By air
Vancouver International (YVR), ~15 km
North America · Canada
Vancouver, Canada
Mountains meet the ocean
Getting there
Best time to visit
June to September — dry and warm
Don't miss
Stanley Park
Granville Island
Gastown
The Capilano Suspension Bridge
Things to do
Cycling the Stanley Park seawall
Granville Island
Grouse Mountain
The Sea-to-Sky drive to Whistler
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0
What to pack
A rain jacket, layers
A quieter corner
The Lynn Canyon suspension bridge, free and quieter than Capilano
Questions travellers ask
When is Vancouver dry and warm?
June to September, when it's dry and warm. Pack a rain jacket and layers anyway.
What should I do in Vancouver?
Cycle the Stanley Park seawall, explore Granville Island and Gastown, head up Grouse Mountain and cross the Capilano Suspension Bridge. The Sea-to-Sky drive to Whistler makes a great day out.
Is there a quieter alternative to the Capilano Suspension Bridge?
Yes — the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge is quieter than Capilano.
What local food should I try in Vancouver?
Pacific salmon, sushi, and the stalls of the Richmond night market.
About Vancouver
- Coastal
- Mountains
Where it is
Vancouver is on the coast of British Columbia in western Canada, on a peninsula between Burrard Inlet and the Fraser River, facing the Strait of Georgia, with the North Shore Mountains rising steeply behind it.
History
The Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, part of the Coast Salish, had villages across what is now the city long before Europeans arrived. The sawmill settlement of Gastown grew around a tavern opened in 1867, the city was incorporated in 1886, and the Canadian Pacific Railway, extended here by 1887, made it Canada's gateway to the Pacific; it hosted Expo 86 and the 2010 Winter Olympics.
People
Vancouver is one of Canada's most diverse cities, with large Chinese, South Asian, Filipino and Korean communities, and Cantonese, Mandarin and Punjabi are widely spoken alongside English. The Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations live on their ancestral lands, and the totem poles at Stanley Park's Brockton Point show the art of several First Nations.
Known for
- Stanley Park and its seawall
- Granville Island's public market
- Gastown and its steam clock
- Skiing and hiking on the North Shore
- Pacific salmon, seafood and sushi
Did you know?
Stanley Park, a peninsula of forest and beaches beside downtown covering about 405 hectares, is larger than New York's Central Park.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.