Vancouver Sightseeing: Free to Paid
Half of Vancouver’s best sightseeing costs nothing, and the other half is worth the ticket price if you know what you’re paying for going in.
Free viewpoints
Stanley Park’s seawall runs nearly 9 kilometers around the peninsula, passing the Brockton Point totem poles, Prospect Point’s view of Lions Gate Bridge, and Siwash Rock along the way; the park’s cycling section is one-way counter-clockwise for anyone on a bike. Queen Elizabeth Park sits at the highest point in the city and looks out over both downtown and the North Shore mountains for free, with the domed Bloedel Conservatory inside charging only a modest fee to go in. Gastown’s Steam Clock chimes every fifteen minutes at Water and Cambie streets, and Granville Island’s public market costs nothing to wander even if you don’t buy anything.
Paid landmarks
The Capilano Suspension Bridge Park charges around $75 to $80 CAD for an adult ticket online, higher at the gate, for its bridge, Treetops Adventure, and Cliffwalk; the free Lynn Canyon Park nearby has its own smaller suspension bridge at no cost. Grouse Mountain’s Skyride runs $89 CAD round trip and reaches the Refuge for Endangered Wildlife, home to the grizzly Coola, along with hiking trails and a lumberjack show. The Museum of Anthropology at UBC charges $26 CAD for adults, half price on Thursday evenings after 5pm, and stays open daily except Mondays between mid-October and mid-May.
Best combined with transit
TransLink connects most of these stops by SkyTrain, SeaBus, and bus for $2.85 CAD a ride on a Compass card, or a $12.55 CAD DayPass if you’re covering several in one day. Arriving from YVR adds a $6.50 CAD AddFare on top of the base fare for the inbound trip only; the return trip to the airport does not carry that surcharge.
Timing the visit
Summer, from June through August, is the busiest stretch for both the free viewpoints and the paid attractions, so booking Capilano, Grouse Mountain, or MOA tickets a day or two ahead avoids the longest queues. Outside those months, several of the North Shore operators trim their hours, and Grouse Mountain’s own trail can close for weeks at a time depending on snow, so checking each site’s current hours the same week you plan to go is worth the two minutes it takes.
A full-day Vancouver sightseeing tour on GetYourGuide can string the Capilano and Grouse Mountain stops together with transport included, and a downtown hotel booked through Booking.com puts you within walking distance of most of the free stops above. For a slower way to cover the same ground on foot, see the walking tours guide .