Boardwalk leading to a many windowed restaurant on the water with high level bridge in the background.
Granville Island is a great place to shop for everything from handmade crafts to locally grown produce.
Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Best of Vancouver: 8 Ways to Spend Your Time in This Metropolitan Paradise

Outdoors Lovers and Big City Dwellers Alike Will Love Vancouver

Vancouver often tops the lists of best places to live in the world and it’s pretty obvious why. This clean and safe Canadian metropolis has a stunning backdrop of mountains and ocean, a thriving cuisine and nightlife scene, plenty of peaceful parks and greenspace, and a high standard of living.

There are so many things to do in Vancouver that you could spend weeks here and still not see it all. There’s something for all types of travelers, whether you are interested in art, history, culture, food or hiking.

Naturally beautiful, ethnically diverse, friendly and laid-back, Vancouver is a delight to discover when traveling Western Canada. Here are some of the best Vancouver points of interest you should check out during your visit:

Granville Island

Check out this cute and quirky island in the middle of the city, home to a funky community of galleries, shops, book stores, independent boutiques and live music venues.

It’s a cool place to shop for locally made crafts and artwork, and there’s also a bustling marketplace filled with delicious produce and artisanal treats. Stop for an ice cream or a coffee — this is a great place to people-watch.

Man with backpack walking up uneven wooden steps on side of a hill with thick trees and beams of light streaming down into the forest.The incredible views at the top of Grouse Mountain are worth the intense hike to the top.Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Grouse Grind

If you’ve been indulging in a little too much ice cream and want to burn some calories, the Grouse Grind is an awesome way to get active and enjoy the gorgeous Vancouver scenery.

Known as “Mother Nature’s Stairmaster” the grind is a hiking trail that will take you up multiple wooden steps, 850 meters up a mountain. The gorgeous views at the top are worth it. (Or, you can cheat by taking the Skyride, a gondola that departs every 15 minutes.)

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Paved walkway right at sea level with rock wall to the left.Go for a stroll or a run along the sea wall that runs through Stanley Park.Photo Credit: Getty Images

Stanley Park

This enormous greenspace is actually bigger than New York’s Central Park, which means that it is the largest urban park in North America. It is wrapped around the seawall and offers five miles of spectacular waterfront views.

There are plenty of ways to enjoy the park: jogging along the seawall, relaxing on English Bay Beach, playing beach volleyball, admiring the First Nations totem poles or visiting Canada’s largest aquarium.

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