10 things to do in Vancouver Canada without a car (before a cruise, or after!) free + walking + downtown + tours + more!

Hi there!

Yes, it’s worth staying in Vancouver a day or 2 before or after your cruise!

You will find outdoor things to do with views you will love.

Vancouver is well-connected by public transportation, so you don’t need a car to do worthy things. There are also a number of tours that you can do.

The Vancouver cruise port is also conveniently located so you can stay near the cruise port and do a bunch of things that are easily accessible by bus, train, or even ferry!

 

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First here are the quick tips for activities you need to know about in Vancouver!

The most popular paid attractions in Vancouver are the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park and Grouse Mountain.

It’s also popular to do a day trip to the Butchart Gardens in Victoria which includes a ferry ride.

 

👆 Capilano Suspension Bridge Park is one of the top attractions in Vancouver.

 

👆 Grouse Mountain is another one of the top attractions in Vancouver.

 

I’ll tell you a bit about these things (including how you can do them on your own), along with free things you can do.

There are also whale watching tours in Vancouver, which you will want to consider if you’re not doing whale watching in Alaska.

There are seaplane tours in Vancouver if you won’t be doing flightseeing tours in Alaska.

One of the most popular free things to do in Vancouver is walking in Stanley Park, although there are also fun paid things to do that you might want to consider, like going around the park by bike or even by horse!

You can further compare activity prices of the top reviewed Vancouver tours on getyourguide.com vs on viator.com. (These are 2 of the most popular tour booking companies with the biggest difference being that generally speaking viator is more used by Americans and getyourguide is more used by Europeans.)

 

👆 Stanley Park is one of the most popular things to do in Vancouver and you can go for free.

 

I have ideas for you about what you can do before your cruise, including the day you start your cruise before or after you drop off your luggage at the cruise port!

If you have all day after your cruise before your late evening flight, then there is also luggage storage in downtown Vancouver. You can also get a post-cruise sightseeing tour with port pick-up.

I’ve been to Vancouver to start a cruise, to end a cruise, and in the middle of a cruise as part of a back-to-back cruise.

But I did most of the touristy Vancouver things when I stayed for several days as a separate overnight trip of several days. If you want to spend a few days in Vancouver before or after your cruise, you can find plenty of outdoor activities!

I was most recently in Vancouver in September 2024.

Now, here are ideas for a few days in Vancouver!

 

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1. Canada Place (free downtown walking)

Well let’s first talk about the Vancouver cruise port to get oriented a bit!

The Vancouver cruise port is at Canada Place.

Canada Place is in downtown Vancouver.

So cruise ships dock in downtown Vancouver.

This means that the cruise port is located in a very convenient part of Vancouver, and you can have easy access to do different things by public transportation.

Vancouver is well-connected by public transit, including between the airport and downtown, which means it’s also well connected between the airport and the cruise port.

The most famous place to stay near the cruise port is the Pan Pacific. This is the cruise port hotel. You will basically be staying at the cruise port. You can arrange have your luggage delivered from hotel to cruise ship. Read the reviews.

You might have a bit of sticker shock looking at the prices of hotels near Vancouver cruise port in the summer. 🤪

You can walk around Canada Place even if you are not boarding the cruise ship.

So if you are in town a day early for your cruise, walk around Canada Place!

 

👆 The Vancouver cruise port is at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver. There is a public walkway around Canada Place so you can get different views of the cruise ship! Here is a Holland America cruise ship docked in Vancouver.
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👆 You can start your walk at Canada Place and then from there walk along the waterfront to get a different view of the cruise ship!

 

👆 You can also walk on the other side across from Canada Place to see the cruise ship that’s docked on the other side. Here is a Princess cruise ship docked in Vancouver. See my list of walking in downtown Vancouver to see cruise ships.

 

 

Are you cruising one-way to or from Vancouver? Also see Whittier cruise port tips or Seward cruise port tips!

Not yet booked for a cruise? Along with Seattle, Vancouver is one of the main departure ports for an Alaska cruise.

One-way cruises between Vancouver and Alaska are one of the best types of Alaska cruises! There are round-trip cruises from Vancouver too. See the beginner’s guide to Alaska cruises on the homepage.

