You likely don’t need to be reminded of what a fantastic city we live in, with so much to explore right in our own backyard. Now that local attractions are beginning to reopen their doors, it’s an excellent chance to freshen up on why Vancouver is so highly regarded.
Before we can welcome the rest of the world to come back, we want to invite locals to get reacquainted with all the reasons why we love this city. Here are just a few of the attractions and activities waiting for you when you’re ready to venture out beyond your neighbourhood and be a tourist in your own town.
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
There’s nothing quite like the fresh air 70 metres above a forest creek. If you’ve been gathering dust at home for the last three months, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park is the place to visit to shake it off and reenergize. The views through the forest canopy are enough to clear any cloudy mind, but there’s much more than just the bridge itself. Kids will adore Treetops Adventure, an elevated walkway that cruises through the towering 1300-year-old Douglas-firs. At Raptors Ridge, families can learn about the impressive birds of prey native to the area with the park’s dedicated bird handlers. With frequent shuttle trips from downtown Vancouver to the park, this is a day trip that basically plans itself.
Tickets are available to be pre-purchased from their estore and will be date and time specific to limit the number of guests in the Park at any one time.
VanDusen Botanical Garden
55 acres of roaming greenery means there’s plenty of space to physical distance. After spending the past few months cooped up inside, VanDusen Botanical Garden will feel like an oasis of fresh air and serenity. Home to over 7,500 plant species and varieties, each bending path leads to new natural beauty. Once you’ve breathed deeply and regrounded your centre, consider taking the kids into the hedge maze. You can always follow the sweet scent of the garden blossoms if you end up getting lost.
Visitors and Members; tickets for visiting the Garden are available online only.
Vancouver Aquarium
We don’t want to go this long without seeing an otter ever again. After being closed for three months, The Vancouver Aquarium is ready to welcome guests back to the ocean floor. With date-time specific tickets, and exhibit paths now directed in a one-way flow, visitors can safely experience the awe of a manta ray’s full wingspan in a crowd-free setting. Kids will adore the latest exhibit, Water Babies: Parenting 101, a fun and cheeky look at how parenting styles of the ocean sometimes aren’t that far from our own.
Book your aquarium tickets ahead of time, as admission is now limited throughout the day.
Grouse Mountain Resort
Grouse Mountain Resort is one of Vancouver’s most-visited year-round attractions for tourists, but this summer, the mountain is all yours. Grouse Mountain Resort has reopened for Gold Annual Passholders. Taking the Skyride up to the lookout is only the start of the adventure. Once at the top, you can zipline, explore nature walks, or check out the one of a kind wind turbine. As part of Grouse’s commitment to wildlife conservation, you can also observe rescued grizzly bears, Coola and Grinder, play in their enclosed habitat area. Meanwhile, bird watchers will marvel at the countless owls and hummingbirds that call the mountain home. There’s so much to do on Grouse Mountain that it truly defies a brochure, your best bet is to experience it yourself.
Skyride Reservation System is now available for Gold Annual Passholders and must be booked in advance online.
Vancouver Art Gallery
Photo credit: Vancouver Art Gallery, Photographer credit: Landon Mackenzie
If you’re in need of a little art therapy, then the Vancouver Art Gallery will nurse your imagination back to full colour. With the Gallery’s impressive collection of Indigenous and international art, it’s earned its place as the centrepiece of the downtown core. After reactivating your creative side, leaf through the extensive selection of art books in the gift shop. All of this left-brain stimulation is bound to work up an appetite, which is right around when you should steer your tour towards the 1931 Gallery Bistro.
Online ticket purchases are strongly encouraged for all visits. A limited number of on-site tickets will be available.
Museum of Vancouver
No museum illustrates the joy of discovery quite like the Museum of Vancouver. Anything but stuffy, the museum’s rotating exhibits speak to the curiosity in us all. Whether it be spotlighting the unique obsessions of Vancouver’s niche collectors or exploring the relationships we have with our city’s urban wildlife, this is a spot for answering the questions you haven’t even thought of yet. Of course, if you haven’t visited the museum’s mainstay exhibit, Neon Vancouver Ugly Vancouver, it’s a must-see exhibit showcasing what Vancouver used to look like in the heyday of neon advertising.
Visitors to the museum are required to purchase a ticket in advance online for a designated entry time.
Sea to Sky Gondola
There’s more than one way to get up a mountain. Only 45-minutes out of downtown Vancouver, the Sea to Sky Gondola is a world-class ride that follows the ascending treeline all the way to the summit. The sprawling view of towering mountains and distant islands is unlike any other. Once at the top, visitors can explore a network of hikes and nature walks, journey across the Sky Pilot Suspension Bridge, or simply savour the vistas over a beverage at the Summit Lodge. Make sure you’ve made room on your camera roll because you could hang a frame on every view.
Tickets must be pre-purchased online prior to your visit.
FlyOver Canada
Photo credit: FlyOver Canada
Fancy a quick flight to Nova Scotia? FlyOver Canada is like soaring through the stunning postcards from across Canada’s 10 million square kilometres. A state of the art 4D flight-simulation, this attraction lets you feel the wind over the Rockies and catch the scent of the tulips on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. In case you wanted to fly a little further out, the attraction is also showing FlyOver Iceland until August 30, a spellbinding look at the land of fire and ice.
Visitors are encouraged to book online in advance to help limit line ups and contact on-site.
Britannia Mine Museum
Photo credit: Britannia Mine Museum
Having recently completed an extensive renovation, there’s never been a better time to visit this award-winning museum and National Historic Site. What was once one of the largest copper mines in the British Commonwealth, now stands as 20 storeys of immersive history. Britannia Mine Museum’s latest addition is a new multi-sensory, live-action experience that gives an explosive look at how the mine was once a powerhouse of the industry. The minecarts are ready to board, so hop on and see what secrets are down the track.
Advance ticketing and reservations are strongly encouraged.
Just a few of the attractions that have put Vancouver at the top of must-visit lists. Visit our full online guide of attractions and activities and make sure to check back often for updates on reopening attractions. Unwind after your local adventures at one of Vancouver’s downtown hotels by making it a staycation and get up to a $125 Visa Reward Card for each of the first 2 nights. Learn more at StayVancouverHotels.
Now’s the chance to explore your hometown and remind yourself of just how magical of a place this really is.
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