Vancouver, British Columbia: Summer Guide

As I flew into Vancouver from Brisbane, it was raining. The local girl next to me said “I wouldn’t want to come home to any other weather!!!”

So that gives you a pretty good indication of what Vancouver is known for: rain.

However, I ended up being super lucky! Aside from that first day, it didn’t really rain at all while I was in Vancouver! I must have been there during their two weeks of actual summer.

Vancouver was the first stop on my Canada trip/exchange and was my base for travels to other areas like Vancouver Island, Whistler and the Rockies (more on those later). In total, I spent about eight days in the city in small 2-4 day stints. This was definitely a good length of time, because I managed to see most of the highlights!

In my last post, I mentioned that my aunt and uncle were living in Vancouver at the time, so I spent a lot of time with them, as well as my cousin and dad who were visiting at the same time. I also spent a bit of time going around solo between sections of my Moose Bus tour. No matter whether you’re travelling solo or with friends or family, Vancouver is a great city to visit!

Want to know all the best places to visit in Vancouver in summer? Read on…

Ride a bike around Stanley Park

If you’ve read my post about the Cape Peninsula in South Africa, you’ll know I’m terrible at bike riding. So I’m not really sure why I thought it’d be a good idea for me to hire a bike to ride around Stanley Park. But my aunt suggested it and all her other suggestions were great so I figured, why not?

If you’re looking to hire a bike to ride around Stanley Park, there’s plenty of options. Looking at the map there’s at least five different bike hire places on the main road (W Georgia Street). I’m pretty certain I went to Spokes Bicycle Rental because it’s right next to the park, but no doubt they all have the same kind of set up.

When I first crossed the road to the park after hiring my bike was the worst. I managed to get on the bike and get going but lasted only about two seconds before I almost crashed into another tourist (who I’m certain was equally bad or worse at riding a bike than I was… I’ll keep telling myself that anyway)! Great start, right?

Also make sure you ride on the right side of the footpath. Not saying this because I didn’t; I actually did manage to keep right! However, I was a bit confused the first time I heard someone say “on your left” as they overtook me.

Anyway, once I got going, I actually did really enjoy riding around the park! There’s lots of cool things that you can stop and see. Some must-sees include the famous totem poles and the Lion’s Gate Bridge. I also stopped at one of the trails in the park; my aunt called it the “Raccoon Walk” but it actually goes along the Lost Lagoon. Apparently there’s a high chance of seeing Raccoons on this walk but I never succeeded, despite trying on three different occasions! Maybe they just don’t like me.

Visit the bears on Grouse Mountain

Grouse Mountain is another one of the must-visit places in Vancouver. It’s home to the Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife, which does some really cool research on Hummingbirds and is home to two Grizzly Bears called Grinder and Coola. Both were found orphaned in 2001, were rescued and came to live at Grouse Mountain. The bear habitat is absolutely gigantic so they have loads of space to roam and show off their incredible natural behaviours.

If you’re wanting to see the bears, I highly recommend heading straight there once the mountain opens. Aside from the “breakfast with the bears” participants, we were the only ones there! It was so exciting seeing them get their morning snack and going to play in one of the ponds. We went back later in the day just before we left and there were huge crowds.

The bears aren’t the only thing to see and do on Grouse Mountain. You can also go up the Eye of the Wind, a big windmill up the top of the mountain. This is the place to go for the best view over the city. You can walk up the hill or you can take one of the ski lifts, like we did. Honestly, the ski lift was so slow that it might have been quicker to walk!

This is one of the places I visited with my aunt, cousin and dad so we drove to the base of the mountain before catching the Skyride to the top. If you’re looking to save some money, it might be worth considering walking up. The “Grouse Grind” is a very popular walk, especially for locals, but apparently is quite hard so be prepared for a solid hike!

Cross the famous Capilano Suspension Bridge

I’d recommend bringing a friend (or cousin) with you for this one. Not only can they take photos for you, but also rescue your phone if you throw it off a suspension bridge! Like I did. Thankfully it was only one of the small ones, otherwise I’d never see it again!

Aside from my phone disaster, Capilano Suspension Bridge was really cool. It was pretty crowded, though, even though we went quite early in the morning. After you crossed the main bridge, people could spread out a bit more so it didn’t seem so crazy busy. I didn’t realise how many suspension bridges they actually had in the park. In the end, I actually preferred the smaller ones; I thought it was super cool to walk among the beautiful, green trees.

Whilst I’d recommend a visit to Capilano overall, I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re scared of heights. Also, if you’re looking for somewhere free or at least a bit quieter, there are other suspension bridges in the Vancouver area. Also in North Vancouver is the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge, which I have heard could be a good alternative.

Go for a walk in one of the other city parks

Something I really loved about Vancouver was all the parks. Of course, Stanley Park is the most famous and it was awesome. But I loved the little parks too.

Lighthouse Park is on Vancouver’s North Shore and was somewhere I visited more than once with my family. Every walk we did in the park was different. Sometimes, we would see loads of wildlife, and once we even heard a bear! The highlight was on my first day when we sat overlooking the harbour and spotted a pod of wild porpoises. It was a seriously awesome start to my trip.

When I wasn’t staying with my Aunt and Uncle, I stayed in three different hostels around Vancouver. Two of them were on Granville Street right in the middle of the city (HI Vancouver Central and Samesun Vancouver), but the other was the HI Vancouver Jericho Beach. Whilst it was quite a way out of the city, I enjoyed staying there more than in the city because it was much quieter and I could start my day with a walk through Jericho Beach Park. The park had a few friendly geese that let me get up real close for a photo as well as beautiful views over Vancouver city from the beach.

Learn about ancient cultures at the UBC Museum of Anthropology

MThis was another one of my Aunt’s suggestions, and whilst I’m not really a history person, it was actually quite interesting. It is located on the University of British Columbia campus and features various artifacts from cultures around the world. The university is quite big so I got kind of lost looking for the museum… Maybe I just don’t have very good navigation skills.

Anyway back to the museum, as I said it was actually pretty cool. Most of the exhibits were about the First Nation’s culture but also about other cultures as well. I especially liked the wood carvings and statues. It was actually a really beautiful location, right near the shore so you could see the water and the mountains beyond.

Rather than being smart and visiting while I was staying just down the road at Jericho Beach, I made the trip out from the city. However, it was super easy to get there as there’s plenty of buses heading from the city to the university.

There’s a few other highlights that I missed…

Granville Island is home to a bustling market which is apparently a really cool place to visit. I didn’t spend much time in Gastown either. This is the oldest part of Vancouver and is home to a famous steam clock. I did visit once at the end of my tour with Moose Bus; all of my tour-mates went for dinner at a vegetarian burger restaurant. I don’t remember anything about it except that the burgers were delicious! I am aware that’s not very helpful… But I’d highly recommend it if you can find it or if it’s even still there!

Have fish tacos for dinner at Horseshoe Bay

If you’re looking for a place with good food and beautiful views, look no further than Horseshoe Bay. We had a really nice seafood dinner here and my dad even got fish tacos! Horseshoe Bay is also where one of the ferries departs heading to Vancouver Island… So stay tuned for more on that next week!