 

 

2. Stanley Park (free walking or bike rental)

Stanley Park is the easy big park to get to from downtown Vancouver.

Depending on where you’re staying, you can walk to Stanley Park from downtown Vancouver.

If you want to go walking in Stanley Park, then you can also get there by bus if you’re coming from further away.

Along with walking, biking is also a popular way to spend time in Stanley Park.

There are many bike rental places, but if you also need a place to store your luggage, then Cycle City Vancouver will be convenient for you! They offer luggage storage for a fee.

Cycle City also has Stanley Park bike tours.

I spent most of my time in Stanley Park walking along the seawall on the Lions Gate Bridge side of the park. There were some spots that you could access the shoreline.

 

👆 As you are walking along the seawall in Stanley Park, there are some spots that you can go down and walk along the beach. I saw a seal from the beach so be on the lookout!

 

👆 You can look for fun rocks on the beach along the seawall.

 

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👆 To see totem poles in Vancouver, you can go to Stanley Park! You can also see totem poles in Alaska.

 

 

 

Public transportation in Vancouver and the COMPASS card

If you’ll be taking public transportation a lot in Vancouver, the best thing to do is get a compass card.

This is basically a cash card for public transportation.

You load it up with money and then you can just tap to pay your fare. This works on the train to the airport, downtown, and cruise port, as well as the bus and seabus. (I’ll talk about the seabus below!)

The easiest way to get the compass card is at the airport train station, or any other train station. Then, to put more money on the card, you can go to a train station to do so.

Depending on how much you’ll be taking public transportation in one day, you might save money by loading up a day pass onto your compass card. You can do this at a train station also.

You can also buy an individual public transit day pass without a compass card.

You can check the updated fares to see if a day pass will be worth it for you.

Google maps is all you need for figuring out how to get around by public transportation in Vancouver!

For Americans, if you have a standard t-mobile plan, using phone data in Canada is free! Confirm that it is included in your plan.

 

 

3. Lions Gate Bridge (free walking or bike rental)

The Lions Gate Bridge is the iconic bridge you can see from downtown Vancouver that connects to North Vancouver.

If you are doing a cruise from Vancouver, you will sail under the Lions Gate Bridge as you leave Vancouver! Be sure to be out on the open deck for the best views!

The Lions Gate Bridge connects Stanley Park and downtown Vancouver to North Vancouver. (Make note of North Vancouver, I’ll be mentioning it a few more times!)

So you can see the Lions Gate Bridge from many parts of downtown Vancouver. You can get also make it your goal to get better views of it!

In Stanley Park, the best views can be from walking the seawall and from Prospect Point Lookout.

 

👆 The Lions Gate Bridge, as seen from the seawall in Stanley Park.

 

And then… you can also walk across the bridge! Or bike it.

I walked across the bridge from North Vancouver to Stanley Park.

You can also see the lions of the bridge on the Stanley Park side and then just walk part of it.

You can’t just bike part of the bridge however, because biking is one way only! So you need to commit to biking the whole thing!

 

👆 A concrete lion at the start of the Lions Gate Bridge on the Stanley Park side.

 

The bus stop “near” the bridge on the North Vancouver side will depend on the bus route that’s most convenient to where you’re coming from.

But from the North Vancouver bus stop to Stanley Park across the bridge to the lions might be around a 1.7 mile walk.

And then, you will do more walking through the park! This is what I did: map. Once I crossed the bridge, I went to the Prospect Point lookout and then to the seawall to downtown.

 

👆 I walked from North Vancouver across the Lions Gate Bridge.

 

 

There’s a spot along the seawall that faces Canada Place, and I happened to be there at a time that a Disney cruise ship was departing, so I was able to see a cruise ship sail away!

Cruise ship departure times can change, but you can look at cruisemapper to see the scheduled departure time of any cruise ships from Vancouver.

 

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4. Capilano Suspension Bridge Park (on your own, shuttle, or tour)

The Capliano Suspension Bridge Park is one of the most popular things to do in Vancouver as a tourist.

And it is a total tourist attraction. The activities of the park are made for tourists to be surrounded by nature.

Of course there’s the main suspension bridge that you see in all the pictures that you need to walk across, which is a fun wobbly walk to the other side.

