Transportation

Public - there is an extensive network of buses and trains serving Vancouver proper, Translink. Regional travel is organized under BC Transit, with ferry service by BC Ferries. Our airport is YVR, Vancouver International Airport. Useful to note - you can get a Translink train directly to YVR from downtown (and vice versa) during operating hours. The Pacific Central Station serves the daily commuter trains from Seattle and points south and well as Via Rail routes within Canada.

Bikes - there are numerous bike rental services in Vancouver and an extensive network of bike routes.

Car rental - all the major car rental places have locations at the airport, with others scattered through the region.

Cabs, Airport Limo, Uber, and Lyft are generally trustworthy. It’s really helpful with cabs especially if you book well in advance for long trips ie to the airport. It has become difficult to find cabs to flag down on all but the busiest streets. In very high traffic areas there are designated cab stands.

Districts

Gaybourhood - Davie Street between Granville St and Stanley Park is probably the gayest part of the city, while Commercial Drive is probably the most lesbionic. The Pumpjack Pub is sort of leather/bear/pup/fetish/etc oriented, while the Junction is more “everything else”. There are several other venues but I am sooo not an expert on this …

Names name names, sweetie - Burrard near the VAG, Robson Street between there and Stanley Park, and the nearby Pacific Center mall are where you’ll go to pick up a few little trinkets. Very very expensive trinkets. Pacific Centre is also the easiest Apple store to access from downtown.

Gastown - roughly West Cordova St from Burrard St to Carrall St, and Water St where it runs parallel, is a treasure trove of tourist objet for every budget (if you buy something First-Nations themed, make sure it wasn’t made in China), and there are a great many extremely clever restaurants and boutiques. Hidden under the tat is the oldest surviving part of the city.

Chinatown - see it before it disappears. It was for a hundred years an integral part of downtown Vancouver but has recently been aggressively gentrified, pushing out the people and businesses that made it interesting.

DTES aka the Downtown East Side - Hastings St between approx Cambie St and Princess Ave, is an area you’ll possibly want to avoid; it can get rough and is definitely not scenic. You are pretty much safe to cross through it most of the time, but do keep your eyes open and your wits about you. The greatest hazard is people who are using and not thinking clearly. It adjoins Chinatown and Gastown, so if you want to go to either of those you will probably have to deal with it to some extent.

Commercial Drive between Venables St and East Broadway is as you might expect a shopping district, but on the local level: groceries, cafés, pubs, restaurants, and day to day services. Funky rather than upscale shopping.

Broadway - a very long shopping street running from approx Commercial Drive well out to the west, with innumerable businesses along its length. One tends to go there to get or do a thing or to eat, without lingering afterward.

Granville Island is a district of restaurants, boutiques, markets, and galleries. It can get quite crowded on a weekend but there’s always something interesting to see. if nothing else, people watching.

Eat/Drink

There are far too many restaurants to make any sort of exhaustive list, so here’s a few of the best on Commercial Drive:

Prado Cafe, coffee and sweets https://www.pradocafe.com/

Grounds for Coffee, coffee and sweets https://groundsforcoffee.ca/

Turk's Coffee, coffee, sweets, people-watching, 1276 Commercial Dr

Fratelli Bakery, sweets https://www.fratellibakery.com/

Bench, bakery, sweets and bread https://www.thebenchbakehouse.com/

Down Low Chicken Shack, fried chicken https://www.dlchickenshack.ca/

Chancho Tortilleria (2096 Commercial Dr, whatever the website says today) https://www.chancho.ca/

Cozen, Japanese https://cozen.ca/

[Dolce Amore gelato https://www.dolceamore.ca/ - they’ve had a fire and are out of service for now]

il Mundo Caffe is an Italian cafe with a wide selection of excellent gelato https://www.ilmundo.ca

Elephant Garden ice cream https://elephantgarden.ca/menu

The Lunch Lady, Vietnamese https://thelunchlady.com/

Marcello, Italian https://marcellopizzeria.com/

Loula's, Greek https://www.loulastaverna.com/

la Pache Pizza there are many pizza places on the Drive, this is my favourite https://vancouver.lapachepizza.ca/zgrid/proc/site/sitep.jsp

Baby Dhal roti & other Trinidadian https://babydhalroti.com/

Social, bar & food https://www.socialyvr.com/menu

Hariyali Express, Indian, 2066 Commercial Dr

... there are about 30 mincrobrewers near the Drive, but I'm not a drinker so I can't make solid recommendations

Elsewhere:

Peaceful, Chinese https://www.peacefulrestaurant.com/

Japadog https://japadog.com/

Parks and Gardens

Van Dusen - botanical garden, collections of witch hazels for the late winter, sakura in the spring, then hydrangeas, delphiniums in summer, autumn foliage in October, festival of lights around Xmas (FOL ticketed, book in advance).

Bloedel Conservatory - geodesic dome with tropical plants and birds, managed by VanDusen; best during the cold months, when you want someplace warm and green to hang out, and the birds are always interesting. Festival of Lights around Xmas.

Queen Elizabeth Park - surrounding Bloedel, a landscaped park with some busy areas but also lots of spots to picnic or just sit quietly.

