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Vancouver Attractions
A city perched on the edge of a raw wilderness, Vancouver offers unrivaled opportunities for exploring the outdoors. But within the city limits, Vancouver is intensely urban, with buzzy sidewalk cafes and busy shopping streets.
A forest of glass-fronted high-rises rings the central part of the city, reminding some visitors of New York or Shanghai. Chinatown inevitably invites comparisons to San Francisco. But similarities with other places begin to pall as you come to realize that Vancouver is entirely its own creation: a young, self-confident, sparklingly beautiful city like no other on earth.
39 Results
- The Performing Arts
Arts Club Theatre Company
The 450-seat Granville Island Stage presents dramas, comedies, and musicals, with post-performance live music in the Backstage Lounge. The Arts Club Revue Stage is an intimate, cabaret-style showcase for small productions and musical revues. The Art Deco Stanley Industrial Alliance…$ - The Performing Arts
Ballet British Columbia
This established company strives to present innovative works, such as those by choreographers William Forsythe, Jean Grande-Maître, and artistic director Emily Molnar, along with more productions by visiting companies from Alberta and Winnipeg. Performances are usually at the Queen…$ - Museum
Beaty Biodiversity Museum
We’re all thinking about biodiversity these days, even if we don’t realize it, and if we’re not, we probably should be. This museum explores how ecosystems work, and how they work together, whether they are in our own backyard or around the planet. Expect special speakers, tours,…$The West Side
- Museum
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
Bill Reid was first among West Coast native artists, not just because of his immense talent, but because he managed to throw the door open for all other artists who followed. This beautiful, light-drenched exhibition space, which opened in 2008, a decade after his death, is a fitting…$$Downtown & The West End - Landmark
Canada Place and the Olympic Cauldron
If you’ve never been to Vancouver, this is a good place to orient yourself and see some of what makes BC’s largest city so special. With its five tall Teflon sails and bowsprit jutting out into Burrard Inlet, Canada Place is meant to resemble a giant sailing ship. Inside, it’s a…$$Downtown & The West End - Park/Garden
Capilano River Regional Park
Cross the Lions Gate Bridge, and you will find provincial and regional parks galore, with activities to delight outdoor enthusiasts year-round. For those averse to strenuous climbing, the publicly maintained Capilano River Regional Park has a gentle trail that meanders by the river…$Greater Vancouver - Park/Garden
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
This heart-stopping experience is one of Vancouver’s most popular tourist attractions, and has been since it first opened back in 1889. Once just a simple suspension bridge flung 137m (450 ft.) across a 70m-deep (230 ft.) canyon, today it boasts a whole lot of extra features that…$North Vancouver & West Vancouver - Religious Site
Christchurch Cathedral
In a city that has bulldozed so many of its historic buildings, it’s a delight to stumble upon one that escaped the developer’s plans. It was a close call for this lovely sandstone building, though. It was built in 1895, and became the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of New…$$Downtown & The West End - Park/Garden
Cypress Provincial Park
Driving up-up-up will eventually get you to the top of Cypress Provincial Park. Stop halfway at the scenic viewpoint for a sweeping vista of the Vancouver skyline, the harbor, the Gulf Islands, and Washington State’s Mount Baker, which peers above the eastern horizon. To reach the…$Greater Vancouver - Park/Garden
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
This small reproduction of a Classical Chinese scholar’s garden truly is a remarkable place, but to get the full effect, it’s best to take the guided tour (included in admission). Untrained eyes will only see a pretty pond surrounded by bamboo and oddly shaped rocks. The engaging…$Gastown & Chinatown - Historic Site
Fort Langley National Historic Site
In 1827, the brave adventurers of the Hudson’s Bay Company established a settlement in this spot, which became the birthplace of British Columbia. Today, it’s a living history museum that offers an intriguing glimpse into the past. Costumed characters demonstrate how to do old-timey…$$Outskirts - The Performing Arts
Frederic Wood Theatre
