Lonely Planet Vancouver & Victoria , livre ebook

Vancouver & Victoria

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to Vancouver & Victoria
Vancouver’s Top Experiences
What’s New
Need to Know
Perfect Days
Month By Month
With Kids
Like a Local
For Free
Under the Radar
Dining Out
Bar Open
Showtime
Treasure Hunt
Active Vancouver
LGBTIQ+

Explore Vancouver Victoria

Neighborhoods at a Glance
Downtown & West End
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Gastown & Chinatown
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Yaletown & Granville Island
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Commercial Drive
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Main Street
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Fairview & South Granville
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Kitsilano & University of British Columbia
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
North Shore
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Day Trips from Vancouver
Whistler
Richmond & Steveston
Southern Gulf Islands
Sleeping
Victoria

Understand Vancouver

History
Green Vancouver
Arts & Culture

Survival Guide

Transportation
Arriving in Vancouver
Vancouver International Airport
Pacific Central Station
Tsawwassen & Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminals
Downtown Waterfront
Getting Around Vancouver
Bicycle
Bus
Boat
Car & Motorcycle
Train
Taxi
Tours
Bus & Boat Tours
Specialty Tours
Walking Tours
Directory A–Z
Accessible Travel
Discount Cards
Electricity
Emergency
Internet Access
Medical Services
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Responsible Travel
Safe Travel
Taxes & Refunds
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Visas
Women Travelers
Vancouver Maps
Downtown
West End
Gastown
Chinatown
Yaletown
Granville Island
Commercial Drive
Main Street
Fairview & South Granville
Kitsilano
North Shore
University of British Columbia (UBC)
Stanley Park

Table of Contents

Behind the Scenes
Our Writers

COVID-19
We have re-checked every business in this book before publication to ensure that it is still open after the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 will continue to be felt long after the outbreak has been contained, and many businesses, services and events referenced in this guide may experience ongoing restrictions. Some businesses may be temporarily closed, have changed their opening hours and services, or require bookings; some unfortunately could have closed permanently. We suggest you check with venues before visiting for the latest information.
Welcome to Vancouver & Victoria

Mirrored towers reflecting nearby snow-capped peaks. City beaches dotted with laid-back locals. I fell for Vancouver’s natural charms when I arrived 25 years ago. But it’s the ever-evolving urban scene that has kept me here ever since. From eclectic festivals to adventurous dining and from indie shopping to grassroots arts, I’ve never run out of experiences to discover in my adopted home – and I don’t just mean the intriguing craft-beer scene (although, personally, that really helps).

Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge | PRESERVED LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES©

By John Lee, Writer

@johnleewriter
For more about Our Writers
Vancouver’s Top Experiences

1 GRAND OUTDOORS
Nature is always calling your name in Vancouver. From immersive city parks and deeply tranquil woodland hikes to mesmerizing oceanside promenades that skirt busy urban beaches, it couldn’t be easier to hit the great outdoors here. Follow the locals and you’ll soon be communing with British Columbia’s spectacular temperate rainforest – and likely spotting a curious raccoon or a beady-eyed bald eagle along the way.

LISSANDRA MELO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Walk the Seawall
Vancouver’s favorite outdoor hangout, 400 hectare Stanley Park is striped with tree-shaded trails and inviting picnic spots. But its 8.8km seawall perimeter route – shared by bikers, skaters and walkers – is a life-affirming combination of forest views, mountain vistas and shimmering ocean panoramas.

LISSANDRA MELO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Hit the Beach
A languid summer afternoon at Kitsilano Beach is the ideal way to wind down and forget all about your phone. You’ll meet chatty locals, watch sailboats bobbing in the ocean and glimpse swathes of golden sunlight reflected on the distant downtown towers.

IRRA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Take a Hike
A great launchpad for outdoor adventures throughout the wider region, Vancouver is also home to plenty of its own escape-from-it-all nature hikes. Sidestep the crowds by heading to Pacific Spirit Regional Park where towering Douglas firs, dense ferns and twittering birdlife await.

MARTIN PATOCKA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Vancouver’s Top Experiences
2 SUSHI, SEAFOOD & MORE
Combining a taste-tripping menu of global culinary influences with a deep commitment to regional ingredients, Vancouver is a lip-smacking lure for adventurous foodies. From the best Asian dining outside Asia to boat-fresh seafood and just-picked Fraser Valley farm produce, there are plenty of reasons to loosen your belt and discover a smorgasbord of utterly memorable dishes here.