Stanley Park - a large park right next to downtown; large rhododendron garden, most interesting in spring; a group of First Nations totem poles and other sculptural pieces; the Vancouver Aquarium; a paved seawall path goes all the way around the park, very scenic; beaches, forest, shoreline. You can rent bicycles from several places downtown on Denman street.

Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden - not a botanical garden as such, this is more about the building and landscaping, which is a faithful reproduction of classical gardens in Suzhou. The Garden puts on or hosts innumerable events through the year, check their calendar. The adjoining Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Courtyard is beautiful and free, but usually pretty busy during the warm months.

University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens - attached to UBC, it has an extensive landscaped area that doubles as training ground for the university’s horticulture programs, as well as hosting collections related to specialist interests of scientists (for instance, Sorbus). If you only have a short time and want to get a feeling for the biome and horticulture in Vancouver, this is the best bet. There is an elevated tree walk but it is meant for, and sized for, children. The attached plant shop sometimes has rare species for sale. Near Museum of Anthropology, Nitobe, and Wreck Beach.

Nitobe Memorial Garden - a small but perfect Japanese garden, part of UBC gardens.

Wreck Beach - a nude beach near UBC/MOA/Nitobe.

Slightly further afield: Lighthouse Park is a beautiful but often crowded park on the North Shore (across the water from downtown Vancouver) with some of the last old growth trees remaining near the city; Mount Seymour Park, Grouse Mountain and Cypress Mountain Park, on the mountains overlooking the city, with hiking, scenic lookouts, skiing, etc - be sure to check their websites to see if you need tickets for the times and activities you want.

Museums/Galleries/Archives/Libraries

Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) - not a huge gallery, but there are often very interesting travelling shows, check their calendar. The permanent collection has strengths in Canadian artists, particularly Emily Carr.

Bill Reid Gallery - small gallery a block away from the VAG, it has a permanent collection of Bill Reid’s work, as well as hosting innovative and interesting shows by or about First Nations artists.

Museum of Vancouver (MOV) - museum of all things Vancouver, including a display of restored vintage neon signs and rotating/travelling shows.

City of Vancouver Archives - at the MOV; extensively digitized holdings available to peruse online

Vancouver Public Library - extensive system including the archives and Special Collections at the Central Branch, itself an interesting building with many community services.

Museum of Anthropology (MOA) - has a solid collection of First Nations artefacts, and interesting seasonal and visiting shows, check the website for info. Near Nitobe, UBC Gardens, and Wreck Beach.

Further afield is the Audain Art Museum in Whistler. The drive there is quite scenic, too.

Medical/drugs/emergency

EMERGENCY - Call 911 in the case of a medical emergency, crime, or fire. Tell them the problem and where you are (Vancouver, BC, Canada) as it is not always obvious to the operator. Tell them you are visiting Vancouver from __. You may be transported to a local hospital Emergency Room (also called Urgent Care), or you may be asked to wait someplace safe until police or fire services arrive.

Hospitals in Canada are generally quite safe. You can find your closest one by googling “hospital”. Go to a hospital if you have something urgent like a wound or a chronic condition that has flared up. You will be asked to present any insurance info you may have, so carry that with you. If you have none, they will treat you anyway but there will likely be an attempt to invoice you. If your mishap involves recreational chemistry you can safely tell them what you took; without that info they cannot treat you.

Clinics are a good bet if you have something that needs attention but is not “right now” urgent. Check with them about payment options before accepting service.

Doctors in BC are generally overloaded and stressed, so you can try making an appointment with them but your chances are better at a clinic or the hospital.

Dental services are generally fee-for-service here, unless it’s for an emergency via a hospital. Other practises like chiropractic and massage are fee-for-service.

Pharmacists have some discretion around prescribing medications, and meds are paid on the basis of cost plus a dispensing fee.

It’s very helpful if you make a wallet-sized laminated card bearing your basic info, info for a contact, insurance numbers, and any medical data that might be needed if you’re unconscious (are you diabetic? seizures? drug allergies? what meds do you take?) as well as doctor and pharmacy contact info. You must take great care to keep that card secure, of course. Secure travel pouches are great.

If you are travelling here from outside BC, get medical travel insurance before you leave home. Insurance companies will not give it to you once you’re here. Do not rely on vague medical riders on i.e. trip insurance or car insurance.

If you’re travelling with medications, make sure they are in bottles labelled with pharmacy and doctor info, preferably with contact info. If you find yourself needing a refill many pharmacists can help you get enough for the rest of your trip - look for small pharmacies as the large corporate ones don’t give a rat’s ass and will be resistant. Insulin syringes particularly can be a problem, so bring enough if you can.

If you’re coming from outside Canada, LEAVE YOUR RECREATIONAL DRUGS AT HOME. There is a cannabis store on every corner and (recently) shops that sell most of the psychedelics quite openly. The police here do not prosecute for small amounts of most of the common recreationals. However the border is a different matter, and you may very well be prevented from entering the country if anything is found, charges may be laid, and you may be barred from returning. Absolutely not worth it. This is doubly important if you are returning to the US from Vancouver - do not take any cannabis product or other drugs with you, you could potentially be facing federal charges.

last edited 2025-02-20