Canada Place One of the most remarkable buildings of Vancouver is the Canada Place. In 1986 this was the Canadian pavilion during the Expo world exhibition. It was designed by Eberhard Zeidler and nowadays it serves as hotel, conference centre, IMAX cinema and also terminal for cruise ships. The promenade around the building gives you a beautiful view overlooking the harbour of Vancouver. Frome here you can see numerous water planes taking off and landing.

Gastown This is the oldest district of Vancouver which is situated in the Harbour Centre. The district is named after “gassy” Jack Deighton, an English sailor who started a cafe here in 1867. Soon more and more people came here and this is how Vancouver arose. You can find a statue of Jack at Maple Tree Square. In 1970 the district was declared Historic District after which it was restored completely. It has now become a nice district with numerous restaurants, cafes and stylish boutiques. One thing you certainly have to see is the Steam Clock at the corner of the Water and Cambie Street. You can hear this steam clock every quarter.


Chinatown Here you find the most Chinese immigrants from North America living in this district after San Francisco. In the Chinese shops you can find all sorts of merchandises but the main attraction is still the Chinese cooking. To recover a little bit from all the impressions you can visit the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Gardens. These beautiful Chinese gardens are created in the Mingdynasty style.

Stanley Park The park is situated at the Burrard Inlet estuary and it is one of the most beautiful parks from the city. This park, original occupied by the Musqueam and Squamish Indians, is named after the former governor-general Lord Stanley of Canada. You can do a lot of things in this 1,000 acres big park. Hikers can walk the almost 6 mile long road around the park or one of the many trails like the Cathedral or Lake Trail. One of the main attraction of the park are the original totem poles. You can find the Vancouver Public Aquarium in the southern part of Stanley Park. The aquarium houses many marine animals like whales, sharks, orcas and sea otters. Furthermore you have many opportunities to practise a sport, or to relax at one of the large fields of grass or beaches in the park.

Capilano Suspension Bridge About 110 years ago, George Grant Mackay discovered a beautiful spot at the Capilano River. He built a little house for his wife and himself. With the help of the local inhabitants he built a 450 feet long suspension bridge above the Capilano River. Soon it became a popular attraction which made him built a more solid suspension bridge in 1903. In 1914 he made another bridge, this time the cable ends were anchored firmly in concrete. Tourists from all over the world came to visit the bridge. The totem poles in the park were placed in 1930. Mac MacEachran, the owner of the bridge at that time, invited the local population to place their totem poles on the territory. The bridge which is now to be seen was only built in 1956. The rope ends of this bridge are fixed in 13 tons of concrete at both sides. Later on, several attractions are added to the park. Nowadays you can take a beautiful walk through the Old Growth Woods along the trout ponds and the 61 meter (about 200 ft) high waterfall. Furthermore, you can see all kinds of wood carving or you can buy some souvenirs in the a bit too commercial shops.

Fort Langley About 56 kilometers (35 miles) east of Vancouver you can find Fort Langley. It was the first European trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company founded at the Fraser River in 1827. Not much later in the year 1839 the fort was moved to his present location. The fort became more important after the border was laid down between the United States and British Columbia at the 49th degree of latitude in 1846. Because of this the trade supply to the north had to go via Fort Langley. Many gold diggers used Fort Langley as starting point during the Goldrush. In the Big House, one of the buildings in the fort, the British Government declared British Columbia as crown colony with James Douglas as its first governor. After this, Fort Langley deteriorated soon. The store house is the only original building left. In 1923 it was declared National Historic Site by Canada, after which it was slowly rebuilt to its current state.
<Click here to see map of Fort Langley>


Shannon Falls The falls are located 2 miles south of Squamish on Hwy 99. The water drops 1,105 feet downwards which makes it British Columbia's third-highest waterfall.

B.C. Museum of Mining This mine were once the largest copper producer in the British Empire. Today it serves as museum which shows all facets of mining. The best part of the visit is the train tour into the mine tunnel. Inside the mine old and new methods of drilling are demonstrated. The eleven-storeyed building at the front is the coppermine concentrator. In the old days it was used to grind the copper.