Vancouver

City of Vancouver

The City of Vancouver is what many visitors immediately associate with “Vancouver the destination.” Indeed, it is home to the largest population among the Metro Vancouver municipalities, and is located at the heart of the region. Downtown Vancouver is where most of the region’s financial and business activity happens, and the vast majority of the city’s hotel rooms are there as well.

For many visitors, the City of Vancouver is where they’ll start their sightseeing, with attractions such as Granville Island, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Vancouver Aquarium and many more. As a result of its culturally diverse population, Vancouver has equally diverse neighbourhoods, all of which provide wonderful browsing and shopping opportunities, from historic Gastown and Robson Street’s exceptional shopping options, through to the city’s Chinatown and Punjabi Market.

The city is known for its abundant green spaces, the most famous of which is the 1,000-acre Stanley Park, right at the end of the downtown peninsula. The popular seawall wraps around the park and then extends along the waterfront as far west as the University of British Columbia. These green spaces combined with the fact that the city is surrounded on three sides by water, means there are plenty of options for outdoor adventure: hiking in a temperate rainforest, golf among old-growth trees, kayak along False Creek, or cycle the seawall. If you’d rather leave it to the professionals when it comes to sports, catch a Canucks game at Rogers Arena, or the Whitecaps or BC Lions at BC Place Stadium.

Those looking for cultural activities won’t be disappointed. Along with being home to institutions such as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Opera, and many theatres and performing arts venues, the city offers a year-round calendar of festivals and events. In the City of Vancouver, you’ll also find dining options to suit all tastes; from the exotically multicultural through to high-end European fine dining and seafood, you won’t go hungry!