Things to do in Vancouver

Friends will occasionally ask me what to do in Vancouver so over time I’ve built a list. I’ll keep updating over time. Feel free to leave comments on what you think is worth doing in Vancouver!

Places of Interest

North Shore

• Where I grew up!
• Things to do
  • Lonsdale Quay
  • Ambleside Park
  • Take the Seabus to and from Vancouver
    • Nice ride with great views!
• Nature

• Grouse Mountain
  • Grouse Grind, intense hike up to the top of the mountain
  • Lumberjack show at the top
  • See wolves and bears
• Capilano Suspension Bridge
  • Nice suspension Bridge
  • Walk amongst the trees
• Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge
  • Nice hike in the woods
  • Free Suspension Bridge
  • Waterfalls
• Deep Cove
  • Baden Powell Trail, Quarry Rock is a short hike with a great view
  • Kayaking
  • Cute little town
• Lighthouse Park
  • Really nice hike and lighthouse by the water

 

UBC/Point Grey

• Things to do
  • Museum of Anthropology
  • Beatty Biodiversity Museum
• Nature
  • Huge forest on University Endowment lands that you can hike in
  • Wreck beach is nice to visit and has quite a nice view at sunset
    • Note that this is a nudist beach
  • Botanical Gardens at UBC are kind of nice

 

Downtown Vancouver

• Things to do
  • Gastown
    • Hipster part of Vancouver
    • Cobblestone streets
    • Steam clock
    • Fancy coffee bars and silly fashion stores
  • Coal Harbour
    • Beautiful neighbourhood by the water
    • Pathway along the water that leads to Stanley park
  • Canada Place
    • Convention Centre by the water
    • Pathway by the water
    • Olympic Flame
  • Stanley Park
    • Amazing park that represents a big chunk of the city
    • You should bike around the Seawall!
    • Visit the Vancouver Aquarium if you like aquariums
  • Granville Island
    • Cool little island made from a sandbar
    • Used to be industrial now full of small artisan workplaces and cool shops
    • Visit the Granville Island Market
    • Improv at the Theatre on the Island is also very good.
  • Kitsilano/West 4th
    • Nice part of the city with restaurants and good shopping
    • Lots of streets named after trees
  • Granville Street
    • Street where pretty much all the clubs are located in Downtown Vancouver
  • Robson Street
    • Best known for shopping and food
    • Good ramen here
  • English Bay
    • Nice beach by Stanley Park with beautiful views
  • Vancouver Art Gallery
    • Art Gallery in the centre of the city. Various installations that rotate
  • Commercial Drive
    • Quirky part of the city with a lot of small businesses
    • Similar to the Mission in SF

Food

Overall Recommendations

• Ask for Luigi
  • AMAZING Italian food
• Bon’s off Broadway
  • Crazy cheap breakfast diner, very colourful
• Heritage Asian Eatery
  • Delicious Asian food. Get the Dandan Noodles, duck wings and crispy dumplings
• Jade Garden
  • Love this Chinese food place on the North Shore. My favourites are the Hot & Sour Soup, Crispy Ginger Fried Beef and Pad Thai Fried Flat Noodle
• Cafe by Tao
  • My mom’s raw vegan Cafe. Absolutely extraordinary and healthy food. Definitely don’t go here if you’re not into healthy food but if you have na interest you’ll love it.
• Indian Village Eatery
  • The best Indian food I’ve had in Vancouver. Affordable, delicious and you can see them make your food. The most friendly and warm legit Indian ladies making your fantastic food.
• Go Fish
  • Amazing fish & chips by Granville island. Beautiful views and you can get many different varieties of fish. I always go for the salmon, :D. Their coleslaw is great too!
• Bao Bei
  • Taiwanese food in Chinatown
• Meat and Bread
  • Simple and delicious sandwiches. Lunch rush is a bit crazy during weekdays but if you work around that you should be good!
• Phnom Penh Restaurant
  • Great Vietnamese food. Make sure to get their chicken wings!

Surrey

• Go here for Indian food

Richmond

• Go here for Chinese food

Kingsway

• Go here for Vietnamese food

Lonsdale

• Go here for Iranian food

 

Other Locations to Visit (Further Treks)

Whistler

• Excellent skiing and snowboarding in the winter
• Great hikes and mountain biking in the summer

The Chief

• Awesome hike up to the top of a massive granite face. Cool views.
• Will take 2-3 hours depending on fitness

Victoria

• Capital city of British Columbia
• Really nice place to visit for a day or two
• Beautiful heritage buildings
• Better weather than Vancouver
• Lots of museums and such

Various Islands near Vancouver

• Take the ferries to access these
• Mix of beautiful nature, cute little towns
• Totally different lifestyle from the mainland. Much slower and more down to earth.
• Some islands to consider
  • Bowen Island
  • Galiano Island
  • Saltspring Island