Vancouver
Vancouver is the one Canadian city where you can climb a mountain before lunch and swim off a city beach after. The Seawall circles an old-growth park, and Grouse is twenty minutes away.
Vancouver in a nutshell
Vancouver: what to expect
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Vancouver is worth two or three days, and a first visit fits on foot. Downtown, the West End, Gastown and Yaletown are one continuous walk, with the Seawall running around Stanley Park and past Granville Island. Capilano, Lynn Canyon and Grouse Mountain on the North Shore are a separate day across the harbour. Most travellers give Vancouver 2 nights on Stippl, and the third day usually goes north to Squamish.
Canada trips start here, and they are planned early. 60.3% of Vancouver trips on Stippl begin in the city. Vancouver is planned about 112 days ahead, earlier than anywhere else in Canada. The places that travel with it are all western, Whistler, Tofino, Victoria and Jasper, while Montreal is usually left for another trip.
Sleep downtown or in the West End, and hire the car on the way out of town. The city needs no car, but the North Shore, Squamish and the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler do. Spend on the bed rather than the food: Vancouver is one of the most expensive cities in North America, and the cheap eating is dim sum in Richmond and Chinatown and the food carts downtown. Skip it if you want a cheap city break, because the room is where the money goes.
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First-timers to Canada
Vancouver is on 33.8% of Canada trips planned on Stippl, more than anywhere else, and its centre is the easiest in the country to walk.
Hikers who want a city bed
Grouse Mountain and the North Shore trails are within twenty minutes of downtown, so Vancouver gives you a summit and a restaurant on the same day.
Families
Capilano Suspension Bridge, the aquarium, Science World and the Granville Island market are all built for children within the city.
Rockies road-trippers
Vancouver is where the western drive begins, with Whistler, Kamloops and Jasper on the road east and the car collected as you leave the city.
Food travellers
Vancouver's dim sum is among the best and best-priced in North America, Granville Island sells salmon and spot prawns, and Mount Pleasant is a walkable brewery trail.
Maybe not for you: budget travellers, since a dorm bed and groceries are the floor in one of the most expensive cities in North America; and anyone coming from November to April for the city itself, when it is overcast and wet.
The best time to visit Vancouver
Summer
Mid-May to mid-September
The one reliably dry window, with the beaches, the Seawall and the North Shore trails at their best. It is also when rooms in the city cost the most.
Shoulder
April, May and October
The weather often holds while the prices come down, and April brings cherry blossom across the city. It is the season to come for the city rather than the mountains.
Wet winter
November to April
Overcast and rainy but mild, far warmer than the rest of Canada. Grouse, Cypress and Seymour are ski hills within an hour of downtown.
- 33.0% of Vancouver trips on Stippl are planned six months or more ahead. Only 10.8% of Vancouver plans come together inside a fortnight, so summer rooms in a city this expensive are booked in winter.
- September holds more Vancouver plans than June, and October falls away. Trip starts on Stippl drop by more than half from September to October as the mountain season closes, so September is the month with summer weather and thinner crowds.
- August can bring wildfire smoke to the region, though not always to the city itself. Air quality warnings arrive at short notice, so check the Metro Vancouver bulletin rather than the weather forecast before a North Shore hike.
- The Seawall closes in sections every winter. The Park Board shuts the stretch from Prospect Point to Third Beach for about three weeks, with shorter repair closures through the year, so a winter loop may need a detour.
- Spot prawn season is short, usually opening in May and running a few weeks into June. Granville Island sells them live while it lasts, and it is the one food reason to time a Vancouver visit.
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Things to do in Vancouver
The Stanley Park Seawall
Walk or cycle the 10 km loop around Stanley Park, past beaches, totem poles and views back at the skyline. It costs nothing, and it is the thing the city is for.
Grouse Mountain, or the Grind
Ride the Skyride gondola up Grouse Mountain year-round for about €55, or climb the Grouse Grind, a punishing free trail up the same slope that locals do before work.
A North Shore suspension bridge
Capilano is the built attraction, about €48 and made for children; Lynn Canyon is ten minutes away, free, quieter and laced with trails. Do one, not both, in a day.