There is also a “treetops adventure” in which you can walk across more suspension bridges as you do a canopy walk up high from tree to tree.

 

👆 The top things to do at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park are walking across the main suspension bridge (of course), the treetops adventure for a canopy walk to walk across more suspension bridges, and the cliffwalk for more walking while suspended in air! You can stay a little longer and eat food there too as well as do Canada souvenir shopping at the trading post.

 

👆 The treetops adventure is a canopy walk that takes you from tree to tree across many suspension bridges.

 

👆 Walk along the cliff.

 

👆 This is part of the cliffwalk.

 

👆 Spot the person!

 

👆 The Capilano Suspension Bridge Park is one of the spots that you can see totem poles in Vancouver.

 

 

In the evening, the ticket price is discounted so I went to Capilano Suspension Bridge at 5pm when the reduced “twilight” rate started. With a 7pm sunset time in September, I was a little worried about not having enough daylight to see everything, but it turned out to not be a problem for me.

 

👆 The Capilano Suspension Bridge Park can be a fun activity to do for all: kids, teens, and adults!

 

👆 There is a special kids program that can make visiting the park even more fun for kids!

 

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How to get to Capilano Suspension Bridge

There is a free Capilano shuttle that does pick-ups in downtown Vancouver from Canada Place, the Hyatt Regency Hotel, and the Blue Horizon Hotel.

You can also get to the Capilano Suspension Bridge by bus using your compass card, day pass, or cash with exact change. You can also choose the public transit option to go by seabus from downtown to North Vancouver, and then take the bus to Capilano!

And then, there are Vancouver city tours that includes time at the suspension bridge.

 

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5. Seabus (cheap on your own)

You can go ferry hopping in Vancouver! Or, take just one ferry.

One of the types of ferries that you can take from downtown Vancouver is the seabus.

The seabus is a part of the Vancouver public transit system which means you can use your compass card to go across, and it can also be included in your Vancouver public transit day pass.

From downtown Vancouver, you can take a seabus to North Vancouver. You’ll take the ferry to Lonsdale Quay.

The seabus terminal is near Canada Place, so this is an easy thing you can do on the day of your cruise after you drop off your luggage at the cruise port.

From Canada Place, walk over to the Waterfront Station seabus terminal, hop on the seabus (they are frequent enough), and go to Lonsdale Quay!

You can walk around Lonsdale Quay and see Canada Place from across the water!

 

👆 There is a seabus ferry terminal near the cruise port!
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👆 You can take a seabus ferry from downtown Vancouver to Lonsdale Quay and walk around the Shipyards District near the ferry terminal.

 

👆 You can walk 10 minutes from the Lonsdale Quay ferry station to see totem poles at the TransCanada Trail pavilion.

 

👆 You will sail right by a cruise ship if you take the seabus ferry from downtown!

 

 

If it’s not a cruise day, then you can walk off the seabus and head for the bus stop that’s right there to catch a bus to a worthy North Vancouver spot like Capilano Suspension Bridge, Grouse Mountain, or Lynn Canyon Park! (Use google maps to navigate! example)

 

👆 Luggage on the seabus no problem! I was staying in North Vancouver for a few nights and I took a seabus to get to and from downtown with luggage. (Bikes are also no problem.)

 

 

6. False Creek ferries

The other type of ferry that you can take from downtown Vancouver is the False Creek ferry.

This isn’t part of the Vancouver public transit system, so you can’t pay it with your compass card and your Vancouver public transit day pass won’t cover it.

The False Creek ferries are the cute little blue ferries that are basically open door.

This is a fun way to do your ferry hopping since they’ve got a bunch of docks that you can go from one to the next, basically. Here is the false creek ferry map.

Or if you only want to ride the ferry once (or round trip), then you can do that too.

 

👆 Go ferry hopping in Vancouver on the little blue ferries!
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👆 Do a one-way ferry ride from downtown to get views of the Vancouver skyline!

 

 

You can buy a one-way ticket, round-trip ticket, or an all-day hop-on hop-off ferry ticket. See current ferry prices.

The one-way and round-trip ticket prices will depend on how far you’re traveling.

So, where should you go from downtown Vancouver on the little blue ferry?!