Some students at UBC are actors in training, and their productions are extremely high caliber. For the price, they're a steal. Presentations range from classic dramatic works to new plays by Canadian playwrights. - Market
Granville Island
Almost a city within a city, Granville Island is a good place to browse away a morning, an afternoon, or a whole day. You can wander through a busy public market jammed with food stalls, shop for crafts, pick up fresh seafood, enjoy a great dinner, watch the latest theater…$$$Granville Island - Sports Venue
Grouse Mountain
This is one of Vancouver’s three ski hills (the one in the middle), but it’s also so much more than that. For one thing, it’s the city’s most visited tourist attraction, with 1.2 million visitors a year. You can see its lights at night from downtown, and in the daytime, you can see…$$North Vancouver & West Vancouver - Museum
H. R. MacMillan Space Centre
The building is distinctive—it kind of looks like a white space ship that just happened to land in Vanier Park. Which is only fitting, because this is the city’s planetarium, which has introduced many a budding astronomy buff to the magic of the stars. Vancouver’s space center and…$Granville Island - Park/Garden
Lighthouse Park
Head to West Vancouver and keep going for about 10km (6 miles) along the twisty, narrow, and very pretty Marine Drive West, and eventually you’ll reach Lighthouse Park. This 75-hectare (185-acre) rugged-terrain forest has 13km (8 miles) of groomed trails and—because it has never been…$Greater Vancouver - Park/Garden
Mount Seymour Provincial Park
Rising 1,449m (4,754 ft.) above Indian Arm, the peaks of Mount Seymour Provincial Park and its ski hill Mount Seymour offer another view of the area’s Coast Mountains range. Higher than Grouse Mountain, Mount Seymour provides a spectacular view of Washington State’s Mount Baker on…$Greater Vancouver - Museum
Museum of Anthropology
If you think this is going to be just another ho-hum museum experience, think again. It is, for starters, a purely magnificent building, a dramatic vision in concrete and glass designed by famed local architect Arthur Erickson to soar from the cliff above Wreck Beach. Beyond that,…$$$Granville Island - Museum
Museum of Vancouver
Vancouver, famously, likes to forget its past. Well, not here. All its rough, tough, neon-lit, hippy-dippy memories are captured in this fun little museum space. In 2014, the museum celebrates 120 years of collecting the city’s artifacts, so it’s a good time to come down and check…$$Granville Island - Park/Garden
Nitobe Japanese Garden
Near the UBC Botanical Garden is the Nitobe Memorial Garden, a beautiful traditional Japanese garden considered among the top five Japanese gardens in North America and one of the most authentic Tea and Stroll Gardens outside of Japan. Cherry blossoms peak in April and May, the…The West Side - Park/Garden
Pacific Spirit Regional Park
Adjoining the University of British Columbia (UBC) on the city’s west side at Point Grey, Pacific Spirit Regional Park, usually called the Endowment Lands by longtime Vancouver residents, is the largest green space in Vancouver. Comprising 754 hectares (1,885 acres) of temperate…$$Greater Vancouver - Park/Garden
Queen Elizabeth Park
Flowers run riot in this 52-hectare (130-acre) green space on a hill that is the city’s highest point south of downtown (it’s thought to be an extinct volcano). The big attraction is the gorgeously landscaped, flower-filled quarry garden, but the arboretum, featuring trees from all…$$$Greater Vancouver - Landmark
Robson Square
The idea was to create a social space where people would congregate and hang out. That’s what architect Arthur Erickson had in mind when he designed this concrete and grass modernist plaza outside his famous Law Courts building. Sadly, it’s never quite worked out that way, even…$Downtown & The West End - Museum
Science World at TELUS World of Science
A must visit if you have kids. Like so many things around Vancouver, including the SkyTrain and the China Gate in Chinatown, this big, sparkly geodesic dome at the eastern end of False Creek was initially built for Expo [’]86. Today, it’s a popular destination for parents looking for…$$The East Side - Park/Garden
Stanley Park
The green jewel of Vancouver, Stanley Park is a 400-hectare (1,000-acre) rainforest jutting out into the ocean from the edge of the busy West End. Exploring the second-largest urban forest in Canada is one of Vancouver’s quintessential experiences. The park, created in 1888, is…$$$Stanley Park - Landmark
Steam Clock
