A Weekend in Vancouver: Two Days from the Seawall to the North Shore

Two days, one city, and no car needed: ride the Stanley Park seawall, walk Chinatown into Gastown, cross the harbour to a canyon bridge on the North Shore, and finish on Granville Island. It is the classic first Vancouver weekend, done by bike, on foot and by ferry, with Indigenous art, a Ming Dynasty-style garden and beer brewed a few steps from the table.

Morning: the seawall by bike. Pick up wheels on Denman Street at Freedom Bike Rentals Stanley Park. Every rental comes with a helmet and a lock, and it runs first come, first served, so start early on a sunny weekend.

Then ride the Stanley Park Seawall. The loop around the park is 9 km: about an hour by bike, two to three hours on foot. Cyclists take the inside path and walkers keep the water side. Work on the wall began in 1917, and the full loop around the park was finished in 1980.

Pull over at Brockton Point for the Totem Poles. Three red cedar gateways by Coast Salish artist Susan Point, installed in 2008, frame the visitor centre, and the newest pole, carved by Robert Yelton of the Squamish Nation, joined the collection in 2009.

Lunch at Ferguson Point. Keep riding past Prospect Point to The Teahouse in Stanley Park at Ferguson Point, with window-lined dining rooms and a waterfront patio facing the open ocean. Then pedal the rest of the loop back to Denman Street.

Afternoon: Northwest Coast art and Chinatown. Downtown on Hornby Street, the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art honours the Haida artist Bill Reid (1920 to 1998). His jewellery, sculpture and carving share the rooms with exhibitions by contemporary Indigenous artists from the coast.

Head east into Chinatown. The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is a Ming Dynasty-style garden home, opened in 1986 as the first garden of its kind built outside China.

Nearby on East Pender Street, the Chinese Canadian Museum fills the Wing Sang Building, built in 1889 by merchant Yip Sang and the oldest brick building in Chinatown. Its exhibitions tell Chinese Canadian stories across several floors.

Evening: Gastown. Walk north to Water Street for dinner and a pint at Steamworks Brewpub. It has poured steam beer from copper fermenters since 1995, across two floors with a view over the harbour, and the pub fare runs from fish and chips to plant-based bowls.

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Morning: over the canyon. Catch the free shuttle to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in North Vancouver. It runs year-round from Canada Place Way, between the convention centres downtown. The bridge spans 137 metres, 70 metres above the Capilano River, and a crossing has hung here since 1889, first of hemp rope and cedar planks. Give the rest of the park time too: Treetops Adventure is a walkway through the rainforest, and the Cliffwalk winds high above the canyon.

Midday: Lower Lonsdale. From the park, the #236 bus runs down to Lonsdale Quay. Walk east along the waterfront to The Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver, a contemporary art gallery with a focus on photography, in a Governor General's Medal-winning building on the water. Admission is always by donation. Then the SeaBus carries you back across Burrard Inlet to downtown in 12 minutes.

Afternoon: Granville Island. Start sweet at La Bise Bakery, kiosk 150 inside the Granville Island Public Market. It bakes canelés fresh daily, crisp outside with a rum and vanilla centre. Then walk to Cartwright Street and Granville Island Brewing, which opened in April 1984 as Canada's first licensed microbrewery and still brews in the same spot on the island.

Evening: a show or a pint. Stay on the island for a play at the Arts Club's Lindsay Family Stage at Granville Island; the Arts Club sells tickets on its own site. For a looser night, head to Main Street and Brassneck Brewery, a working brewery with a tasting room and growler fills to carry home. For concerts and festivals, see what's on this weekend.

• The seawall runs 28 km from the Vancouver Convention Centre to Spanish Banks Park, so a strong rider can keep going past Stanley Park along English Bay.
• The SeaBus links downtown and Lonsdale Quay in 12 minutes, which makes the North Shore an easy half day without a car.

Send this weekend to the planner and shape the two days around your dates and your pace.

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