Granville Island by little ferry
Cross False Creek on the little ferry in under five minutes to the Public Market for salmon, spot prawns and crafts. It is the right way in, since parking there is scarce.
Dim sum in Richmond or Chinatown
Order Cantonese small plates at a round table in Richmond or Chinatown, where the dim sum ranks among the best and best-priced in North America. It is the cheapest good meal in the city.
The Sea-to-Sky to Squamish
Drive an hour north on the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Squamish, the first choice for a third day, and on another hour to Whistler if you have a night to spare.
The neighbourhoods of Vancouver
Downtown and Coal Harbour
Glass towers and seaplanes
Canada Place, the cruise terminal and the start of the Seawall, with everything in the centre on foot. For first-timers who want to step out of the door into the city.
Everything within a walk, and the highest room rates in Vancouver.
West End and Stanley Park
Leafy blocks beside the park
Dense residential streets running down to English Bay and into Stanley Park, with Davie Street as the city's LGBTQ+ heart. For first visits and families who want the park close.
The best-value central beds, and fewer sights than downtown.
Gastown
Brick, cobbles and an edge
The 1886 townsite, with the steam clock, cocktail bars and independent shops on the oldest streets in the city. For second visits and nightlife rather than a quiet first stay.
The best bars in town, but the Downtown Eastside starts a few blocks east.
Yaletown
Polished warehouses on False Creek
Converted railway warehouses full of restaurants, breweries and design studios, beside the 2010 Olympic village. For food lovers and couples who want comfort over character.
Dinner on the doorstep, and prices to match.
Kitsilano
Beach streets across the bay
West 4th Avenue, Kits Beach and a saltwater pool, with the best view back at the North Shore mountains. For families and summer stays built around the beach.
The beach and lower rates, and ten minutes of travel to the centre.
Mount Pleasant and Main Street
Breweries, murals, cheap eats
The Brewery Creek taproom trail, the murals and the widest range of cheap food in the city. For budget travellers and anyone who wants the local side of Vancouver.
Local life and cheap eats, and a trip in to the waterfront.
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Where to stay in Vancouver
Stay downtown, in the West End or in Yaletown for a first visit: all three put the Seawall, Stanley Park and Gastown within a walk. Most travellers give Vancouver 2 nights on Stippl, and the bed is where the budget breaks, so the West End is the value pick and Kitsilano trades ten minutes of travel for the beach.
Downtown and Coal Harbour
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Tower hotels and waterfront rooms at the top of the city's range, from €200 to €300 a night.
West End and Stanley Park
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Mid-range hotels and the downtown hostels near Davie Street, from €40 a dorm bed to €200 a double.
Gastown
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Boutique hotels in heritage buildings, around €160 to €260 a night, with bar noise late.
Yaletown
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Polished boutique and apartment hotels, from €180 to €260 a night.
Kitsilano
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Guesthouses and short-stay apartments near the beach, from €120 to €200 a night.
Mount Pleasant and Main Street
Apartments and small guesthouses away from the centre, from €100 to €170 a night.
What to eat in Vancouver
Cantonese small plates; our sources rate Vancouver's among the best and best-priced in North America
Wild-caught, often cedar-planked
A short local season, usually May into June
A Japanese-seasoned hot dog, a Vancouver street-food invention
Mount Pleasant's Brewery Creek trail links a dozen taprooms on foot
A no-bake three-layer BC slice
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Vancouver customs and what not to do
The land is unceded
Vancouver sits on Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territory, land acknowledgements are routine in public life, and the Stanley Park totem poles are its visible edge.
The Grind is a weekday thing
Locals climb the Grouse Grind before work rather than as an expedition, so expect a steady, fit crowd on the trail.
Cannabis follows BC law
Cannabis has been legal since 2018 and is visible, but where you may buy and consume it follows provincial rules rather than your instincts.
The DTES is a health crisis
The Downtown Eastside around Hastings and Main is the centre of the province's toxic-drug emergency, and what you see there is a health crisis rather than a threat.