The Steam Clock in Gastown is a favorite photo-op for tourists. Built by horologist Raymond Saunders in 1977 (based on an 1875 design), it was the world’s first steam clock, powered by steam from an underground system of pipes that supply heat to many downtown buildings. The clock is…$Gastown & Chinatown - The Performing Arts
Theatre Under the Stars
From mid-July to mid-August, favorite musicals like “Annie,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” and “Bye Bye Birdie” are performed outdoors by a mixed cast of amateur and professional actors. Bring a blanket (it gets chilly once the sun sets) and a picnic for a relaxing evening.$ - Park/Garden
UBC Botanical Garden & Nitobe Memorial Garden
Serious plant lovers will love the University of British Columbia. The prime attraction on campus, besides the must-see Museum of Anthropology, is the 44-hectare (110-acre) UBC Botanical Garden, home to more than 8,000 species of trees, shrubs, and flowers grouped into a BC native…$Greater Vancouver - Park/Garden
VanDusen Botanical Gardens
Just a few blocks from Queen Elizabeth Park, this lush, 22-hectare (54-acre) garden concentrates on whole ecosystems. From towering trees to little lichens on the smallest of damp stones, the gardeners at VanDusen attempt to re-create the plant life of a number of different…$$Greater Vancouver - Zoo/Aquarium
Vancouver Aquarium
One of North America’s largest and best marine facilities, the Vancouver Aquarium houses more than 70,000 critters, including white beluga whales, sea otters, Steller sea lions, and Pacific white-sided dolphins. During regularly scheduled shows, aquarium staff explain marine-mammal…$$$Stanley Park - Museum
Vancouver Art Gallery
The days, sadly, are numbered for this landmark building, at least for its role as the city’s art gallery. A sleek, modern new gallery space is being designed by the architects Herzon & de Meuron, and will be unveiled in early 2015. Meanwhile, visitors can enjoy the graceful…$$Stanley Park - The Performing Arts
Vancouver Bach Choir
Vancouver’s international, award-winning amateur choir, a 150-voice ensemble, presents five major concerts a year at the Orpheum Theatre. Specializing in symphonic choral music, the choir's sing-along performance of Handel’s “Messiah” during the Christmas season is a favorite.$$ - The Performing Arts
Vancouver Cantata Singers
This semiprofessional, 40-person choir specializes in works by Bach, Brahms, Monteverdi, Stravinsky, and Handel, as well as Eastern European choral music. Seasons can include up to six programs, all at various locations, with a popular Christmas concert at the Holy Rosary Cathedral.$ - The Performing Arts
Vancouver Chamber Choir
Western Canada’s only professional choral ensemble presents an annual concert series at the Orpheum Theatre, the Chan Centre, and Ryerson United Church. Under conductor Jon Washburn, the choir has gained an international reputation.$$$ - Museum
Vancouver Maritime Museum
You’d think it would be nothing but boats here, but the curators at this friendly space in an A-frame on the beach like to think outside the box. Recent years have seen exhibits that focused on sailors’ tattoos, naughty scrimshaw carvings, and, in 2014, the evolution of the swimsuit.…$Granville Island - The Performing Arts
Vancouver Opera
The company produces both concert versions and fully staged operas, often sung by international stars, October through April, with performances in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.$$$ - The Performing Arts
Vancouver Playhouse
The company here presents a program of six plays each season, usually a mix of the internationally known, nationally recognized, and locally promising. - Museum
Vancouver Police Museum
Vancouver may seem like a pretty place, a laidback, law-abiding sort of town, but it has always had a rough, dangerous undertone to it. It’s had its legendary unsolved crimes, such the Babes in the Woods murders, and scandals like the mysterious death of the actor Errol Flynn,…$ - The Performing Arts
Vancouver Symphony
At its home in the Orpheum Theatre during the fall, winter, and spring, Vancouver’s excellent orchestra, under the baton of maestro Bramwell Tovey, presents a variety of year-round concerts. The box office is open from 6pm until showtime.$$$
More About Vancouver Attractions
Vancouver Shopping
Granville Island is famous for its Public Market, among the finest produce and seafood markets in the world. The trendy West End is the place to find good recorded music, local and otherwise, and Zulu Records is the best of them. Downtown features typical big city shopping, home to Canada's trendiest shop, Holt Renfrew. For a typical mall experience, visit Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby.
