Canada · Vancouver travel guide
Vancouver: Where Nobody Owns an Umbrella and Everyone Owns a Kayak
There’s a secret to spotting a tourist in Vancouver. Look for the person holding an umbrella. Locals seem to have decided that rain is something you put a jacket on for and then ignore, like a bad neighbour.
I come from a country where rain likes to make an entrance. There’s thunder, a flash of lightning and, if you’re lucky, a respectable argument with the gutters. Vancouver can spend an entire afternoon getting you wet without once raising its voice. I find that almost offensive. And yet, I love the place.
I came through Vancouver often when I was a Cruise Director with Holland America, working the Alaska cruises. So if we’re going to take a turn around the city together, we’ll start where I came to know it best. Down by the water.
Meet me under the white sails
Those white sails at Canada Place still tug at my nostalgia. I can picture the passengers waving from the decks as we slipped out into the inlet on our way to Alaska.
Mountains on either side, the city falling away behind us. I did that departure often enough for it to feel like work, and I still think it’s one of the great departures in the world.
From the terminal, walk west along Coal Harbour. Give it a minute and the city starts introducing itself. Seaplanes buzz off the water like very expensive mosquitoes.
A horn sounds across the inlet. The crows hold a meeting with the confidence of a city council and roughly the same likelihood of wrapping it up on time.
Keep following the water. You’re on your way to Stanley Park.
Stanley Park, Vancouver’s absurdly good backyard
The Seawall is where Vancouver shows off. Water on one side, towering trees on the other, and the Lions Gate Bridge looking as though somebody put it there to improve the photograph.
Walk as far as you fancy or hire a bike and wobble along with the rest of us. At Brockton Point, stop for the totem poles and the view across the harbour.
Keep an eye on the path markings. People cycle here with purpose. Some of us cycle with the vague hope of remaining upright.
Both groups are better off knowing which side they belong on. If you’re planning the whole loop, check the city’s Seawall access notice before you hire a bike.
One more thing. If you’re near the water at nine in the evening and hear a tremendous bang, that’s the Nine O’Clock Gun. Now somebody’s warned you. You’ll still jump.
Robson Street, a street with a very good name
From the park, head into the West End and along Robson. I have a soft spot for this one. A major street in a major city, with “Rob” right there in the name.
Naturally, I took it personally. I strolled down it with the quiet swagger of a man who owns the place, and nobody noticed. Not one person. Typical.
It was actually named after John Robson, a British Columbia premier. My claim is thin, but a man can dream. In the 1950s and ’60s, European shopkeepers, many of them German, gave the street another name. Robsonstrasse.
These days, it’s a good street to walk hungry. Stop for ramen, Korean fried chicken or a coffee, then see how far you get before something in a shop window makes a persuasive case for itself.
Farther downtown, Robson Square is an easy stop near the Vancouver Art Gallery. If the outdoor rink is open, strap on a pair of skates and pretend you’re in the Olympics. The swagger from earlier may take a knock.
Across False Creek for lunch
Take one of the little ferries across False Creek to Granville Island. Go hungry.
The market has bread, cheese, fruit and seafood, and there’s usually somebody playing music while you try to decide what counts as lunch. Buy something you absolutely don’t need from a craft stall. I won’t judge.
If you’d rather eat your way around the city, there’s plenty of scope. Have Pacific salmon, find a little sushi counter or try a Japadog from a cart.
A hot dog with seaweed and Japanese mayo sounds like a decision made late at night.
It’s a surprisingly good one in daylight.
For dim sum, try Chinatown or make the trip to Richmond. And if somebody offers you a Nanaimo bar, have one.
Chocolate, custard and crumb, in a portion that suggests someone has made a generous miscalculation.
Gastown and the clock everyone pretends they’re too cool to watch
Back downtown, give Gastown a wander. There are brick warehouses, cobbled streets and a good saloon story. As the tale goes, “Gassy Jack” Deighton persuaded thirsty mill workers to build him a bar in exchange for a drink. His statue once stood on a barrel in Maple Tree Square. It was pulled down in 2022.
Then there’s the steam clock. It toots, it puffs, and people raise their phones in unison as though somebody’s about to get married. You’ll tell yourself you’re only stopping to see what the crowd is looking at. Then you’ll wait for it to go off.
Across the inlet, where the ground gets steeper
Give the North Shore a day of its own. At the Capilano Suspension Bridge, you can walk across a rushing river on a bridge that moves just enough to make you reconsider how much you trust your knees. The trick is to look straight ahead. I always look down.
At Grouse Mountain, the gondola does the climbing while you look back over the city. The energetic can tackle the Grouse Grind, known as Mother Nature’s Stairmaster. I took the gondola. A man has to know his limits.
With another day to spare, take the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler.
The road follows Howe Sound before climbing into the mountains, and the drive deserves more than a passing glance between windscreen wipers. Leave time to stop along the way. Whistler can wait.
Where I’d end the evening
Gastown works if you fancy a cocktail and somewhere you can hear the person opposite you.
Granville Street is for neon, clubs and a Saturday night that spills onto the pavement.
In Yaletown, the patios fill up the second the sun appears. It’s where Vancouverites go to look good and pretend they didn’t try.
My pick for an unhurried evening is Commercial Drive. Find a small bar, see who’s playing and pull up a chair.
If craft beer is more your speed, look around Main Street. And if the Canucks are at home, there’s always the option of joining several thousand people at Rogers Arena who are personally invested in what the referee just did.
Where you sleep changes how easy any of that feels. Compare Downtown, the West End, Yaletown and Kitsilano before you book.
A room near the cruise terminal makes sense for embarkation morning. A room near the beach makes sense for a different sort of morning altogether.
A few things I’d make room for
A waterproof jacket. You’ll want both hands free for coffee, ferry tickets and whatever you bought at Granville Island.
A realistic hotel budget. Compare the total cost for your dates and check what’s happening in town. Accommodation can take a considerable bite out of the trip.
A little slack in the day. Vancouver has a knack for making you stop. A seaplane takes off, the clouds lift, a patio gets five minutes of sun. Leave room for those five minutes.
A spring walk. If the cherry blossoms are out, take the long way to wherever you’re going.
Back to the water
Vancouver is wet, expensive and smugly beautiful, and I forgive it everything. In the right season, you can be up a mountain in the morning, down by the sails in the afternoon and eating very good sushi by evening.
If that sounds like too much effort, there’s a perfectly respectable day in walking the waterfront, having lunch and watching other people carry kayaks.
Come for the mountains. Stay for the salmon. And when it starts to rain, put the brolly away. You’re doing fine.