You can go to Kitsilano Beach! This is the ferry to the Maritime Museum. This is $4 one-way.

I went from downtown Vancouver to Kitsilano by ferry. Once on the museum side, I first walked to Elsje Point, then to Hadden Beach, and then onwards to Kitsilano Beach. I had fish tacos at Tacofino in Kitsilano (reviews).

 

👆 I took a ferry to Kitsilano from downtown Vancouver.

 

👆 Elsje Point is a few minutes walk from the ferry stop on the Kitsilano side.

 

👆 Hadden Beach is also a few minutes walk from the ferry stop.

 

👆 Walk a little bit more and you will get to Kitsilano Beach.

 

👆 You can look for things on Kitsilano Beach.

 

👆 Kitsilano Beach shells!

 

👆 Fish tacos in Vancouver at Tacofino. This is a chain restaurant so there are locations in different parts of Vancouver. There is a Tacofino in Kitsilano.
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7. VanDusen Botanical Garden (easy walking on your own)

For a botanical garden in Vancouver, you can go to VanDusen Botanical Garden.

The botanical garden is outside of downtown, but it’s a 20 minute walk from a train station, so it’s easy access from downtown. You can catch the train from downtown. Or you can get closer to the garden by taking the bus. (map)

There is an entry fee for VanDusen Botanical Garden. See current ticket prices.

 

👆 For easy walking in Vancouver, you can go to the VanDusen Botanical Garden.
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👆 You can go through a maze in Vancouver.

 

👆 There’s a free walking tour included with your entry fee.

 

👆 Easy walking around trees.

 

👆 You can also see totem poles in VanDusen Botanical Garden.

 

👆 I saw the owl on the way to the totem poles.

 

👆 Beginner birders welcome.

 

 

After you have finished up with your hour or 2 at the botanical garden, you can walk 20 minutes over to the free Queen Elizabeth Park.

 

👆 Walking through Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver.
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👆 Entering Queen Elizabeth Park.

 

👆 You can eat with views at the restaurant in the park.

 

 

I flew into Vancouver and wanted a couple of days of easy “rest” days so I stayed at a cheaper place on the airport side of Vancouver in Richmond.

I stayed at a capsule hotel, which can be perfect for solo travelers if literally all you need is a place to sleep. It is not for everyone but it worked for me. Read the reviews for the pod hotel near the airport.

The botanical garden and Queen Elizabeth Park were my “easy day” activities that had easy access from the airport side.

 

 

8. Lighthouse Park (walking)

You can go to Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver to walk some trails through a forest and hike to a lighthouse and shoreline.

To get to Lighthouse Park by bus from downtown Vancouver, you’ll spend about an hour with public transportation. (map)

 

👆 You can go see a lighthouse in Vancouver at Lighthouse Park!

 

👆 There is an easy walking trail in Lighthouse Park.

 

👆 There are a few dirt hiking trails.

 

👆 You can hike the West Beach Trail to the shoreline.

 

👆 Stay awhile!

 

👆 You can look for fun rocks at the beach.

 

👆 You can hike the East Beach Trail to the shoreline.
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9. Grouse Mountain (on your own, shuttle, or tour)

The Grouse Mountain skyride gondola is one of the most popular things to do in Vancouver as a tourist.

This is a tram ride that takes you up the mountain, and then you can spend time at the top, and then you can go back down the mountain the same way you came!

 

👆 Mountain views from the gondola.

 

👆 Downtown views from the gondola.

 

Or… You can hike up the mountain, and then take the gondola down!

The hike up the mountain is called the Grouse Grind. It’s probably the most popular tourist hike in Vancouver. It’s a whole lot of stairs. In fact it’s almost entirely a bunch of steps that you climb pretty much the whole way until you reach the top. You will be hiking up up up!

 

👆 Stairs…

 

👆 Stairs…

 

👆 And more stairs!

 

👆 And rocks.

 

While you can only hike UP the Grouse Grind Trail to get to the same spot that the gondola takes you up, you can also opt to not take the gondola down by hiking another trail down, the BCMC Trail.

It’s common to hike the Grouse Grind Trail up, and then take the gondola down. You’ll get a discounted rate on the skyride ticket prices by taking the gondola one way.