52 Results
- Antiques
Bakers Dozen Antiques
This charming shop specializes in antique toys, model ships and boats, folk art, and unusual late 19th- and early-20th-century furniture.$ - Bookstores
Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks
This Kitsilano store near Granville Island has a huge selection of cookbooks and books about food and drink. It also hosts numerous events and cooking classes throughout the year—any celebrity chef who comes through town is sure to pay a visit. There’s always something cooking here.$ - Bookstores
Blackberry Books
Although this small Granville Island store tends toward general interest and fiction, they have a healthy selection of books about art, architecture, and, above all, cuisine. They’re in the Net Loft, a sort of crafty mall right across from the public market.$ - Art
Buschlen Mowatt
This is the city’s leading “establishment” gallery. Look for paintings, sculptures, and prints from well-known Canadian and international artists.$ - Bookstores
Chapters
Chapters is Canada’s big chain bookstore (along with its sister, Indigo) and you’re sure to find all the current titles on the shelves here, along with all the accessories to go with. Think gourmet snacks, music, pretty throws, desk decor, coffee mugs, handbags and the like. Oh, and…$ Cheung Sing Herbal & Birds Nest Co.
If you’ve never been to a Chinese herbalist, this is the one to try: jars, bins, and boxes full of such exotic things as dried sea horse, thinly sliced deer antler, and bird’s nest. It’s fun to explore and potentially good for what ails you. Chinese remedies can have side effects,…$- Food
Chocolate Arts
The works at this chocolatier are made with exquisite craftsmanship. Seasonal treats include pumpkin truffles around Halloween or eggnog truffles for Christmas. They’ve even made chocolate toolboxes filled with tiny chocolate tools. Look for the all-chocolate diorama in the window—it…$ City Cigar Company
Stocking extensive selection of Cubans along with brands from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Spain, and Jamaica, City Cigar Company claims to be the largest cigar shop in the country. There’s also a room purely dedicated to pipes and hookahs. Americans, remember: If they’re Cuban,…$- Arts & Crafts
Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery
There are two locations for this showcase of fine First Nations art and jewelry, one in Yaletown and one in Gastown. You can pick up a silver or gold pendant, earrings, or cuff with an image of the Bear, Salmon, Whale, or Raven, drawn from local myths and legends. You can also find…$ - Kitchenware
Cookworks
This attractive Canadian store stocks a finely tuned selection of high-quality, well-designed kitchenware and accessories for the table.$ - Antiques
DoDa Antiques
A colorful and eclectic collection of mid-20th-century pieces—costume and estate jewelry, art glass, pottery, paintings, and curios—fills this shop.$ - Fashion
Dream Apparel
Big-name designs can be found anywhere, but this little shop is one of the few places to show early collections of clothing and jewelry by local designers.$ - Food
Edible Canada at the Market
This cool little enterprise combines a bistro, shop, and culinary tourism company, all of it supporting locally grown and produced food. This is a great spot to pick up gifts for your foodie friends back home: flavored sea salt, Fraser Valley jam, spice blends by Vikram Vij, Thomas…$ - Jewelry
Forge & Form
Master Granville Island metal designer Jürgen Schönheit specializes in customized gold and silver jewelry. Renowned for his gold and silver bow ties, he also creates unique “tension set” rings, which hold a stone in place without a setting. The studio (open by appointment) is located…$ - China & Glassware
Gallery of BC Ceramics
This Granville Island gallery is owned and operated by the Potters Guild of British Columbia and features a collection of sculptural and functional ceramic works from more than 100 BC potters. Note that they are closed Mondays in January.$ - Kitchenware
Gourmet Warehouse
Fancy food, pots, baking sheets, spices, platters, cocktail bitters, gadgets, gear, whatever gourmet thing you’re craving, Caren McSherry’s huge, well-stocked store will carry it. This store has everything you’d like to have (or could even imagine) in your kitchen.$ Granville Island Public Market
This huge public market features produce, meats, fish, wines, cheeses, arts and crafts, and lots of unique fast-food counters offering a little of everything. A great place to pick up foodie gifts, like smoked salmon in attractive wooden boxes, as well as a snack for right now.$$$- Department store
Hills of Kerrisdale
This neighborhood department store in central Vancouver is a city landmark. Carrying full lines of quality men’s, women’s, and children’s clothes, as well as furnishings and sporting goods, it’s a destination for locals because the prices are often lower than those in the downtown…$ - Arts & Crafts
Hill’s Native Art
In a re-creation of a trading post interior, this shop, established in 1946 and claiming to be North America’s largest Northwest Coast native art gallery, sells ceremonial masks, Cowichan sweaters, moccasins, wood sculptures, totem poles, silk-screen prints, soapstone sculptures, and…$ - Department store
Holt Renfrew
This high-end trend-stocker can be accessed through Pacific Centre shopping mall and features all the hottest designers in a luxury department store setting$ - Department store
Hudson’s Bay
From the establishment of its early trading posts during the 1670s to its modern coast-to-coast department-store chain, Hudson’s Bay has built its reputation on quality goods. You can still buy a Hudson’s Bay woolen “point” blanket (the colorful stripes originally represented how…$ - Housewares & Furniture
Inform Interiors
Chances are you won’t be lugging a sofa back home, but this classy interior-design store in Gastown has contemporary lighting, home accessories, and design books, in addition to furniture. A second showroom is right across the street at 97 Water St.$ - Bookstores
International Travel Maps and Books
This store has the best selection of travel books, maps, charts, and globes in town, plus an impressive selection of special-interest British Columbia guides. This is the hiker’s best source for detailed topographic charts of the entire province, making it worth the trip to Richmond.$ - Art
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
This store is home to one of Canada’s foremost collections of Inuit and First Nations art. Prices are for serious buyers, but it’s worth a visit.$ - Fashion
Isola Bella
This store imports an exclusive collection of rather expensive, high-fashion newborn and children’s clothing from mostly European designers like Bonpoint, Tartine et Chocolat, and Mann.$ - Shoes
John Fluevog Boots & Shoes Ltd.