Eat the Neighborhoods
Gastown and Chinatown are jam-packed with deliciously diverse dine-out options, from authentic dim-sum restaurants to hip ramen spots and from old-school diners to artsy cafes. You’ll also find great indie coffeeshops and craft beer bars here.

RONNIECHUA/GETTY IMAGES ©

Peruse the Public Market
A revitalized former industrial enclave, Granville Island is studded with theaters and galleries. But its cavernous Public Market is the tastiest lure for food fans, complete with stands selling everything from piquant cheeses to fresh-caught fish and from choice charcuterie to near-legendary donuts.

NONG AMORY/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Dive into Richmond
Craving Canada’s most authentic Asian dining? A SkyTrain hop from downtown Vancouver, Richmond has more than 800 restaurants – most of them deeply focused on regional dishes from China, Japan, Korea and beyond. Don’t miss the summer-long Richmond Night Market (pictured) where dozens of food stands congregate.

TOTORORO/GETTY IMAGES ©

Vancouver’s Top Experiences
3 REMARKABLE HISTORY
There are lots of evocative and informative reminders of the past in Vancouver, so long as you know where to look. From a carefully preserved Victorian-era mansion to a guided walking tour that brings to life the city’s salacious yesteryear underbelly, the past is accessible around almost every corner here. Keep your eyes peeled in neighborhoods such as Gastown and Chinatown (pictured) where some of the city’s oldest buildings still remain.

Step into the Past
A charming reminder of the life and times of a middle-class Victorian-era family, rooms inside the West End’s Roedde House Museum have been carefully recreated with period antiques.

MARGARITA YOUNG/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Gritty Backstory
Vancouver started on the muddy streets and in the dodgy saloons of Gastown. A Forbidden Vancouver walking tour exposes the grubby characters and sordid tales that launched the modern-day city.

MICHELE FALZONE/GETTY IMAGES ©

Bask in the Neon
The Museum of Vancouver is crammed with exhibits illuminating the region’s colorful backstory. But its darkened room of vintage neon signs from old Vancouver businesses is a highlight.

WANGKUN JIA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Vancouver’s Top Experiences
4 WALKABLE NEIGHBORHOODS
A compact city that’s easy to explore on foot – the transit system is also user-friendly when you need to venture further – Vancouver visitors should spend at least part of their time hoofing it here. Several stroll-worthy districts radiate from the downtown core and are well worth a few hours of laid-back exploring. There are also plenty of cafes and coffeeshops to hit when refuelling is required.

HARRY BEUGELINK/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Heritage Architecture
Explore vintage architecture on a summertime Architectural Institute of British Columbia walking tour. Tours of six Vancouver neighborhoods are typically available.

Exercise your Appetite
A one-time warehouse district, Yaletown was reinvented a few years back. It’s now a walk-worthy enclave of inviting restaurants, chic stores and even a gallery or two.

Wander the West End
There’s a wealth of well-maintained 1950s apartment buildings in this neighborhood plus a surfeit of stores and restaurants on Davie Street and Denman Street.

Vancouver’s Top Experiences
5 AMAZING GARDENS
Vancouver’s greatest green spaces aren’t just forested parks; there’s also a sparkling array of carefully cultivated gardens to discover. From ornamental flowerbeds to undercover tropical plants to turtle-bobbling ponds, the city serves-up a winding vine of horticultural attractions. Need more? Stroll neighborhoods such as Kitsilano and Shaughnessy to spot a wealth of praise-worthy private gardens.

Veer to VanDusen ()
The city’s leading horticultural attraction, the paths of VanDusen Botanical Garden (pictured) weave between several themed areas. The guided tours are highly recommended.

ANNHFHUNG/GETTY IMAGES ©

A Tropical Paradise
Your don’t have to give up on gardens if its raining; instead seek shelter at Bloedel Conservatory. The climate-controlled dome’s verdant foliage is also home to some highly colorful birds.

VIVIANWW2000/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Find Inner Peace
A tranquility break from Chinatown, Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden (pictured) is a white-walled oasis encircling a mirror-calm pond. Turtles occasionally ripple the water here.

KLARKA0608/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Vancouver’s Top Experiences