Do
- Buy a Compass Card on arrival; every ride costs less than cash
- Take the little ferry to Granville Island instead of driving
- Refill a water bottle from the tap; Vancouver's water is good
- Check the air-quality bulletin in August before a mountain hike
Don't
- Leave anything visible in a parked car; break-ins are the city's main crime
- Wander east of Gastown into the Downtown Eastside by accident
- Squeeze Capilano and Grouse into one day; both cost real money
- Assume the airport surcharge applies both ways; it is charged leaving YVR only
What a Vancouver trip costs
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Fun facts about Vancouver
Vancouver's Seawall is the longest uninterrupted waterfront path in the world. It runs from Coal Harbour around Stanley Park and past Granville Island, and it is a commuter route as much as a tourist one.
Stanley Park covers 405 hectares, most of it old-growth forest. It opened in 1888 on the downtown peninsula and now takes more than eight million visits a year.
The Gastown steam clock whistles every quarter of an hour. It is one of very few working steam clocks anywhere, and it stands in the 1886 townsite the city grew from.
The Inukshuk on English Bay Beach became the 2010 Winter Olympics emblem. The stone figure is a short walk from the West End, and the Games' athletes' village sits beside Yaletown on False Creek.
Kitsilano has a saltwater pool 137 metres long beside its beach. It faces English Bay and the North Shore mountains, with the best view in the city back at the skyline.
So much American television is filmed here that Vancouver often plays other cities. It is a major film production centre, which is why so many North American series look familiar on a walk downtown.
Local tips for Vancouver
Get a Compass Card
Stored value is cheaper per ride than cash in every zone, and the card itself costs a refundable €4 (CAD 6).
The AddFare runs one way
The €4 (CAD 6.50) airport surcharge applies to journeys starting at YVR, not to the Canada Line ride back out to your flight.
The North Shore needs wheels
Capilano, Lynn Canyon and Grouse are ten minutes apart by car, but transit to them costs more time than the visits, so hire a car or book a rideshare.
Leave the car empty
Break-ins and pickpocketing are Vancouver's real crime risk rather than violence, so leave nothing visible in a parked car, even for an hour at a trailhead.
Gastown ends at the DTES
The Downtown Eastside around Hastings and Main adjoins Gastown and is easy to walk into by accident, so keep to the waterfront side when you leave the bars.
February is the quiet month
February is when the fewest Vancouver trips on Stippl begin, and the rain is why, but rooms cost far less than in summer and Grouse is a ski hill.
Vancouver questions, answered
Two days covers Vancouver's downtown peninsula, one day around the Seawall and Gastown and one across the harbour on the North Shore. 34.7% of Vancouver stops planned on Stippl are a single night, which leaves time for the Seawall and little else, so add a third day for Squamish if you can.
Capilano if you have children or want the built attraction with a full-price ticket; Lynn Canyon if you want trails, quiet and no ticket at all. The two sit ten minutes apart on Vancouver's North Shore, Lynn Canyon is the one adults tend to prefer, and doing both in one day spends money on the same view.
Not for the city. Vancouver's downtown, the West End, Gastown and Yaletown are one continuous walk, and the Canada Line runs from the airport to downtown in about 25 minutes. The North Shore, Squamish and anything beyond effectively need a car or a rideshare, so hire one for the day trips only.
The Downtown Eastside, around Hastings and Main, is the one area of Vancouver to understand rather than wander into. It adjoins Gastown, it is the centre of British Columbia's toxic-drug emergency, and open drug use is ordinary there. Elsewhere the city is safe, and the realistic risk is property crime, so leave nothing visible in a parked car.
Plenty of people do. 24.5% of the Vancouver trips people build on Stippl have no other Canadian stop at all, and Seattle is four hours south by train on the Amtrak Cascades. A city break here works on its own, with the North Shore and Squamish as the day trips.
Start there, as most people do. Travellers planning Vancouver on Stippl rarely finish there: 20.5% of their trips end in the city, because the usual western shape flies into Vancouver and out of Calgary after the Rockies. Lay the drive out in Stippl to see the hours between stops, then show the route to people who have been, and say how you travel when you ask.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
Plan Vancouver in Stippl
Day-by-day planning, stays and budget in one app, with every place from this guide already on the map.
Download the app