This native Vancouverite has a growing international cult following of designers and models clamoring for his funky, urban creations. You’ll find outrageous platforms and clogs, Angelic Sole work boots, and a few bizarre experiments for the daring footwear fetishist. You may even…$ - Arts & Crafts
Khot-La-Cha Art Gallery & Gift Shop
Hand-tanned moose-hide crafts; woodcarvings; Cowichan sweaters; porcupine-quill jewelry; and bone, silver, gold, and turquoise accessories are just a few of the selections at this Coast Salish crafts shop on the North Shore.$ - Bookstores
Kidsbooks
The largest and most interesting selection of children’s literature in the city also has an amazing collection of puppets, games, and toys, and holds regular readings.$ La Casa del Habano
Casa del Habano has Vancouver’s largest walk-in humidor. Cigars range in price from a few dollars to more than a hundred.$- Arts & Crafts
Lattimer Gallery
This beautiful gallery showcases museum-quality Pacific Northwest First Nations art, including ceremonial masks, totem poles, limited-edition silk-screen prints, argillite sculptures, and expensive gold and silver jewelry.$ - Fashion
Leone
Shop where the stars shop. Versace, Donna Karan, Byblos, Armani, and fabulous Italian and French accessories are sold in this very elegant building; valet parking is provided, as well as private after-hours shopping by appointment for VIPs.$ - Bookstores
Macleod’s Books
The kind of dusty, old-fashioned, used bookstore true booklovers and bibliophiles love to explore, stacked high with reasonably priced books covering every conceivable subject.$ - Art
Marion Scott Gallery/Kardosh Projects
For more than 30 years, this gallery has been well regarded for its Inuit and First Nations art collections and recently shifted to showcase more contemporary works by northern artists.$ - China & Glassware
Martha Sturdy Originals
Local designer Martha Sturdy—once best known for her dramatic jewelry and collectible glassware trimmed in gold leaf—is now creating a critically acclaimed line of cast-resin housewares, as well as limited-edition couches and chairs, and stunning sculptures. Expensive, but, if you’ve…$$ - Art
Monte Clark Gallery
This cutting-edge gallery—in the otherwise slightly staid confines of South Granville’s gallery row—is one of the best spots to look for that rising superstar without the rising prices.$ - Food
Murchie’s Tea & Coffee
This Vancouver institution has been the city’s main tea and coffee purveyor for more than a century. You’ll find everything from Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kona coffees to Lapsang Souchong and Kemun teas. The knowledgeable staff will help you decide which flavors and blends fit your…$ - Arts & Crafts
Museum of Anthropology
The recently expanded museum gift shop features excellent and elegant works by contemporary First Nations artisans, as well as books about the culture, and publications on identifying and caring for Pacific Northwest crafts.$ - Housewares & Furniture
Parliament Interiors
The store is filled with crisp whites, glimmering metals, and punchy color accents. From bed frames to cushions to jewelry, Parliament stocks a regularly changing rotation of items for all budgets (and luggage restrictions).$ - Fashion
Please Mum
This Kitsilano store sells attractive Canadian-designed toddler’s and children’s cotton clothing.$ - Bookstores
Pulpfiction Books
New, used, and out-of-print books in a busy and growing independent store with three locations.$ River Market at Westminster Quay
A smaller version of the Granville Island Public Market, this market is located 25 minutes away by SkyTrain from downtown Vancouver. Here, you’ll find a variety of gift shops, specialty stores, a food court, a delicatessen, and produce stands. Once you’re finished browsing, make sure…$- Fashion
Roots Canada
Proudly Canadian, this chain features sturdy casual clothing, including leather jackets and bags, footwear, outerwear, and athletic wear for the whole family.$ - Fashion
Secret Location
This “concept store” based on the likes of Colette in Paris is unique in Vancouver. It mixes fashion, decor, fine dining, and everything you need to make life utterly fabulous. There is nothing ordinary here, from the David Koma frocks to the Linda Farrow sunglasses. It’s a bit of a…$ - Gifts
Silk Road Art Trading Co.
