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24 hours in Vancouver

24 hours in Vancouver

All the cafes, sights and tourist adventures in one of the world’s best cities

Work starts early as if making up for Vancouver’s late start – the city is barely 100 years old. The boom city of the Pacific north west has no time for a lie-in. Take breakfast where it all started: Gastown – the touristy renovation of the small Victorian settlement named after a particularly loquacious bar owner. Try the bohemian Bavaria café for cheap all-day breakfast or more upmarket Pistol Burnes café across the street.

9.00 am
Tacky T-shirt shops aren’t open yet and the beggars are still asleep, so it’s a good time to stroll west through Gastown’s cobbled streets and watch the bizarre Steam Clock hiss and wheeze on the quarter hour.

9.30 am
Gastown becomes modern Downtown at the towering Harbour Centre skyscraper. Brave the rocket-like glass lift to the 40th floor “Lookout” for a memorable view of sprawling city, snowcapped mountains and winding waterways.

10.00 am
Two blocks on, Canada Place’s white concrete ‘sails’ recall Sydney Opera House. The walk around the upper deck offers great views of one of the world’s busiest ports – more than 3,000 ships a year call by, including increasing numbers of cruise liners which dock right alongside here.

10.30 am
Collect a free map at the huge and helpful tourist office opposite Canada Place, then choose from buses, taxis and trolley tours lined up outside. A day-ticket for a tourist trolley or double-decker gets you around the city with unlimited hopping on and off. But if it’s sunny, Vancouver is a great city for walking.

11.30 am
Bus, cab or stroll your way over the hill that is Downtown Vancouver towards False Creek waterfront, spotting art deco gems like the Marine Building, once the British Empire’s tallest but now dwarfed among glitzy modern architecture.

12.30 pm
Board an Aquabus at the Hornby Street station for the short ride to Granville Island.



12.45 pm
Vancouver street life reaches a pulsating crescendo in the welcoming maze of restored boat houses and wooden warehouses around this lively daily market. Join the throng of boat chandlers, artists, tourists, shoppers, buskers, vendors and people watchers. There’s every variety of food available. Eat in a waterfront café like Blue Parrot or if it’s fine buy a picnic and grab a creekside bench.

2.00 pm
Aquabus back to Downtown then stroll the Seawall Promenade to Stanley Park. Views across English Bay towards Vanier Park and the University help you realise why Vancouver is consistently judged one of the world’s great places to live.

3.00 pm
North America’s biggest urban park is 1,000 acres of rainforest, marshland and beaches. There’s a colonial cricket pitch, collection of totem poles and Vancouver’s most popular attraction, the Aquarium. The killer whales were shipped out of Stanley Park this year after animal activists’ campaigns but there’s still more than 8,000 living exhibits, including a family of beluga whales, grotesque octopus and extraordinary collection of jellyfish.

4.30 pm
The short walk back into town shows Vancouver at its most dynamic. Condominiums are sprouting up everywhere along the old Coal Harbour shore. Apartments here sell for millions of dollars. The huge modern house of a former Hong Kong billionaire is easily spotted by the colourful mural right across its east side.

5.30 pm
Enjoy a spell of window shopping or relax with a pricey coffee on Robson Street – Canada’s own Rodeo Drive. Monthly rents here can be $40,000 Canadian a month.

7.00 pm
Head for Kitsilano, or ‘Kits’ to locals, the suburb on the hills south of English Bay, where the coolest and most affluent live and relax. Some great houses, gardens and views here – but it’s time to concentrate on food. Try West Broadway’s stylish Tojo’s (upmarket sushi) and Lumiere (minimalist French), then move on to a popular lounge bar like The Urban Well.

11.00 pm
Still going strong? Big Bam Boo (sports and sushi bar), the tiny Side Door Cabaret Club or Kits on Broadway (late pub) will keep you entertained into the early hours…

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