Vancouver Travel Guide: 24 Hours Exploring Gastown, Stanley Park, Granville Island & More

22 places in this vlog

In the order they appear. Tap a time to play it here, or ↗ to open YouTube at that second.

1. 1:31

   49th Parallel Coffee Roasters

   ☕ Cafe · Downtown

   The salted caramel old-fashioned donut is the standout; the blueberry one is just okay.

2. 2:37

   Vancouver Olympic Cauldron

   🏢 Landmark · Coal Harbour

   Wayne Gretzky lit the cauldron.

3. 2:50

   Digital Orca

   🏢 Landmark · Coal Harbour

   The spot also gives views of Stanley Park and of seaplanes landing in the harbour.

4. 3:26

   Stanley Park

   🌳 Park · West End

   The full loop can be driven with stops at pullouts, or visitors can park and walk or bike.

5. 4:11

   The Drop

   🏢 Landmark · Coal Harbour

6. 4:36

   Canada Place

   🏢 Landmark · Downtown

   Beyond the sails and cruise ships there is little to do apart from the FlyOver ride.

7. 5:06

   FlyOver Canada

   🚡 Activity · Downtown

   It is compared to Disneyland's Soaring Over California.

8. 5:19

   Port of Vancouver Discovery Centre

   🏛️ Museum · Downtown

   It's tiny, with only a few exhibits.

9. 5:39

   Vancouver Lookout

   🏢 Landmark · Downtown

   Called a must for understanding the city's size and layout.

10. 6:46

    Gastown Steam Clock

    🏢 Landmark · Gastown

    Visit at the top of the hour; the noon show is the longest of the day.

11. 7:12

    Gastown

    🏘️ Neighborhood · Gastown

    The tourist shops sell maple cream, a decadent spreadable maple butter.

12. 8:04

    Japadog

    🍜 Street food · Downtown

    No. 13, with fried onions, teriyaki mayo and seaweed, is the most-ordered; sides like Japanese curry poutine are less impressive.

13. 9:32

    English Bay

    🌳 Park · West End · brief mention

14. 9:40

    A-maze-ing Laughter

    🏢 Landmark · West End

    Designed to make passers-by smile.

15. 10:24

    Inukshuk

    🏢 Landmark · West End

16. 11:02

    Engagement

    🏢 Landmark · West End

    It is a popular backdrop for wedding photos.

17. 11:28

    False Creek Ferries

    🚡 Activity · False Creek

    The ride takes five minutes and costs a couple of dollars, and it beats the traffic to Granville Island.

18. 11:56

    Granville Island

    🏘️ Neighborhood · Granville Island

    It is extremely busy on weekends; skip driving and take transit or the ferry.

19. 12:15

    Granville Island Public Market

    🛒 Market · Granville Island · brief mention

    It is very crowded and hard to walk around on weekends.

20. 12:23

    Lee's Donuts

    ☕ Cafe · Granville Island

    The honey dip is the most popular, and the warm raspberry-filled donut is a highlight.

21. 14:26

    Tom Sushi

    🍴 Restaurant · West End · brief mention

    Expect long waits; there was a two-hour wait at dinnertime.

22. 15:38

    Nine O'Clock Gun

    🏢 Landmark · Stanley Park

    It beeps just before firing, and it's a good spot to watch the sunset over the skyline while waiting.