This store, with an entrance on Columbia Street and another within Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park in the Chinese Cultural Centre, sells reproductions of Chinese art objects, including the ancient terra-cotta warriors unearthed in a Chinese emperor’s tomb.$ - Fashion
Swimco
Located near Kitsilano Beach, this store sells a large variety of bikinis and other bathing suits in the latest styles for men, women, and children. There are a number of locations around Vancouver, but the best is the one in Kitsilano.$ - Food
T&T Supermarket
You’ll discover racks and racks of goods you won’t find at home (unless your home is China), especially in the seafood (live fish, frogs’ legs, eels) and produce departments (fire-dragon fruit, lily root, durian). Best of all are the takeout counters where you can pick up noodles,…$ Ten Ren Tea & Ginseng Co.
Whether you prefer the pungent aroma of Chinese black tea or the exotic fragrance of chrysanthemum, jasmine, or ginger flower, you must try the numerous varieties of drinking and medicinal teas in this Chinatown shop. It also carries Korean and American ginseng for a lot less than…$- Housewares & Furniture
The Cross Decor & Design
This lovely Yaletown store is loaded with charm, not to mention irresistible finds like silver Moroccan pouffes, pretty floral teacups, chandeliers, luxury bedding, and a host of things you never needed, but once you discover, you won’t be able to live without.$ - Food
The Lobsterman
Live lobsters, Dungeness crabs, oysters, mussels, clams, geoducks, and scallops are just a few of the varieties of seafood swimming in the saltwater tanks at this Granville Island fish store. The staff steams the food fresh on the spot, free. Salmon and other seafood can also be…$ - Antiques
Uno Langmann Limited
Catering to upscale shoppers, Uno Langmann specializes in European and North American paintings, furniture, silver, and objets d’art from the 18th through early 20th centuries.$ - Antiques
Vancouver Flea Market
OK, so it’s more likely to be junk than antiques, but it’s still fun to spend the day wandering through the more than 350 stalls. Go early, or the savvy shoppers will have already cleaned out the gems. Open weekends and holidays 9am to 5pm.$ - Fashion
Zonda Nellis Design Ltd.
Rich colors and intricate patterns highlight this Vancouver designer’s imaginative hand-woven separates, pleated silks, sweaters, vests, and soft knits. Nellis has also introduced a line of hand-painted silks and sumptuous, sheer, hand-painted evening wear.$
More About Vancouver Shopping
Vancouver Nightlife
Historic Gastown is a favourite after-hours meeting spot. Consider contemporary bars, like the Salt Tasting Room or Boneta, or the more energetic dance club, Fabric. Vancouver's West End attracts a young, hip crowd at The Calling Public House and 1181, popular with the city's very openly gay community. There are plenty of sophisticated lounges Downtown, including the elegant Bacchus Piano Lounge, as well as great performing arts at the Commodore Ballroom and Orpheum Theatre.
