Local Resources

Skål Canada - Vancouver

Explorable neighborhoods, drink-and-dine delights and memorable cultural and outdoor activities framed by striking natural vistas – there's a superfluity of reasons to fall for this ocean-fringed metropolis.

Taste-Tripping

Don't tell the rest of the country but Vancouver is Canada’s dine-out capital. Abandon your diet and dive right into North America's best Asian cuisine, from chatty Chinese restaurants to Vietnamese  banh mi  sandwich joints, or unleash your appetite on a rich smorgasbord of fresh-caught local seafood, including seasonal spot prawns and succulent wild salmon. The farm-to-table movement has also reinvigorated West Coast cuisine here – anyone for Fraser Valley lamb with a side of foraged morels? And we haven't even started on Vancouver’s thirst-slaking craft-beer scene, pouring the nation’s finest IPAs, sours and more.

Neighbourhood Villages

Downtown is just the start of Vancouver. Walk or hop public transit and within minutes you'll be hanging with the locals in one of the city's diverse and distinctive mini-districts. Whether discovering the independent boutiques of Main St or the coffee shops of Commercial Dr, the redbrick bars of Gastown or the heritage-house beachfronts of Kitsilano, you'll find this city ideal for easy-access urban exploration. Just be sure to chat to the locals wherever you go: they might seem shy or aloof at first, but Vancouverites love talking up their town and regaling you with their personal recommendations.

Culture Hub

There's a multi-textured canvas of creativity to pore over in this city. Dig deeply and you'll find an eclectically diverse grassroots scene that operates like a locavore movement for culture fans. Mingle with the regulars at indie festivals, sparkling theatrical events, toe-tapping live music, waterfront Shakespeare shows and a camera-ready menagerie of eye-popping public art. There’s also a savor-worthy menu of independent galleries, a large public gallery that’s about to break-ground on a grand new building, and a huge, party-like open-house art crawl that lures locals and visitors every November.

Outdoor Wonderland

Those snow-capped giants peeking at you from between downtown's glass towers? They're less than 30 minutes away by car. Vancouverites really can ski in the morning and hit the beach in the afternoon – although it's far more relaxing to chill out and take your time. The city's North Shore nature doorstep offers snow sports, mountain biking and rainforest hiking trails, while the city itself is studded with sandy shorelines, kayaking routes, verdant gardens and Canada's urban green-space jewel, the mighty and highly beloved Stanley Park.

Visitors to Canada's westernmost province should pack a long list of superlatives to deploy here; the words 'wow,' 'amazing' and 'spectacular' will only go so far. Luckily, it's not too hard to wax lyrical about the mighty mountains, deep forests and dramatic coastlines that instantly lower heart rates to tranquil levels.

There's much more to British Columbia (BC) than nature-hugging dioramas, though. Cosmopolitan Vancouver fuses cuisines and cultures from Asia and beyond, while mid-sized cities such as Victoria and Kelowna are increasingly creating their own vibrant scenes. It's also hard to beat the welcoming, sometimes quirky character of smaller communities – from Cumberland to Powell River and Salt Spring – that are the beating heart of BC.

Wherever you head, the great outdoors will always call. Don't just point your camera at it: BC is unbeatable for life-enhancing skiing, kayaking and hiking experiences that can make this the trip of a lifetime.