housing dusty tools, boats and reminders of the region’s maritime past. Check out the preserved Murakami House, where a large Japanese family lived before being unceremoniously interned during the war. Make sure you ask the volunteers plenty of questions: they have some great stories to tell.
reviewed
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Pacific Spirit Regional Park
This stunning 763-hectare park – the city’s largest – cuts a wide swathe across the peninsula. Stretching from Burrard Inlet on one side to the North Arm of the Fraser River on the other, it’s a green buffer zone. A smashing spot to hug some trees and explore (there are 54km of walking, jogging and cycling trails), you’ll also find Camosun Bog wetland (accessed by a boardwalk at 19th Ave and Camosun St), a haven for native bird and plant species. Visit the Park Centre for maps and info on the park’s many features.
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Beaty Biodiversity Museum
Only open for public preview visits at the time of research, University of British Columbia’s newest attraction showcases the university’s wealth of natural history exhibits, including two million specimens that have never before been available for public viewing. Fossil, fish and herbarium galleries are included but the museum’s main draw is the 25m blue whale skeleton, artfully displayed in a two-story glass gallery. The whale washed ashore on Canada’s eastern coastline and was trucked across the country – to much media curiosity – in 2009.
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Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
Downtown’s newest art space showcases carvings, paintings and jewelry from Canada’s most revered Haida artist. Lined with fascinating artifacts and exquisite works – plus handy touch-screens to tell you all about them – this is a comprehensive intro to the creative vision of Reid and his Haida co-artists. Check out the Great Hall, where there’s often a carver at work, then hit the mezzanine level: you’ll be face-to-face with an 8.5m-long bronze of intertwined magical creatures, complete with some impressively long tongues.
reviewed
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Mt Seymour Provincial Park
A popular, rustic retreat from the downtown clamor, this giant, tree-lined park is suffused with more than a dozen summertime hiking trails that suit walkers of most abilities (the easiest path is the 2km Goldie Lake Trail). Many trails wind past lakes and centuries-old Douglas firs and offer a true break from the city. This is also one of the city’s three main winter playgrounds. Drivers can take Hwy 1 to the Mt Seymour Pkwy (near the Second Narrows Bridge) and follow it east to Mt Seymour Rd.
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City Hall
Art deco fans should save time for a stroll through the marble-lined lobby of one of Vancouver’s best architectural gems. Completed in 1936, its highlights include a mirrored ceiling, streamlined signs, cylindrical lanterns and embossed elevator doors. Duck inside one of the elevators to peruse their intricate inlaid wood design, then check out the handsome heritage homes on surrounding Yukon St and W 12th Ave. If you’re on a deco roll, also hit downtown’s lovely Marine Building.
reviewed
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Maplewood Farm
One of the region’s most popular family-friendly sites, this farmyard attraction includes plenty of hands-on displays plus a collection of over 200 domestic animals. Your wide-eyed kids will have the chance to pet a few critters, watch the daily milking demonstration and feed some squawking, ever-hungry ducks and chickens. The highlight is the daily (around 3:30pm) ‘running of the goats,’ when the starving hairballs streak from the paddock to their barn for dinner.
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Downtown Historic Railway
This beautifully restored, clackety old streetcar hits the ancient tracks from Granville Island to Science World during a smile-inducing 15-minute journey. The railway used to be part of the Vancouver tramcar system, and today it’s still operated by the city’s Engineering Services department –you’ll see retired uniformed volunteers, who used to work on the old cars when they were in full service, staffing the line.
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Botanical Garden
You’ll find a giant collection of rhododendrons, a fascinating apothecary plot and a winter green space of off-season bloomers in this 28-hectare complex of themed gardens. The attraction’s new Greenheart Canopy Walkway (www.greenheartcanopywalkway.com; adult/child/youth/senior $20/6/14/16; [hrs] 9am-5pm) lifts visitors 17m above the forest floor on a 308m guided eco tour. Walkway tickets include garden entry.
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South False Creek Seawall
Starting from Science World, this waterfront stroll along the south side of False Creek is around 3km and it’s one of the newest stretches of seawall in the city, only opened in 2009. Heading westwards, you’ll first pass the giant Olympic Village. Created for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and now a snazzy condo development, it’s intended to be a new Vancouver neighborhood.
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Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery
This excellent little gallery specializes in contemporary and often quite challenging pieces – which explains the billboard-style depiction of an Iraqi city outside, complete with the caption ‘Because there was and there wasn’t a city of Baghdad.’ Inside, you can expect a revolving roster of traveling shows plus chin-stroking exhibits from a permanent collection of Canadian avant-garde works.
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