17 Results
- Gay & Lesbian Bars
1181
A great little sophisticated lounge space, with terrific cocktails and a mellow crowd. Perfect for an aperitif before dinner or a night of dancing.$ - Dance Clubs
AuBAR
An address is unnecessary for AuBAR; the long Seymour Street line of those not-quite-beautiful-enough for expedited entry immediately gives it away. Inside, this downtown bar is packed with beautiful people milling from bar to dance floor to the table nooks and back again.$Downtown - The Performing Arts
Bard on the Beach
Every summer, from June to September, Vanier Park comes alive with men in tights crossing swords—it’s the annual Shakespeare festival Bard on the Beach, and one of Vancouver’s favorite events. Each year sees four shows performed—in 2014, it’s “The Tempest,” “A Midsummer Night’s…$$$ - Dance Clubs
Caprice
Upstairs, it’s the Lounge, with dark wood, a fireplace, and couches. Downstairs, it’s the Nightclub, a large room with a funky semicircular glowing blue bar, big comfy wall banquettes, a secluded circular passion pit in one corner, and a medium-size dance floor. Earlier in the week,…$Downtown - Gay & Lesbian Bars
Celebrities
Vancouver’s largest gay and lesbian nightclub, but with a wildly mixed crowd all here for the great local and international DJs.$ - Dance Clubs
Empire Nightclub
Located in the heart of Gastown, one of Vancouver’s biggest and most legendary rooms (it was formerly Fabric, and before that, Sonar), has been revitalized after a year-long renovation. With a 500-plus capacity, it features audio-visual theatricals and big-name DJs from around the…$ Fanclub
This new joint on Granville Street in the heart of the Entertainment District is part dance club, part live music venue, part restaurant, all with a decadent New Orleans-style vibe. Come out and groove to local bands like Brickhouse, or get your Rock-A-Oke on (if you ever wanted to…$- Gay & Lesbian Bars
Numbers
A multilevel dance club with five floors and three bars, Numbers hasn’t changed much over the years. Extroverts hog the dance floor while admirers look on from the bar above. On the third floor, carpets, wood paneling, pool tables, darts, and a lower volume of music give it a…$ - Dance Clubs
Shine
This downstairs cellar in Gastown plays house and hip-hop, with occasional forays into other genres such as reggae.$ - Dance Clubs
The Cellar
The Cellar inhabits that netherworld between dance club, bar, meat market, and personals ads. Dance-club characteristics include a cover charge, small dance floor, and a DJ who mostly spins Top 40. But Cellar patrons are far less interested in groovin’ than they are in meeting other…$Downtown The Commodore Ballroom
Every town should have one, but sadly very few do: a huge old-time dance hall, complete with a suspended hardwood dance floor. And though the room and floor date back to the Jazz Age, the lineup nowadays includes many of the best modern bands coming through town. In fact, the…$- Gay & Lesbian Bars
The Fountainhead Pub
Reflecting the graying and mellowing of Vancouver’s boomer-age gay crowd, one of the hottest hangouts these days is this relaxed pub that offers excellent microbrews on tap, decent food, and a pleasant atmosphere until the morning’s wee hours.$ - Dance Clubs
The Red Room
This basement warren has two bars, numerous intimate cubbyholes, and a DJ that does progressive house and hip-hop, plus a live band sometimes on the weekend. And if that weren’t enough, there are also two pool tables.$ The Roxy
Live bands play every day of the week in this no-holds-barred club, which also features bartenders with Tom Cruise “Cocktail”-style moves. Theme nights and other events add to the entertaining and sometimes raucous scene. On weekends, the lines are long, the patrons often soused.…$Vancouver Folk Music Festival
Everyone who’s anyone in the world of folk, roots, and world music comes out to this big outdoor show every July near Jericho Beach.$Vancouver International Jazz Festival
This huge festival, which features names big and small in the world of jazz, funk, and blues takes over many venues and outdoor stages around town every June. In addition to the big shows, the festival includes a number of free concerts.$- The Performing Arts
Vancouver TheatreSports League
Part comedy, part theater, and partly a take-no-prisoners test of an actor’s ability to think extemporaneously, TheatreSports involves actors taking suggestions from the audience and spinning them into short skits or full plays, often with hilarious results.$$
More About Vancouver Nightlife
More To Do in Vancouver
Best Dining Bets in Vancouver
Hawksworth Restaurant: This swish spot is one of Vancouver’s buzziest restos. It is an elegant-but-funky art-filled space in the newly restored historic Rosewood Hotel Georgia, where Chef David Hawksworth cooks up exceptional West Coast fare with creative flair. A must for the…
Best Hotel Bets in Vancouver
Rosewood Hotel Georgia: Vancouverites breathed a sigh of relief when the Rosewood Group bought one of the city’s oldest hotels and announced that they would be restoring it to its former glamour. Today, this is one of the most beautiful and luxurious places to stay in downtown…