The people of Grouse Mountain want you to know that you should only do the hike up if you are in good shape. I guess enough people who are not at a good enough fitness level have done the hike, because they even have AEDs along the trail.

 

👆 Grouse Grind Trail hiking tips.

 

👆 Your final warning! aka the point of no return. 🤪
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For most people who are in good enough shape and casually hiking up (aka not trying to race up for a fast time as some people do) seem to take around 2 hours or less.

I hardly passed any people (except for people who were sitting down or resting 😆) but there were plenty of people passing me, and I did the Grouse Grind hike in around 1 hour 45 minutes.

The trail is marked at the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 of the whole thing. At the 1/4 mark, I was at 30 minutes, so I was expecting to finish in like 3 hours. 🤪 So I don’t know if I just required a warm up or if it was actually “easier” after that initial first part. I certainly didn’t feel like I was going faster!

 

How to get to Grouse Mountain

Whether you are taking the gondola up or hiking up, your starting point is in the same area.

There is a free Grouse Mountain shuttle in the summer that does pick-ups in downtown Vancouver at Canada Place.

You can also get to Grouse Mountain by bus using your compass card, day pass, or cash with exact change. You can also choose the public transit option to go by seabus from downtown to North Vancouver, and then take the bus to Grouse Mountain!

And then, there are Vancouver top attraction tours that includes time for taking the Grouse Mountain skyride gondola.

 

The other popular gondola to do when you’re staying in Vancouver is during a day trip to Whistler.

 

 

10. Lynn Canyon Park (free hiking on your own)

Lynn Canyon Park is best known for being another place you can go to walk across a suspension bridge.

After you walk across the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge, you can spend more time in Lynn Canyon Park by walking the trails through the forest and hiking to Twin Falls and the 30 foot pool.

 

👆 Walking to the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge.

 

👆 Walking across the bridge. The Lynn Canyon suspension bridge was a lot less wobbly compared to the Capilano suspension bridge.

 

👆 After you walk across the bridge, you can continue walking on the trails in the Lynn Canyon Park.

 

👆 There are some stairs.

 

👆 Walking through the forest on the trail.

 

👆 I saw these moss-covered trees on the way to the 30 foot pool.
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👆 Moss-covered trees in Vancouver.

 

👆 This was also on the way to the 30 foot pool.

 

How to get to Lynn Canyon Park

You can get to Lynn Canyon Park without a car! Lynn Canyon is another one of the things that’s located in North Vancouver. (Look at all these North Vancouver things! It is a bit further away from downtown Vancouver compared to where the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain are located, though.)

So you can take the bus to Lynn Canyon by using your compass card, day pass, or cash with exact change. And once again, you can also choose the public transit option to go by seabus from downtown to North Vancouver, and then take the bus to the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge!

 

 

Day trip to Butchart Gardens from Vancouver

And finally, many people go to Victoria during a stay in Vancouver.

Butchart Gardens is located in Victoria, but it’s a popular day trip to do from Vancouver. It’s a national historic site of Canada.

If you’re doing a day trip to Butchart Gardens from Vancouver, it will be a long day no matter how you do it! It’s possible to do it on your own, or you can let someone else take the lead and do a tour.

The ferry in Vancouver is actually from Tsawassen which may take 1.5 hours by public transportation from downtown Vancouver. (It may be 45 minutes by uber or taxi.) The ferry ride is 1.5 hours. The “ferry to Victoria” is actually to Swartz Bay, which is about a 1 hour bus ride from Butchart Gardens. (It may be 25 minutes by uber or taxi.) So you can see how all this transportation time (and waiting for public transport time) can add up when you’re doing it as a round trip in one day.

But still, lots of people do it and say it’s worth it. Read the reviews.

I went from Vancouver to Victoria by ferry on my own.

Once I arrived by ferry on the Victoria side, I took a bus to Butchart Gardens. I was staying overnight in Victoria, so I had my luggage with me. Butchart Gardens offers free luggage storage at the visitor center. It was easy!

You can also skip the ferry ride from Vancouver to Victoria and instead of going by ferry and bus, you can go to Butchart Gardens by seaplane and bus.

You can also go one way to Victoria from Vancouver by seaplane (without the gardens).

 

Happy planning your travel to Vancouver!